in the classroom
But a very important genre , the third one I want to mention , are teachers being very realistic and pragmatic about the challenges in their job , supporting each other by curating resources , being very transparent about well-being and mental health issues , and pushing for more people to have empathy and awareness about what goes on behind the scenes in a very demanding profession .
What are teacher ’ s motivations for posting on TikTok ? I ’ m the founder of the TikTok Cultures Research Network , and we ’ ve been looking at TikTok since 2019 . The larger contexts we need to keep in mind here is that TikTok became mainstream internationally during the pandemic when people were in mass self-isolation around the world , where they had to turn to digital media and social media to feel connected with other people , and various professions were forced into mass digitalization .
The original story of Teach Tok was teachers who were trying to cope with this sudden interruption to their profession and jobs , needing to produce online content with little to no training or resources , sometimes teaching in the empty classroom and doing video recording , sometimes during recording in their own bedrooms at home in order to keep up with educating their students in that time . So it was a matter of necessity in the very beginning .
But as the pandemic progressed on , a lot of teachers continued being on Teach Tok because they wanted to remain connected with their students , and being able to feel that kind of relatability and friendliness allowed these teachers to better understand young people , especially Gen Z and connect to them .
There are definitely a lot of different types of motivations as time has gone by , including some aspiring teachers wanting to build a portfolio before they gain their professional accreditation , some perhaps part-time or retired teachers wanting to branch into the influencer industry , relying on their teaching knowledge , but also sometimes this is just a way for teachers to connect with other people in their profession to network and to build friendships across the globe .
How can this improve public perceptions of teaching ? It ’ s a hit and a miss sometimes because on one level , if your audience is already open to wanting to learn about the profession , there ’ s definitely a lot for us to glimpse into the behind the scenes of this very , very contentious and demanding profession .
But from our study , we ’ ve also seen that sometimes in the comment section , for better or for worse , these teachers end up expecting or receiving more policing and surveillance by people nit-picking on them , criticising them , and having that work life / personal life boundary broken up even further . So it doesn ’ t always guarantee success .
We also need to bear in mind that not everybody is on TikTok . Chances are if you are there and you enjoy using the platform , you already schooled in some of the sensibilities of knowing this is a space where a lot of people pursue various social justice pursuits , represent their demographic , and want to better the world through entertainment , comedy or humour . So the audience reach shouldn ’ t also be overstated . It could be that the people these teachers want to reach are just not yet watching them .
How do teachers being online affect relationships with students ? This is a very big question for which we need to think a bit more broadly about the larger culture of influencers . For those of us who may not be familiar with the concept , influencers are generally these very prolific , very visible internet celebrities who manage to use the contents that they put online and convert them into monetizing opportunities .
Most of the time , influencers do this by sharing , maybe a bit oversharing , their personal lives to build rapport with the audiences .
In the same way , teachers on social media might be coming across as more friendly , more accessible because that is what is demanded of them in order for people to want to keep watching them on TikTok in order for their audiences to grow , and sometimes students may forget that just because the teacher is performing that friendliness and seems very accessible online doesn ’ t mean that they lose authority in the classroom .
It doesn ’ t mean that we now have the right to speak to them in a condescending manner or lose respect in the way we communicate . So that friendliness that we feel with people online , these parasocial relations , sometimes causes students to forget some basic decorum , and sometimes the teachers struggle with moments of respect and authority outside of TikTok back in the classroom .
What ’ s next for Teach Tok ? Teachers are getting younger and younger , and as newer cohorts of teachers join the profession , they ’ re also the groups of young people who grew up with social media . So it feels second nature for them to just adapt social media use into their profession . That ’ s one take .
Secondly , I think a lot of institutions , a lot of schools , are now realising that the digital is very important . COVID has taught us that we need to have infrastructure and protocols in place for when there is periods of distant learning or when periods of self-isolation . And oftentimes , a lot of this labour was already pioneered by teachers who were just making things up on-thefly , that ad hoc contingency planning during COVID . It was all labour that was contingent upon the teachers figuring it out in the moment of mass chaos in the world at that time . So we also see that the institutions are realising the value of social media and digital and perhaps encouraging teachers to do more of that .
On the other hand , we need to bear in mind , though , worldwide , almost every profession is now turning to social media to promote their wares and help their businesses . So there is the risk that overall , the credibility of professionals on social media might be watered down because we value credentials and respect for professionals online differently . We might measure them by the number of likes or comments or subscribers or followers , whereas traditionally , outside of social media , you might look for certification , years of experience in the classroom , other formal types of KPI .
So with these two different letters of how we evaluate expertise , Teach Tok could start to look very different from what an ideal teacher is in the classroom . Then of course , this would vary depending on the country and culture contexts , depending on the institutional and department guidelines as they evolve over time . ■
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