The law and our children

Policemen need to be perfect; this is a simple truth. Imperfection in a job that can cost people their lives, has no place. Sorry but that is absolute the truth, so if you are not hiring the best educated, the most honest people, you are doing society a disservice. If you are not instilling the “civil service” part and the “public safety” part, you are being criminal.

An airline pilot that accidentally crashes planes will not be a pilot for long, a doctor or nurse that accidentally kills patients will probably be prosecuted and certainly sued. Heck, teaching is a profession where we acknowledge and embrace mistakes, teachers get vilified, hounded, sued, and prosecuted for things that would not make the news if they were not teachers. Bus drivers that crash, taxi drivers that drive drunk, train conductors that derail trains; all these people would lose their jobs and probably be in jail. How come a police officer that kills people is exempt?

Police get exonerated because they ‘followed procedure”, we know the procedure is wrong, but so be it. However, when police are hurting, maiming, and killing kids; how can they be following any kind of procedure? When we lock away a teenager for 65 years for a teenage mistake, when we treat them as an adult when they are no where near being one, what does that say about the value a society places on our kids?

For a supposedly ‘civilized and developed” society, we have some very barbaric views and practices when it comes to children, because even the most primitive cultures for the most part have a simple and sacred rule about children. CHILDREN ARE TO BE PROTECTED!

How does a society allow police officers to hurt and kill our children and not only face no legal consequence but keep their jobs?

Am I missing something here? What changed? Or have we always allowed this, and we are just noticing?

Law enforcement is a job, it is not a profession, because a profession means you have truly certified professionals doing the job. Maybe it is time we required professionals?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

PS, there is no justification possible for what is happening, so please do not troll and give the usual arguments.

Constitution for all or just the people you like and agree with?

Patriotism: “devoted love, support, and defense of one's country; national loyalty”.  Nowhere in this definition does it say hate. Furthermore, since only about 0.5 percent of the population are serving in the military, being patriot is not just the providence of military folks. You do not have to have been a combat veteran in order to truly have served in the military (most military veterans have not and will not see combat)

Showing ignorance and hatred towards a group, religion, or people is not patriotic!

People practice patriotism everyday by being good citizens, raising good citizens, and by being kind to your neighbors. Trying to live a good life and helping others live a good life, despite the struggles we all have, while struggling to put food on the table, and never giving up, is about as patriotic as you can get!

If you do not have a flag in front of your house it does not mean you are unpatriotic (most of you are breaking flag code by the way), you can disagree (and should disagree) with your government and still love your country, and you can dislike aspects of your country and still be patriotic. After all, we want it to get better right?

America cannot get better if you truly do not believe we should all be treated equally. I am not saying we all have to agree all the time, in fact healthy disagreement is good for growth; but at least disagree with the intent to try and find common ground and not just to argue. We do not have to believe in the same things, but we are entitled to our own individual beliefs.

The Constitution: if you do not believe we are all entitled to its rights and protections, then you really do not believe in it all.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Comments and healthy debate are welcome, disrespect will not be tolerated.

Education: a funny profession we work in

I have been fortunate to have worked in education for more than 20 years now, but, there are some days I say to myself: WHY?!

I have seen kids grow from teenagers to adults with kids, I have been invited to wedding, been to some their funerals. I have been a passenger on my students’ journey.

Along the way I have met some great people, I have also met some horrible people who made me wonder about humanity.

I have learned that as educators we tend to be gossipy in nature, and not just about students but about each other. I have learned that we must simply struggle to make ends meet sometimes, but that there is always a way. I have been laid off more times than I care, but I have always worked. I have worked for some wonderful institutions, and I have found wonderful opportunities only to lose them to something completely beyond my control.

Education is a rollcoaster, and that is a pity. It is a pity because we are supposed to always be that stable presence in the lives of our students, we are supposed to that rock that keeps the country steady. After all, a good education should lead to even better opportunities right? It should not be a rollcoaster, it should be a steady train that is always on time and always reaches its destination.

Education should not play favorites in the classroom, nor should it play favorites to determine who gets to teach in the classroom. It should not be who you know, but how much can you demonstrate and impart (on to others) what you know.

What have we done to change the system we have? What are we allowing others (who are not qualified education professionals) to do to our profession? Are there plans for true change? Are there plans for the for-profit sector and non-profit/traditional sector to sit down and learn from each other?

I could go on, as could anyone who is passionate about this profession could; but I wish I couldn’t. I wish I had all the answers, or better still, the right questions to ask so we could all find the right answers.

What are you doing to steady the ship? What are you doing to get our profession into the 21^st century? Those involved in education policy who are not educators: what are you doing to help educators and to work collaboratively with educators?

Share your stories, some positive news is always welcomed!

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

Managers need training!

Managers,

Do you find yourself always listening to what people around you say simply so you can give your opinion?

Do you find yourself always having to give advice to other people’s lives and things such as: the food they eat, their lifestyle choices, or their political choices: even though nobody asked you?

Do you find yourself always wondering why everyone is wrong and why you are always right?

Do you find yourself always looking over the shoulder of your really good experienced employees to the point that they do not feel satisfied with their job anymore and leave?

Wouldn’t it be nice to actually feel secure about insecure yourself and make others feel more secure and appreciated in their jobs?

Do no despair! You can get help for it, it is called training! Management training is a real thing, you no longer must keep “faking it until you make it”.

If you are serious, feel to reach out the ETeam and we will happily point you in the right direction! http://www.theeteamconsulting.com/contact-us.html

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam

#certification #leadership #training #management #theeteam

Judgment, hypocrisy, and other sins in today’s world

Are you always the perfect one and everyone else is slacker? Do you have all the answers all the time? Do you find yourself pushing your views on people and attempting to make them feel guilty about not thinking like you? Do you like to announce to the world your latest diet and then make sure everyone eats just like you? Are you the only person in the world who cares about the environment and the downtrodden? Then congratulations! You are probably suffering from something, and ticking off a lot of people around you!

I know this is a sarcastic way to start an article, but sometimes things like this need to be said. This is not about politics and political parties, and this is not about social justice or morality. This is about how the internet has made everyone an expert, this how social media has made people forget how to be truly social with real people, and this how the term “IN VINO VERITAS” became a reality due to the anonymity of mobile technology.

We are witnessing hypocrisy in its highest form by people who are supposed to profess Christian values, and we are witnessing a mockery of religion from those who claim to be Christians. Mahatma Gandhi famously said “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ”. This could also be said for Islam, and Judaism; the world’s other largest religions. Hate has always been spewed in the name of religion, but now we have to hear and see it in this never ending news cycle.
 It is ok to believe what you want to believe, it is ok to support whatever politics you want to support. Whatever you believe and whatever you support, make sure you are espousing your own thoughts and using your own words, make sure that your beliefs are part of the authentic you; and make sure that you are consistent and not a double-standard hypocrite

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam                  

PS, I do not claim any religious expertise, but I though these quote from 3 religious books were appropriate

·         John 4:20: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen”.

·         Surah AT – Tawbah – Verse 67: “The hypocrite men and the hypocrite women are as one another; they enjoin evil and forbid good, and they keep their hands shut. They have forsaken Allah, so He has forsaken them, (too). The hypocrites are indeed the transgressors.”

·         Sotah 22: “What is a pious fool like? For example he sees a woman drowning in the river, and he says: 'It is improper for me to look upon her and rescue her'”. Piety is great but misplaced piety is deadly. 

Big Ideas 2019?

I think too often we are infatuated with the thought of the next big thing. However, that is not the way the world works or life works. Life does not have big problems every day and there are not big discoveries every day. Big problems are often made of many little problems we let build up, and big discoveries are often built on the backs of several smaller discoveries.

Rather than focus on the big, maybe we need to focus on the basics. In education, we need to focus on what we can truly do to change and innovate education to serve the next generation of people; we really have not done that in decades. Remember, technology is a tool not a change.

In life, perhaps we need to focus on the minutia such as: respect, courtesy, acceptance, and we need to judge less. We need to understand rather than just listening to respond. We need to remember that social media is not an excuse to act like a horse’s behind. We need to remember that we are all human, and we will probably all need each other at some point; whether we know it or not.

2019, the big idea is a small idea; let’s just be kind to one another, and not just on Christmas. This is a perfect world thought, but what is bad about reaching for perfection?

#BigIdeas2019 #education #leadership #TheETeam

Dr Flavius Akerele III

The ETeam

Communication in the day and age of electronic messaging: an educator’s thoughts

We have so many more formats for communicating our various messages currently, and that is not a bad thing because we all communicate a receive messages in different ways. This has the possibility of creating understanding for everyone.

However, we all have to regularly do some soul searching sometimes ask ourselves: could those complaints about bad communication I keep getting be my fault? No one likes to have to self-reflect on the possibility that something is their fault, but we because of all these new modes of communication, that is exactly what we have to do from time to time.

·         Is the message about you or about various things that have happened?

·         Are you aware of the other people various daily struggles?

·         What is the message you are trying to convey, and does it have a purpose towards the greater good?

I am not talking about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, I am simply saying that we are all wrong sometimes so stop blaming others. Maybe it isn’t even that big of a deal and just small request. Maybe the message has never been clear.

As a leader, you must remember that it is not about just you, it is about the people you are trying to lead in the direction of your vision. You need to share that vision first, and make sure it is understood.

Lessons from a 2.0 MBA Program

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam