Readers Survey 2008
- Readers' Survey 2008 Home
- Best Blog for Educators
- Best Educational Podcast
- Best Virtual Field Trip
- Best Site from Which You Can Download Free Lessons and Materials
- Best Site for Grant Information
- Best Technology Product for Less Than $100
- Best Technology Tool for Students
- Best Education Software
- Amount You Spend Out of Pocket Each Year on Classroom Supplies
- Best Way to Get What You Need for the Classroom
- Best Public Advocate or Role Model for Educators
- Best New Book About Education
- Top Concern of Parents
- Top Concern of Teachers
- What's Missing from Education Degree or Certification Programs
- Who, from the Past or Present, You'd Like to Teach Your Class for a Day
- Subject That Typically Isn't Taught in Schools That Should Be
- Best Way for Schools to Keep New Teachers from Burning Out
- Best Way to Find Inspiration
- Best Way to Create an Educational Community
This year's Readers' Survey was conducted at Edutopia.org March 26-April 30, 2008. Participants responded to questions in their own words, and their answers were tabulated to yield the top three to five vote getters in each category. The top responses for each question appear with voting buttons to encourage our visitors to participate further.
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Readers' Survey 2008: Best Public Advocate or Role Model for Educators
Credit: Corbis
For our readers, this question tapped into the two polarities that can result from working in education: passion and frustration. For many educators, the strong desire to teach is matched only by their feelings of isolation and beleaguerment.
One reader, speaking for others who feel similarly lonely, responded, "Honestly, we really don't have an advocate here. I'm sure it should be the state department, but it is not." Another wrote bluntly, "It's not the government."
Happily, though, passion mostly won out over frustration. For every discouraged educator who wrote, "I haven't found a role model yet," there were many more who named a torchbearer, a rabble-rouser, or just an inspirational teacher. Filling the list was a diverse array of politicians, education organizations, authors, celebrities (is there anything Oprah doesn't do?), and a few bloggers.
Readers' choices ranged from the serious, such as Jonathan Kozol and Alfie Kohn, to the lighter hearted, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr. Seuss. And some readers' top choices were quite personal. One reader picked as a role model "the teacher who inspired me, Mr. Ware, my seventh-grade geography teacher." And as for advocate, the respondent wrote, "Myself."
Another reader had this to say on the subject: "I can't choose just one."
What do you think? Weigh in on the results.
Who's the best public advocate or role model for educators?
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on May 31, 2008 - 06:07.
It would not be any of the ones you listed...they aren't teachers and I don't think they get classrooms. I think they understand as much as someone can who hasn't done it and done it for a long while...but they don't represent my views on teaching. Maybe they get learning but not teaching.
I think I would pick another teacher. Probably someone who had won the Presidential Award in Math or Scienc Teaching...or a National Board Certified Teacher. They have real knowledge and could advocate for the things that would matter.
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