Would you share that idea with the rest of us?
This question can literally send chills down the spine of many who work in education. As strange as it might sound, teachers are competitive. Teachers love to come up with great ideas and then keep them to themselves. Safe from prying eyes, in their rooms, teachers can come up with the most amazing ideas, but nobody will ever know and usually nobody ever asks.
School districts across America spend thousands on professional and staff development, usually provided by outside providers, but never think to ask if their own teachers would open up and share their own ideas. In other words, we spend thousands to hear about other people’s ideas while neglecting hundreds if not thousands that are created within the classrooms of teachers everyday.
Technology has made the sharing of ideas easy and accessible. Wikis, podcasts, blogs, video posted to the web have become part of our daily life, but have not been widely adopted by school districts as a means to harness and share ideas. There is so much power in Web 2.0. Imagine what they are missing out on.
This resource needs to be exploited. School districts have an obligation to be good stewards of the wisdom within their walls. I call this Wisdom Stewardship.
I came across a site that seem to embody much of what I am talking about. Check out Charles Leadbeater’s fantastic site. I have just skimmed the surface of what it has to offer. I recommend that you go there yourself and check it out.
Take a look at this great video that highlights idea sharing.
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