I loved this talk. I am a teacher in North Carolina. The biggest problem we face is our state legislature does not value teachers as professionals, and places so little importance on what we do. We make very little money, have extremely long hours, and continue to see benefits slashed, and funding cut time and time again. These legislators are actively discouraging advancement in public schools, and trying to promote private charter schools as these schools and their corporate backers put more money in the legislators' pockets. They do not care about either our teachers, or the children we teach. Frustrating hardly covers what we feel.

Love this talk. In many schools, we are trying to take pressure off students, by moving from a more grades-focused approach to a more holistic approach to student development. However it is apalling and ironic that as teachers ourselves, we are being assessed, judged and graded by the management in the very same way we are trying to avoid doing for our students. How can we practice what we preach?

I truly hope the audience was filled with administrators and teacher leaders. They should have the boldness/ingenuity to propose alternative scheduling for teacher collaboration with experts, each other, and successful practitioners. Great lecture Mr. Weston. JD Booth

I recognise some of this in my college. We need to do better. Thank you for this video.

Thanks David, great Tedtalk 👍

Thank you for giving us hope!

Really fantastic and I am indeed inspired by

Does anyone knows where to find the research on the high/low quality envirement for teachers? I really want to know if i can set up a similar research in The Netherlands.

Love this guy!

2.5 million subscribers... 612 views...

This how I techan dance.

As a teacher, I can tell you teachers are the prostitutes of society. If you work in a private school, students will expect a lot from the teachers and in return, teachers get a lot of BS from the students and low salaries with no benefits. If you work for public schools, the salary is much better but then you have to work around the clock with lesson plans, training, answering emails, paper work is extreme. In general, teachers are treated poorly because some teachers dont care. Students recent the fact that some teachers are careless and then in return the students act like assholes. students become the number one issue in a teaching job. Not necessarily the pricipal or other administrators. The students become very adverse agaisnt the teachers. Let me give you an example, I have to cover an 8th grade class sinced the teacher called sick. So, I went to the class and first,. the teacher didnt leave any lesson plan for me. So I decided to ask the students what they were doing. Just one student answered and so I had an idea of what to do. According to these students, the teacher never gave thm homework, the teacher was very rude and talked to them loudly. EETC. Anyway, I had sucn bad class. At one moment some students were leaving the classroom without my permission. I discovered a girl in her backpack she had marijuana! I could not control this class too well because they came form a teacher who didnt do much of discipline and so these students had no desire of learning. They were 8th grade and yet, some of them didnt know how to add a simple fraction. My point I guess is that teaching is a brutal job unapprecieted by society. I suggesst if you are planning on becomeing a teacher, learn perfectly well your subject. Learn chilhood psychology and read many books on how to have control of the classrooms. Without porper classroom management, your job will become boring, frustrating and what is even worse. you will feel studid. You can be a great teacher as long as you prepare yourself and become numb to student's behavior. At the end of the day what really counts is the impact you caused in your students and how you feel about hod well did you do. You will live your dream or a nightmare. It is up to you

what what?

Making teachers great: stop all the pointless Ofsted inspection, stop all the relentless testing protocols, LET KIDS FIND OUT THINGS FOR THEMSELVES. 2-3 hours of direct instruction a day, NO HOMEWORK, the rest spent on self-directed learning activities. There, solved it for you in 17 minutes less than this showpony did.