Biased

Pollyannaism or positivity bias:


 You can probably tell from the title of my blog "the sky is NOT falling" I have a bias, a positivity bias.  This was not always the case, as a younger person I was incredibly  skeptical and noticed the negative before I thought about the positive.   Over time, I found this kind of attitude actually produced negative feelings and was often a self-fulfilling prophecy.  When trying to change my ways I thought back to the last time that the glass was half-full instead of half-empty.  That time was when I watched Hayley Mills in Pollyanna.  I remember thinking, shortly after watching the movie, as just a young girl , I need to do this I need to play the "glad game!" 


 There are a lot of librarians who need to play the "glad game ."  There are also a lot of teachers who need to play the "glad game."  Otherwise our negative attitude will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I am not saying ignore all of the problems in education , I'm just saying focus on what we can do to improve education.  

A recently retired colleague, asked me to join a sort of "think tank" on Facebook . Just half a week later I'm already thinking deeply about the larger education world.  Here are some articles that I've come across in the last half week.  My thoughts have mostly turned to the issue of why teachers are not seen as professionals and what millennials want in a career.  


First the Question of attracting and retaining new career teachers

"teaching is not seen as an ambitious or fulfilling career by most Millennials" - how do we change this?
I think the BIG question to ask is "Do future teachers want tenure?" -- 3 things millennials want in a career (hint: it’s not more money) Our insistence on sticking to traditional schedules and formats may not attract folks to the teaching profession http://fortune.com/2015/03/26/3-things-millennials-want-in-a-career-hint-its-not-more-money/ 
"To recruit the brightest and best, teaching needs to be a high status occupation, and we need to understand better what contributes to the social standing of teachers," said Lord Adonis. http://www.bbc.com/news/education-24381946
In South Korea & Finland, teachers are drawn from top 10% ... places in teacher education are strictly limited

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