This blog has been inspired by a fabulous conversation with the amazing Victoria Tomlinson; the northern light behind @NextUpLtd. Amongst other things, we talked about how folks in un-retirement could use those skills from working life to help teachers help the next generation thrive.
Un-retiring in education
I have a lot of conversations with folks who want to offer their skills and expertise to schools. Some manage this via governance but many struggle to get their foot in the door, even if they’re offering something for free. Getting to the right person who can direct your skills in the right direction is crucial.
That person is just the kind of forward thinking, open minded teacher or school leader that has recently joined the #ConnectED community. #ConnectED was created to enable teachers to see all the development opportunities available to them. Your support could be exactly what they need. For example, in many schools, making high skill high pay careers in local industries is the secret to the success not just of the pupils but of the whole community around a school. If you have worked locally in a strategic position, the career landscape and talent requirements are second nature. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could interact with the school to say, mentor young people with a raw talent, or work directly with teachers to influence the curriculum so it equips pupils with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in your industry?
The #ConnectED community
#ConnectED exists to pull all the development opportunities together so that teachers can access everything they need to hone their craft. All you need to do is visit https://connected1.sharetribe.com to list your offer. If you make your offer free you don’t need to put in bank details. If you would like to put up an offer that is paid for you can securely set up an account that allows you to be paid for it. #ConnectED takes a 1% fee on that to keep the lights on at #ConnectED HQ (currently my dining room table).
Teachers are an interesting set of folks – we’re not known for interacting with industry professionals particularly well. We pretty much speak a different language. If you’d like to learn the language so you can really hone your offer then the team at Next Up Ltd should be your next call.
My dining room table
#ConnectED is a sparkling new startup run on a shoe string. Literally grass roots today as I’m writing this on our freshly cut lawn. The #ConnectED future is terribly exciting and excruciatingly scary. There are some fabulous folks on board and I love them and what they do dearly. To grow this I am going to need some help so I am looking for some fabulous un-retired skills (and the fabulous people that come with them) to help me navigate the choppy start-up waters. Specifically:
- I want to set the culture of the business early on so need people who are un-retiring from HR and leadership roles, particularly in values driven workplaces.
- I need to communicate what we do so people are driven to get #ConnectED. I’ve done a bit of this but if you’ve spent years in this space I would welcome your advice.
- Finance – I want to offer a one-stop business start up to #ConnectED consultants just getting started, including company registration, tax, etc. To start with this could be mentoring new consultants but I want to move to automating or outsourcing this.
- Legal eagles – Victoria’s equally fabulous husband has generously spent a serious amount of time mentoring me through some of the tough bits but there is always room for more at this legal party.
- Tech – the biggie. The USP of the the big brother to the current embryonic #ConnectED community needs some serious skills around gamification, online platforms, compliant data collection and dissemination etc.
- Business planning – this is a big idea and need some help to tame the jumping frogs in my mind. Could you be my mentor?
The Future
…is #ConnectED. If we carry on at this rate we’ll soon have a pretty comprehensive offer to teachers and training providers. There are lots of exciting avenues on the road map and this will be a true community…if you’d like to get involved with any of the above you can visit the NextUp job board, email lucy@braveteachersclub.com or find me on Twitter @braveteaching.
Thanks in advance for getting #ConnectED!
Brave Teacher's Club 