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Spartan News
Take Your Teacher to Work
On October 31st, six Miami Country Day School faculty members coupled with school leaders will embark on a four-day trip to Mexico City. There, they will encounter Miami Country Day parent Felipe Bautista and his family to learn more about their global business and Mexico’s history and culture. Along with Mr. Bautista, Dr. Yong Zhao, a world-renowned leader in education and policy will join the group to provide multiple lenses on the group’s experience. This vision of Taking Your Teacher to Work came to fruition through MCDS’ personalized learning coach, Terri Broce. In this week’s pulse blog, Terri shares her story and how this moment, this experiential journey for teachers, came to be.
When I was a child, my favorite day of school had to be Career and Cultural Arts Day. Hopping from room to room, seeing a doctor, a judge, a high school jazz band, a sculptor, a ballerina, an actor, filled my tank with ideas for the future. Looking back, I think what made it so enriching for me was the true joy in the expression of these grown-ups. They delighted in telling each class and child about their passions that they called careers. The possibilities for a happy life appeared each year on that special day. They ignited my sense of wonder.
Years later, I found my way to a profession that would keep me wondering, teaching. You might think because I get summers off or love children or helping people or reading or math that I chose this profession. These are all part of it. But mostly, I love teaching because I love learning. My whole life is a learning experience, regardless of the circumstance or the environment. For me, the “aha” moment makes learning joyful, even in the midst of frustration.
Fortunately for me, MCDS and I crossed paths. Every second of every day is a learning moment here. Saying “yes” to an idea is the equivalent of saying “yes” to learning. One of those yesses came in early 2016 with a trip to Australia. Little did I know how much this distance learning trip would change my educational mindset. During the trip, I modeled travel learning by taking my students along with me virtually. In addition, I attended Harvard’s Project Zero conference in Melbourne and first learned about educational leader, Dr. Yong Zhao.
But I had no idea that I would experience so clearly just how intricately the world works. Contrary to what children might think, I do go out to dinner and go shopping and take vacations. So, I do get to see the world from a “normal person’s” lens. But one “aha’ moment I experienced surprised me. During my visit, I sat in on industry conversations that seamlessly flowed from history to marketing strategies to annual production to diseases and their cures to Australian sports to must-visit restaurants. As I listened, my teacher mind identified the math and science and art and P.E. in the conversations. But no one at the table delineated the conversation based on those disciplines. Hmmm. It really made me think deeply about how this applies to the children in my classroom. Everything is connected, nothing is isolated. It made me think about just how little of the outside world I experience. Of all people, as a teacher, I should know. It made me think about how many other teachers, like me, went from the classroom as a student, to the classroom as a teacher. If I could come to this realization by traveling outside of my industry, how many other teachers might gain new insights by exploring the rapidly changing world outside of their classroom?
The idea of Take Your Teacher To Work sparked in my mind. What if I could explore other industries through the eyes of a teacher? My mindset shifted once again. What do children really need to learn to be successful in the global marketplace? It was an incredibly enriching moment for me. Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of Priceline.com has dubbed the term info-sponging. He spends part of each day exploring the world outside of his industry just to see what’s going on. Perhaps there is some connection to what he is doing in his industry, or, even better, to what he can create. I suppose Take Your Teacher to Work (TYTTW) is an experiential form of info-sponging. Perhaps info-sponging and “aha’ moments define curious adults.
With incredible excitement, I shared the Australian distance learning revelation with parents from my class. Once again, I saw the power of a shared experience to fuel learning and community. They were as excited to hear about the experience as their children were to teach me about what they had learned while I was there. I proposed the idea of TYTTW day. The parents got it. They understood the impact this had on my mindset and of course on their children. They were ready to support this new idea.
Mr. and Mrs. Bautista, sparked by this perspective and my experience, offered to continue this initiative by taking me to Bogota, Colombia to explore their securities businesses. Once again, new insights connected in my mind and continued to transform my thinking. Once again, I saw how everything is intertwined, how people use their skills and talents to contribute to the needs of a business entity. I saw how creativity and problem solving go hand-in-hand in the business world and how people appreciate each other’s strengths and abilities to create something even greater as a community than any one person could do alone.
Once again, I connected with children and brought the world into our classroom. Children recognized global travel as a learning tool and a way to connect with each other. Children initiated shared travel learning by presenting their vacations to each other in the form of presentations. They included the components of their journey that intrigued them. They became excited to share and understand each other more personally.
Once again, I connected with children and brought the world into our classroom. Children recognized global travel as a learning tool and a way to connect with each other. Children initiated shared travel learning by presenting their vacations to each other in the form of presentations. They included the components of their journey that intrigued them. They became excited to share and understand each other more personally.
So much learning in a classroom full of teachers and learners and so much happening in the mind of the oldest learner in the class….yours truly!
This is powerful and attainable. How could we further these realizations with teachers? How could we get teachers outside of the classroom to see how the global marketplace works in conjunction with the culture and flavors of the community?
Well, at MCDS, ideas come to life and we try new things. We take risks and we reflect.
The Bautistas understood the impact of this experience in opening my mind and just how far-reaching this could be. They have made it possible for MCDS faculty members from all grade levels and subjects to step outside of our school to explore Mexico City through their family businesses and cultural experiences. In addition, Dr. Yong Zhao, distinguished professor of Education Leadership and Policy Studies will join this excursion. An unprecedented meeting of visionaries will commence as Felipe Bautista and Yong Zhao stimulate thinking about the global marketplace in an unknown future. This mind-expanding, MCDS faculty adventure to Mexico will run from October 31- November 3, 2017.
I am humbled and thrilled to be able to join my colleagues as they share their diverse experience, observations and insights about what we need to do more of and what we need to let go of as educators. What really matters in the future of education?
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