*I originally created these posts for the micro-blogging education site Staffrm, which shut down mid-2017. I wanted to re-share these early forays into the blogging world but have not edited any of these posts from their original form. *
I’m a big fan of Twitter and have written as much before. Most of my friends are probably pretty tired of hearing me go on about it. I first joined Twitter in February ‘09 without having much of an idea about what it was about but soon got the bug. Shortly after joining the education community I decided to set up a second account to focus on education, teaching and learning. That was February ‘15. Two years later and Twitter has provided some of the most interesting CPD for me, exposing me to ideas beyond the confines of my school and immediate context. It’s also been one of the most effective means for me finding out conference that I want to attend and meeting people who inspire greater discussion. I follow many of the BNOTs (Big Names on Twitter, obviously) and try to chip into discussions whenever I can. It will come as no surprise to many of those reading this that many of those debates seem to revert to an overarching theme: traditional or progressive? Which are you? Which camp do your ideas fall into? Which one is most effective? Which one holds the moral high ground? Then there’s the third camp, those who argue that you can be both. Who seems to win these debates seems almost wholly dictated by who you follow, or rather how many of which camp you follow. It amazes me by the frequency that some of these debates get out of hand by the vitriolic manner that one camp responds to the other. Both sides have written about the dangers of this and why it is not just unnecessary, unprofessional and unbecoming of us as a profession. So, is it worth it? Are these Twitter arguments and discussion something that we should welcome or shy away from? We still don’t have a shared answer to the big question: what is education for? What is obvious to me is that Twitter (and the wider blogosphere) is a fantastic means of raising the level of discourse in education. I’ve certainly been exposed to wider thinking than when I first began teaching and changed my own mind, which is surely the mark of a society and profession within which we should want to live and work. The danger is that we do not expose ourselves to contrasting schools of thought, to opposing points of view or engage in considered debate. Twitter is valuable to the education community if we share ideas and discuss their merits; it is less so if we do not engage, if we allow it become an echochamber for what we already know and believe
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