Swimming against the ride. . . Really?

Back to our Newsletter. Back to filling with food tor thought and some tips for undertaking action where and whenever it is needed. Back to reporting on new tools to teach and learn better; some reflection work: on complementary ways to motivate students" learning; a teacher's favourite teaching idea/activity that has made a difference in her classroom; an exchange of caring and sharing, generosity and good will born during an academic course abroad; the everlasting generation gap - the young and the not-so-young, and their ways of doing in school; releasing teachers’ and students' creativity in the classroom in order to teach and learn better and have fun with it; some students‘ write-ups on health and sex education as a result of a dedicated research work in the English class.

Inside you are to find the contributions of Shawn Severson (his first contribution to The APPI Newsletter): Elisabeth Costa; Fátima Côrte-Real (also a first-timer); Celeste Simões; Youssouf Tangara (a first-timer from Burkina Faso); Neil Mason; Lígia Neto and Sónia Alves (their first contribution as well) and last but not least Carmen Santarém (a new contributor also). It is highly comforting and a real pleasure to learn that if our readership has been growing steady, the number of the APPI Newsletter and Journal contributors has been expanding at a very good rate too.

Sometimes - quite often lately, I'm afraid - I wonder whether it still makes any sense to keep on hunting for articles for our magazines; plan and organize conferences, seminars and other professional development events; do it training courses and sessions all over the country; update one's personal repertoire of knowledge and skills in highly qualified forums; participate in research projects; respond to countless educational surveys; advise teachers in need to the limit of one's capacity…

Such a feeling was born from what has been going on around in the teaching scene colleagues complaining that their job has been getting more and more stressful to the point that most of them have thought of quitting it and many have already done so and more are on the way out - they say they can't stand the heavy workload and personal exhaustion anymore; that lack of respect from students has been the sheer and bitter reality in schools: that the teaching profession has been invaded by a myriad of non-teaching, time-consuming chores that waste the teacher's mental and physical energy necessary to perform their job; and the authorities at large haven‘t been able and/or willing to sort out the whole situation.

One doesn't need to dive into top research studies and surveys to make sure the above applies. We are living in bleak times permeated by controversy and challenge in human relationships; some anti-social trends and easy-reward hunting; gratuitous aggressiveness and too much easygoing manners. And yet, this should be something to be expected to happen given the changes that have occurred over the last 30 years, particularly in the education scene everywhere in the western world. Schools just mirror what has been going on beyond its gates.

Back to the above feeling of mine the issue here l ask: Is APPI swimming against the tide of the bleak present of teachers’ stress, burnout, bad health, exhaustion? Against the tide of non-teaching chores as part of the teachers‘ schedule and agenda of duties? Running the risk of looking somewhat presumptuous I dare to doubt it. And provide some data to help me to this effect. The APPI's Annual Conference has been a kind of sate harbour for all those who keep on investing in their personal and professional development - it has hosted a number of highly qualified speakers from all over the world and from home and always over 500, sometimes 600 delegates: and the same can be said ol the APPIforma training courses held at a national scale which have contemplated quite a variety of needs and interests of our teachers from Pre-Primary to Secondary. Both APPI regular publications, the Journal and the Newsletter, have raised the interest of both readers and new contributors. And the APPI membership has kept on increasing at a consistent rate.

Swimming against the ride? Rather! Not giving up come rain or shine, and believing in committed, motivated teachers who do care about developing personally and professionally. APPI can motivate teachers. Come and swim together.

Have a great Summer..