By W. Gary Martin, MTEP 2.0 principal investigator and Support Hub leader
If you are like me, you often have good intentions about advocacy but just have a hard time getting started. Fortunately, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has created an excellent guide called "Be an Advocate" to help us get started. I encourage you to read this short document, but the following are a few highlights that stand out to me:
- A three-step approach to clarifying the issue you are advocating about: "often the most effective advocates have identified a problem, its causes, and a would-be solution." This approach may seem somewhat obvious to those of us involved with NICs, but as the guide suggests, we need to be able to answer the question, "How can we solve this problem?"
- Another three-step approach to reading an effective message: devise a compelling story that illustrates the importance of the problem, provide any data that can strengthen your argument, and explain how your solution supports what you are asking for.
- A final set of three steps helps us to take action, emphasizing the importance of showing up, developing relationships, and being willing to serve as a resource.
I am committing to giving this a try in the coming month, and I encourage you to do the same! We can do this! Please share your experiences in this discussion.
Advocacy Corner: Each article will feature a few ways you and your programs can advocate for your programs and the profession. With the ever-changing political landscape, it’s important our voices, the voices of the teachers we prepare and the students they impact, are elevated and heard. The ideas presented each month are only suggestions and do not represent an endorsement of one organization, app, or tool over another. Have a favorite way you advocate? Please send additional suggestions for this list to mleadabrand2@unl.edu.