For a group of people who talk all day for a living, teachers are often a very silent bunch. We save our comments for the staff room and then grumble about how no one listens to our opinion.
Teachers across the United States are in crisis. Morale is at an all time low. Politicians are treating teachers like children who need to be monitored and disciplined with threats of job loss and salary reductions.
It’s disgraceful.
As a Canadian teacher, I know that we have it better than our friends to the south, but I can see us headed in that direction and it scares the hell out of me.
Business people with no links or background to education are being tapped by politicians to find ways to “fix” our education “crisis”.
Forgive me, but we are neither broken nor in a crisis. Yes, there are things we can improve upon. And guess what? Most of us know exactly what needs to be done. Most of us have multiple degrees in everything from child development to curriculum and evaluation. We do regular professional development on everything from reading and math to bullying and nutrition. We can help make things better. We need money and time to make positive changes, not outside “experts”.
But before we can help others, teachers need to find the courage to stop whispering and start speaking up. Our students want to look up to us. They want us to be role models. We need to model bravery so that they can grow up to be brave as well.
We live in a world where people overshare all the time. Videos and pictures that you might have once only shared with family and friends are now put on the internet for the world to comment on. But despite all of this new ‘openness‘, I don’t think it’s made us any braver.
We still watch what we say and worry about what people will think, what they might say. What if someone doesn’t agree with me or doesn’t approve of what I say? What if they get mad at me? What IF not everyone likes me???
Guess what? The world will keep spinning. You will continue to breathe. Life will go on. And you will be better for having spoken your mind. The world will be better.
Being brave doesn’t mean you have to rescue a baby from a burning building. It could be as simple as standing up for a colleague when they are being harrassed or supporting a student when they need someone in their corner. Bravery often shows itself in simple acts of kindness.
I stopped watching music videos sometime after Michael Jackson’s Thriller because I have no interest in seeing women dance around half-dressed while men sing about degrading them. But this? Brave is the best video, the best song, the best…everything I have seen in a long time.
It’s not deep or complicated or edgy. It’s just honest and true and fun.
If this song can’t be our new national anthem, let’s make it our new mantra.
Watch it, love it, live it. I want to see you be brave.
“Brave”
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody’s lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just want to see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
Everybody’s been there,
Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy
Fallen for the fear
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue
Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
And since your history of silence
Won’t do you any good,
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don’t you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
See you be brave
suburbanprincessteacher 
Such a FANTASTIC song! I love the meaning and intention behind those impeccable lyrics. I join you in hoping we can all live life from an energy of showing ourselves how big our ‘brave’ can be! Thanks for the great reminder … 🙂
Thanks. 😊 I have to remind myself all the time – be brave, be brave!
On limited internet so had to sing it myself. 🙂 While reading your blog, I was reminded about a staff meeting I attended while teaching in KL. Our PE dept. was absolutely bewildered with what the curriculum coordinator was asking of us. I volunteered to speak up in the next staff meeting. I sat up front – voiced our concerns, turned around with, “Right?” Everyone looked at the ground. It was so terrible, I started to laugh. WT??? Yep, speak up, but with the understanding you might be on your own! 🙂
LOL! Good for you for speaking up. Sorry you got hung out to dry. We need to know that people are going to back us up if they say they will. I have no patience anymore for people wimping out. Seriously…I will back you up as far as can I can go but eventually you have to speak up for yourself.
I absolutely love this! You are right, we do need to be brave. And we need to fight for what we KNOW is right for our kids.
This is lovely!
I am so happy I found your blog.
Keep writing! That, in and of itself makes you brave!