If We Treated Teachers Like Football Stars
by TeachThought Staff
What if we treated star teachers the way we treated star athletes?
This is, of course, a cultural question; our idols reflect our priorities, and in the United States we tend to celebrate spectacle: athletic performance, musicians, actors, and even “non-celebrity” celebrities. (See reality television.) If you ever pause live television during a close or particularly charged athletic event and study the faces of the fans, you might lose faith in our collective humanity. Prophets nor peace makers nor civil rights heroes or military veterans nor community leaders combined receive the adoration of athletes.
Whether this is a matter of human instinct (to over-value things we’re incapable of ourselves–the way we celebrate all hackers as geniuses, for example), or a product of the potency of marketing by Nike, The NFL, ESPN, and more, the end result is awkward to say the least.
So this video from Buzzfeed–yes, Buzzfeed–might make you smile. It answers the question, “What if we treated star teachers like we treated star athletes?” It covers press conferences, financial endorsements, big contracts, forgiving failure, and more. It’s already received 3 million+ views, so you may have already seen it. If not, it’s worth two minutes.
See? Buzzfeed isn’t all bad.
If We Treated Star Teachers Like Star Athletes; What if we treated teachers like football stars?