Why should teachers have great marketing skills
// September 21st, 2007 // Marketing
We are surrounded with wonders. Every day various technologies come to our help in the most amazing ways. And yet we often forget to value the hard work and the immense energy that was spent in making all this available to us. Our life is a fast-food drive in, we just want to eat in the fastest and easiest way without having to understand why are we hungry in the first place.
This is directly related to how education is perceived and executed and who are our first teachers.
When we are children we are very busy growing up. It’s no easy task, we have to live up to society standards and that’s why we are very selective in our choices. Which toys we like, which friends we like, which sports we like, which people we like, its all about new data processed at very high speed and most importantly “without prejudice”. A friend can become an enemy and then become a brother. A toy is inseparable one day, we hate it the other, you get the picture.
One day this kind of open minded social network is forced to stay put in a room with an old guy as the “guardian” for a HUGE amount of time…
You have a very well targeted audience with huge buying potential, LOCKED in a room with you for an almost unlimited and mostly UNINTERRUPTED time frame! (Seth Godin rejoice!)
Does that mean you can sell anything at any price, no questions asked ? Well that must be very well what we are thinking or we are really not that interested in selling, because if you look at how we try to teach our children during their most perceptive years its obvious we are doing a horrible job. But can we really afford to ?
Boring classes lead to attention deficit which lead to boredom associated with learning and boring class after class this information is written in stone. If learning is boring, so is working which directly relates to creativity and production loss of generation after generation. This is a direct economical, sociopolitical and humanitarian loss.
Whereas interesting classes, passionate teachers, awareness of what really is at stake would lead to convert those little minds in lifelong extremely loyal customers of knowledge! Creativity, productivity, health, awareness, everything would rise as a result of this with a huge direct impact on the worlds quality of life.
I remember for example being thought about how a battery works in terms of chemistry. Lots of formulas, lots of big words and history and names. It got a little interesting when a frog was involved but it was immediately replaced with big and boring charts. I think about it now, and how interesting it is actually to “know” with the real sense of the word how energy is created and preserved. What does energy mean. How it gives life to a toy. How it can be used in other areas of my life and the power that such knowledge yields. Its the concept of “energy” that needs to be sold first, and what a product it is to sell! But no, we don’t need that. All we want to do is use “energy” to put in a formula to derive some other constant in an “equation”. Splendid pitch right ?
Today’s marketers have amazing tools at their disposal. They track everything, from attention spans to eye balls. Crowd analysis, statistical charts. Behavioral analysis, direct marketing, personalized messages and many many more. All directly applicable to the subject.
I am sure if the best marketers in the world would have the chemistry book as a client, they would restructure every lesson into a great pitch. Use high tone voices full of passion while selling it and literally pour knowledge into your soul. They would recognize the combination of a great product, value the perfect audience and do everything to make the kill !
You probably think the kids don’t have the money to pay for such good marketers time. If you calculate the potential outcome of such an investment and the ROI you’ll see they are the richest and easiest client there is…
We have the tools, we have the means, we have the knowledge, we have the power and we have the time to do it. Why don’t we ?
Pick any topic out of a school book and turn it into a marketing pitch, complete of media planning, creative, script and all, share it with me if you like. You’ll realize that if you put the same passion you put into selling, lets say, hamburgers, you are holding in your hands the next Big Mac!
Sadok Kohen
7 Responses to “Why should teachers have great marketing skills”
Leave a Reply
- Nathalie said: Brilliant! That's how I've been feeling. I go in ...
- Nathalie said: I reread the comment and ? think what's missing he...
- Nahalie said: You surely do! Instead of weeping with them why th...
- Sadok said: Responsibility means accountable or answerable der...
- Paolo said: Sorry man, but I have to totally disagree here. Wh...
- Nathalie said: I WISH MANY MANY MANY MORE PEOPLE REACH THIS WRITI...
This is true.
Think of the huge technology change humanity has had. If you take a doctor from the 1800 into a modern hospital, he probably won’t know he’s in one.
But take a school teacher to today’s school, and he’ll feel right at home!
The technology tools for improving education have been here for a long long time.
Why don’t we start using it?
Frankly, teachers from two decades ago have difficult times fitting in or understanding classes of today. Today’s classes are dynamic, collaborative, student-centered. The older teachers or teachers from 20-100 years ago, don’t get it. These kids are up out of their seats. They’re talking. They working together. They’re making things. They working with their hands. They’re not reciting back facts, but arguing assumptions. In short, these kids are NOT what the government really wants. Luckily, the reforms of NCLB in the progressive schools have made a tremendous positive outcome. When you use data to drive teaching, you find that collaborative classrooms filled with student centered learning drive achievement. The old traditional style teaching might work for the zombie banker elites, but for tomorrow’s creative owners and change agents, it won’t. There are great teachers in every schools I’ve had the privilege to be involved in. Unfortunately, there also lots of teachers with 15-20+ years experience who just don’t get it. The problem isn’t with the unions. It is with those who want to hold onto the ways of the past
And I’m guilty of it too. I don’t believe in 50 week/year wage slavery. I became a teacher not just because I want to help change the world to a better place but for the personal reason I wanted to have time to travel and continually learn, i.e., summer’s off. That meant June, July and August when I began teaching, and now it means part of June, all of July, and 1 week of August off. Still, it beats wage slavery. And the payoff in successful student outcomes is worth 1000x its weight in gold. We make a difference. But the problems are cultural and spiritual. Those who worship money or status just won’t get it. Ever.
The only person anyone can ever really change is themselves. When we change ourselves we change the world.
Namaste,
Dr Purple
I like the trenchant views expressed by Joshua Aasgaard.
I have heard reading about 20 yrs ago, somewhere (OMNI magazine, if memory serves me right) that Knowledge is not ‘taught’ but ‘caught’. Which means the emphasis is on on learning rather than teaching.
I fail to understand why it is for the teacher to make the lesson ‘entertaining” (Primary school excepted) and thus ‘market’ the content.
In ancient India the onus was on the student to learn and going by historical records India was a leading destination for learning and produced some brilliant minds.
The responsibility for effective education, IMO, must be shared by parents, teachers and students and facilitated by the design of institutions, methodologies, tools and funds.
I totally agree to your comment: “I fail to understand why it is for the teacher to make the lesson ‘entertaining” (Primary school excepted) and thus ‘market’ the content.”
In the sense that what ideally they should market is the exitment for learning, and the only original way would be to set an example in being themselves everlasting learners.
Who we really are is the source of how the world around us really is, therefore the real responsability lies within the teacher to always find this passion inside of him, knowing that he is a position to affect generations.
But the world today have lost this views, parents rely on governments who rely on schools who rely on teachers who rely on students who rely on parents…
The only real lesson is to learn how to learn, but it implyes letting power go, letting standards go, letting hierarchy fall to pieces. Everybody in the circle apart from the student is not willing to let go, and that’s the real issue.
So again why should the teacher make the lesson entertaining and market learning well? Just because his generation have failed, he should be wise enough to give the best chance he can to the next one.
Sadok
Thanks for responding to my views.
“The only real lesson is to learn how to learn…” Well said.
I do understand your view and concur with them as far as that the teacher must serve as the source of inspiration and burning the thought into young minds that learning is a self driven activity and that learning is a life long endeavor.
I feel passion for his work is not exclusive to teacher but applies to everyone whatever her calling is.
Besides teachers, parents and society (govt. and educational instituition included) must focus on ‘liberating’ the student from ‘ignorance’ by using learning as the tool. I agree we have not really focussed on this aspect as much as we should have done and chose the easy way out – stuffing the student with information.
In my personal attemps to ‘teach fishing than dole out a fish’ I have encountered pain, frustration, impatience, misgivings and ridicule more often than not. ( I am neither a teacher by vocaion nor a parent but Iin my work place as well as in family and friends circles I do try to profess and practice as much as I can this philosophy.
I am glad to have been engaged in this discussion and exchange views with you.
Well, I think we live in an exciting time, and in many parts of the world and the United States, knowledge about just about every important subject exists. It ALL, however, can be turned off at the metaphorical push of a button. Learners of all ages can no learn about and explore for free or very little cost just about every subject. But this is only true of the people who know about libraries and the internet, people whose parents or financial situation allows the time to go to these places.
There are still billions of poor people for whom the great knowledge pool that is available today is NOT available. These people must first be given food, housing, and an understanding of economy, while they are learning to fish, provide their own clean water, sewerage, fishing, farming, or division of labor for a more modern living. We have the technology and the wealth to empower all our human brothers and sisters. Clean water, sewerage systems, energy creation/management, and agriculture that we have in first world situations aren’t extant for billions.
Ultimately, miracles happen when people start learning how to breathe, and how to understand the natural processes of expansion and contraction. We’re all connected and how we help people is providing people with the opportunity to take advantage of knowledge; not everyone has the time, or ability to take advantage of the benefits we take for granted; they are too busy just trying to survive.
I thank all those who have found time to share their viems in this forum. Let me also add my voice. Well, today’s society is facing a very fast tecnological revolution. Many students are being exposed to technology. But my concern today is what is happening at poorer parts of the world where parents,schools can’t access the internet! What is happening! My point: let’s ensure that no child is left behind! Let teachers refine their methodologies to meet demands of modern age! We need something i call “tutoring rejuvenation” in our 21 century institutions of learning!