Someone in my Facebook circles who I have a high opinion of, who has been a schoolteacher and a community activist and a lot more, was talking about how certain politicians and journalists have failed in their role to reach the public.
” … Well, as a teacher, I could have told him, and DID, that people hear this big word and their brains shut off. Sorry but it’s true. When your students are not reacting appropriately, then you step back and see where the learning stopped. It stopped at big unknown vocabulary. …”
And her observation reminded me that the same is true of how I view my own performance as a community educator/activist.
Since giving up is not an option, I will instead of giving up (“firing myself”) list some causes for educator failure (based on my own assessment of my own failure), and then adjust accordingly.
Wrong words “Repair the hydrological cycle” didn’t work, “restore the natural water cycle” didn’t work (even with all those beautiful experts’ drawings and YouTube links I shared); “puffy landscaping” somewhat got a few people’s attention
Wrong audience Talking w city commission hasn’t worked; talking w Public Works hasn’t worked; ditto talking w code enforcement. Trying to encourage private individuals to get interested in ecological landscaping has started to work somewhat.
Wrong channel City Commission meetings haven’t worked; board meetings haven’t worked; Lecture series hasn’t worked; radio hasn’t worked; neighborhood meetings so-so. My physical live demo landscaping yard has gotten some people interested; and maybe my upcoming fiction work will get some people more interested.
Also, another channel, comedy club, didn’t work so great. But that particular club is a notoriously tough audience, being mostly comics themselves. Might be worth trying other clubs; or just making humorous videos etc. Also humorous book in the works.
Wrong tone Being too friendly and chummy hasn’t worked; being too salty hasn’t worked; being despondent might work but I’m not really willing to go there; some comedy might work – we’ll see how the book goes
Wrong domain State level no, county level no, city level no, neighborhood level so-so. General grassroots non-locational level, somewhat successful.
Wrong person In many cases, I just might not be the right person for a given message or venue. I am noticing that a number of fellow environmental activists in my region are being much more effective. And our goals are the same, so there’s no need for me to stress out if other people are accomplishing the stuff.
Wrong attitude Having a give-up attitude totally doesn’t work. Allowing myself to get frustrated with people totally doesn’t work. Plus I end up feeling bad for being mean to people. Then again, having a super upbeat attitude hasn’t necessarily been effective either. Or proposing really cool creative ideas.
Note: none of the above tones and attitudes are fake or put on; they’re just different moods and modes that I go through and express. But then I will notice that certain things really don’t work, and some things work even less.
Onward! Giving up is not an option.