In my line of work as a Technology Integration Specialist in a public school district, I work with a lot of great teachers. There are forward-thinking projects going on school wide as well as pockets of innovation in each department or classroom. One of the most powerful ways to convey a message about innovative learning strategies is to have a teacher share about what they are doing in their classroom. Why? Because the strategy is explained in a honest to goodness real life context - the good, the bad and the ugly. Very often a teacher tells an anecdote about how it has made a difference in their classroom or in the life of a kid. Teachers sharing experiences with each other is often the most powerful way to instill change of practice or innovation in classrooms.
I make it a habit to ask teachers to share what's going in their classrooms to inspire other teachers to utilize that strategy or tool. Sometimes when I ask some teachers to share their experiences to other teachers, they are very reluctant to do so. Sometime the venue affects their feelings ("In front of the ENTIRE faculty?! No way!"). Most often they construe sharing what's going in their classroom as "bragging". Or they predict their colleagues will think less of them BECAUSE they shared what they are doing.
At face value, it doesn't seem to make sense. I liken this situation to where a student in a class creates an amazing project. Educators would want them to share what they learned, how they did it, etc. But for a student, sharing this kind of information with their peers runs counter to what they are told to do. Keep to yourself. If you try to look good, you must be trying to gain favoritism with someone.
Unfortunately, we live and work in a community that touts great achievements but douses individuals who try to share good things that they do every day.
