Karina Fuerte made an interview for the Observatory of Educative Innovation of the Monterrey Institute of Technology to Javier González Romero, promoter of the movement. Details on the movement that aims returning prominence to teachers.

This movement, born in Spain, and that soon will be arriving to Latin America, has an ambitious goal: promoting a different speech on education.

The movement #realinfluencers focuses its message on adding value to the people behind technologies: teachers. It asserts the role of teachers and the influence and impact on students and society.

Observatory (O): how did #realinfluencers come into existence?

Javier González (JG): BlinkLearning is an education platform, and, as such, we are in permanent contact with several teachers from different institutions: public and private institutions, innovative schools and traditional schools, etc. We perceived a generalized demotivation in this group of people. This perception was validated with research, such as an OECD report, which claim that only 8% of teachers feel appreciated by society.

We thought it was necessary to do something that shows support to the people responsible for educating the generations to come, and that is training the people who are expected to work on a better future.

O: What is the goal of this initiative?

JG: Our goal is to draw attention on the importance of teachers in society. To join efforts with society as a whole to facilitate their work as inspirers and mentors of the following generations.

O: Why is there a need to return prominence to the role of teachers?

JG: Because, together with families, they are the ones who train and educate future citizens. We believe it is vital for them to feel motivated and supported by society as a whole.

O: On January you launched the campaign in Spain. What results have you achieved? What have you learn from this movement?

JG: We launched the campaing filled with hope and with the full support of numerous groups of teachers who believed in the project and helped by communicating and becoming speakers of the movement (innovative teachers, competent students, MaestroGrupo Inno-BAR, Agora Abierta, eScholarium Project, Magisterio Magazine, the #eduhora, among others) and with investments.

The result was amazing, the message immediately caught the attention in the national media, which included us in the national news, and the acknowledgement of the entire sector, which was clearly the most important achievement.

O: As part of your campaign, you developed the event “#realinfluencers: teaching in the #hashtag era”. Why did you the campaign from the digital space into the real space?

JG: The media and the digital world truly embraced the campaign, which moved us to organize an onsite event, where we may gather the teachers who shared the movement’s video and embraced the initiative.  So, we gathered a group of #realinfluencers: teachers, bloggers, group leaders, communicators, and other education experts, so they may share their projects with us.

The event was held at the Caixa Forum in Madrid, with over 300 teachers attending and tickets sold out in just a few days. Experiencing the support of this people, on a live event, and enabling their interaction was an amazing experience. This year, we intend to repeat the event in Spain and we would also love to take it to other countries, such as Mexico, Colombia or Argentina.

O: Is your campaign addressed only at young teachers or at every generation?

JG: The campaigns’ goal is to reach every member of society, parents, grandparents, relatives, students, and every single person who enjoyed learning from a teacher. Though it is true that teachers are the protagonists of the initiative, the message must reach the largest number of people in order to have the effect expected, which is that every person appreciates the role of teachers.

O: There is a general belief that veteran teachers are the most reluctant to change. What was the reaction you had from older teachers?

JG: Teachers’ response was amazing. Before launching the initiative we held meetings with different groups of teachers, because we needed to test whether the concept, which was quite innovative and had an unusual language for the education sector, was properly developed. I know that some people were more convinced than others, and that was not always linked to age. But everyone agreed that it is time to start defending their profession, so they supported the project to achieve more visibility.

O: What is the reason for launching the movement in Latin America?

JG: Plenty of teachers in Latin America, particularly in Mexico, told us they could identify with the message, and that they would like to participate. So, we started working, getting in contact with teachers’ associations who could help us spread the message. We hope to reach as many people as we did in Spain.

The idea is to launch the movement in the weeks to come, and get the Mexican society to be moved by the message. In addition, we expect to have the support of fashion, TV and sports influencers who may remember a teacher who had the greatest impact in their lives and tell the story through social networks.

O: What does it take to be a #realinfluencer?

JG: I believe that it takes being a teacher who loves his job, and who is constantly thinking what the best way to reach students is. In our website, we give visibility to teachers who want to share their experiences.

O: How can people participate in this initiative?

JG: We are developing the Mexican website, and when the time comes, the way to contribute will be easy: sharing the official video of the movement and the website using networks or chats, and mentioning the teacher who made a difference in your life.

Teachers who would like to share their initiatives can send an e-mail to contacto@blinklearning.com and their contribution will be published in the website of realinfluencers.org

In addition, there will be many other ways to participate, which we shall unveil in the near future, and that we hope everyone will like.

O: What’s next for #realinfluencers?

JG: Our goal is to expand the movement and its message throughout Latin America, starting with Mexico, which we hope will work as a loudspeaker for the rest of the region. Our final goal is to promote a global network of teachers who may exchange initiatives and provide visibility to the amazing work that many teachers develop every day with the goal of reminding society that teachers have a past, a present, and a future in every society.

Source: Observatory of Educational Innovation of the TEC de Monterrey