SO, YOU ARE THE NEW TAFE TEACHER LEADER?!

WHY YOU?

• Because you love teaching.
• Because you are flexible.
• Because you are able to relate well to young people.
• Because you want students to consider teaching as a viable career.
• Because you want to give teaching a good name.
• Because you’ve got energy to spare.
• Because you are a positive, can-do person.
• Because it seems like a good idea. Because the principal selected you.

WHY YOU?

Because you are good at it, that’s why! ! !

TAFE needs teacher leaders who have the time to organize, the will to inspire, the energy to encourage, and the desire to make a difference.

YOUR ROLE AS TEACHER LEADER

You are the students’ link with the teaching profession. If you love your job and show enthusiasm for what you do, they will have positive feelings about teaching and may choose to become a teacher too.

CONSIDER—that is the keyword! We are not making them become teachers. After all, how many grade school students know what they want to be when they grow up?

Give them the opportunity to work with other students, to hear from experienced teachers, to learn what it takes to be a teacher. Let them know what is available - elementary, secondary, college, coaching, counseling, special education, gifted, administration, bilingual, library science. Teaching is a multifaceted and dynamic profession. It is accepting of people with different talents and goals.

Don’t do it all yourself. Students need to have a sense of ownership—a voice in decision-making, a forum for new ideas. Give them a sense of ownership, but remember letting them take over, allowing them to plan and execute activities means a lot of work for you!
 
SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT STARTING A NEW TAFE CHAPTER?
This manual presumes that you are starting from scratch. Some of you will be lucky enough to take over an existing chapter and will have things like: a charter, Teacher Leader's Handbook, chapter constitution, and a few members. Others are starting from “ground zero.”