Leadership

Supporting Teachers’ Growth and Income

Educators are some of the most intellectual people in our society who possess a unique skill set that could translate across any industry. They are master communicators who practice negotiation every day with students and adults. Most teachers are lifelong learners who take great pride in their professional development, which expands to a number of educational spectrums, including technology. Educators are givers who selflessly sacrifice their time and energy to bring unending value to those they serve. Teachers deserve the opportunity to monetize their intellectual property and skills. Supporting teachers’ growth and income is vital and can be achieved by creating a masterclass culture in schools.

Maximize Talents

Educational reform is always a hot topic, and we seek to implement the best solution for every family across the country. On the ground level, it starts with the educational leaders within every school. These people must cultivate creative ideas that allow teachers to maximize their talents in and outside the classroom. The education profession no longer has time to wait on the government for pay raises. They are welcome, but the financial climate is too volatile to wait patiently. We must be proactive in our approach. As we wait for politicians to make decisions, more days go by when teachers are not appropriately compensated for their expertise.

To maximize the potential of educators, we must promote and reward professional development. As teachers implement their newfound skills, they should showcase them to students, other teachers, and the community. This does three things:

1. Brings validity to the students, where they can visually see and hear the level of professionalism that each teacher brings to the classroom.
2. It allows colleagues to learn from others and validate their efforts to maximize their potential as educators. It is an evaluation system in itself.
3. It communicates to the community that there is a continual effort from each teacher and reinforces professionalism and attempted growth.

Those who win in business control their message the best. The businesses and entrepreneurs who are able to market and communicate the direction of their company gain trust and establish loyal customers. Education is no different. Teachers and Educational Leaders who are able to articulate and effectively communicate with stakeholders create learning climates that all want to be part of.

Teachers need to feel empowered to do their work. In the book “The New Classroom Instruction That Works” (Goodwin & Rouleau, 2022), they make a strong argument for the need to create curiosity in the classroom for students. To spark initiative and influence, educators need the freedom to be curious and innovate as well. To stimulate and sustain these efforts, teachers and leaders need the freedom to promote their practices and take on an entrepreneurial spirit.

Another piece of the pie is time. Educators need the time to reflect and create. As one educational leader points out, “If you want the performer to sing and dance, they must practice the dance.” To propel great experiences in the classroom, we must leverage moments for teachers to practice their craft. They need time to assess their lessons and adjust. Teachers need more time to collaborate and observe each other to provide meaningful feedback. While doing this, there is a need to ruthlessly eliminate the stigma that peer evaluation is bad. We must create environments where this is welcome and encouraged by everyone, with two goals in mind.

1. To maximize the learning for students and staff.
2. To provide additional opportunities for educators to learn and monetize their expertise.

There are hundreds of educational guides on effective teaching. All have their place in one corner or another. Every classroom is different, and each teacher must discover what works for them. There are data-driven strategies that do work. One is the Kagan Teaching Strategies. I’ve seen this in many classrooms and love the functionality of its structure for most teachers. I don’t see many books that discuss how teachers can monetize their expertise and promote learning outside of their classroom. We, as educators, need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

Open the Door for Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship

• Entrepreneur – According to Stanford Online, “At its most basic level, entrepreneurship refers to an individual or a small group of partners who strike out on an original path to create a new business. An aspiring entrepreneur actively seeks a particular business venture, and it is the entrepreneur who assumes the greatest amount of risk associated with the project. As such, this person also stands to benefit most if the project is a success.” (Stanford University, n.d.)
• Intrapreneurship – Stanford Online describes it like, “Employees are encouraged to think like entrepreneurs, cultivating an original perspective that may result in a new idea for the company. These workers may be given extra latitude, but the enterprise still holds authority over the project and absorbs any risk associated with it. Entrepreneurs benefit every sector, from large corporations to small businesses.
• Both approaches can exist in the educational space. It should be encouraged among all school leaders, and resources should be provided to create a climate that allows both to exist.

Teach teachers how to monetize their craft beyond their classroom. Create support systems and learning opportunities in content creation. Every school should have a videographer who, by request, captures lessons taught with high-quality cameras. Teachers should wear microphones that record their teachings. There should be a Team of Professionals and students who edit and make cutups of teachings repurposed for outside consumption that sit behind a paywall. Photography and videography teams like Black Box Media of Central Kentucky would be an interesting option to capture teaching and creativity. Media platforms would need incentives to provide their services. There could be some form of royalty agreement between them and the teacher. The school district could financially support the teacher through state and federal technology funding. Every purchased download would be directly deposited into the specific teacher’s bank account, and media royalties will be paid accordingly for their support.

Masterclass is an online educational platform performed by established experts/celebrities in their particular field. According to Skillgrowthpro.com, the instructors are reportedly paid $100,000 upfront and 30% of the revenue generated by their content. Every school can create its own version of Masterclass that is accessible anytime. Students enrolled in certain schools can access the teaching archive across all teachers. The public can access the content through Patreon, which allows creators to receive funding from their fans for their work. The opportunity for content creation is only limited by a lack of imagination and creation time.

I coached high school sports for many years, and along the way, we captured most practices and every game with video. The sports video and analytics company Hudl thrust its way onto the scene in 2006 and quickly cornered the market. Their product made it easy for coaches to video their team’s performance and use it as a teaching tool. Hudl also allows all athletes to promote their talents to college recruiters and, in today’s sports market, earn NIL money for themselves.

Like practice and game fields, classrooms should be outfitted with video and analytics. The classroom video could be toggled on and off by the teacher, where they could determine what to capture and when. Classroom video would also be a poor behavior deterrent, where everyone knows that all moments are captured. This would create accountability within the students. On a practice field, the film would quickly identify who was loafing on any given play. No one wanted to be caught and called on their lack of effort in team meetings the next day. The film doesn’t lie!

Considerations

This masterclass approach is not for every teacher. Leadership must understand this and be mindful of the needs of each individual. Many teachers won’t like a camera capturing their lessons. It may create uneasiness and anxiety that classrooms don’t need. Schools must also be mindful of capturing students on film. There must be safeguards in place to ensure privacy is not compromised.

One terrific outcome of this approach is students learning and observing firsthand how to create branding for themselves. It can spark interest in how to capture their expertise and promote themselves. These things are transferable to later job searches and even sports recruitment. They can see what a responsible and organized moment capturing looks like.

To push education forward, outside-the-box ideas must be tried, and educators must have the freedom to create. Education is a competitive world. Public educators are now competing against online and at-home platforms, charter, and private schools. There are more avenues to receive an education than ever before. To retain professional educators, we must identify ways to monetize their talents and inspire them to stay. Push for creation and help teachers realize their value where they’re at.

Youniversalife Leadership and Educational Content

In an effort to educate beyond the school building, I have an extensive collection of leadership and coaching content at the Youniversalife Archive. Check it out and keep moving forward!

Also, if you have questions or want to strike up a conversation regarding education and leadership, leave a comment in the section below. You can also follow Youniversalife on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Direct message me on those platforms, and we can connect. Take care!

Quick Note

These are my own thoughts and are completely separate from my duties as an educator at Madison County Schools.

References

Goodwin, B., & Rouleau, K. (2022). The new classroom instruction that works: The best research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. ASCD.

Stanford University. (n.d.). What is entrepreneurship? Stanford Online. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://online.stanford.edu/what-is-entrepreneurship#:~:text=At%20its%20most%20basic%20level,large%20corporations%20to%20small%20businesses