I was fired from The Apprentice in the first week. The fact that I was there at all, volunteering to be the team leader and giving my all is down to spectacular teachers removing my fear of failure.
My life as a child was a fire of neglect, torture and every kind of abuse. During that time I went to school and despite hating myself almost as much as the system, I had my entire mindset shifted by a handful of teachers enabling me to become the successful and fulfilled woman I am today.
They were serial interrupters, challenging my preference of 'can't', 'don't' and 'won't' statements and living the brand when it came to MISTAKS being part of the learning journey.
They succeeded where others had not because of their commitment to authenticity, even/especially when that meant being vulnerable. They had real clarity around their WHY.
Can we really embed this kind of resilience in our learners if we are not exhibiting it in our daily lives?
Jaz is passionate about the difference teachers make. Through celebration and provocation she uses the transformative power of her own story to inspire the ordinary heroes of education - Teachers. Reading and writing were Jaz's tickets out of physical (and mindset) poverty. She became a primary teacher before setting up her own literacy consultancy then becoming an advisor, international speaker, coach and catalyst for change. Her book, Because Of You, reverse engineers her own success, pinpointing the crucial role teachers played.
After cowriting and presenting the BBC spelling show, Hard Spell Abbey, Jaz also appeared as a candidate on The Apprentice.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx