How to keep the qualities of the face-to-face meeting

With the new social media landscape and the multitude of possibilities to get connected electronically, we often forget that meeting face-to-face is the most stimulating way for communication. Chat is needed for questions and short, rather superficial messages. Blogs can go deeper, but as our Estonian friends wrote, a face-to-face meeting is more stimulating and dynamic and we learn more from each other, which is the heart of the Society. GoToMeeting, Skype, etc. are wonderful tools for electronic meetings but not a holistic way to learn, engage, and develop new ideas. An active network is very important for the educational future, both at national and international levels. Physical meetings are important in this respect. In the European countries, there is a decline in the interest of young teachers to be active members of teacher organisations due to both the development of social media and through lack of time. DKG Society has a very important mission to try to identify ways forward. Our Society is unique, not only owing to our core values but also that we are the only pedagogical organisation which engages teachers from all levels, all fields and with an international diversity, both geographically and culturally.  So, we need to highlight the importance of face-to-face meetings both at thematic conferences and at international conventions, and we need to find an electronic communication which is closer to face-to-face discussion. If you have fresh ideas, Iet’s try the blog to discuss.

Study Abroad: World Fellowship Helps!

World Fellowship (WF) applications submitted for 2019 offered valuable and interesting reasons that helped the committee determine who would best benefit from receiving WF funds. Some reasons were academic while others noted more global emphasis and personal motivation. All provided a better understanding of how World Fellowship Program provides women around the world the opportunity to have additional support to complete their postgraduate studies and give back to their own communities.
A major reason that women submit a WF application centers on academics. Applicants often express a need to learn more from international organizations that contribute to training programs. They seek broader and specialized knowledge in the disciplines they study within the United States and Canada. Another reason, commonly cited, is the applicant’s desire to expand her view of the world through cultural exchange, closely associated with the importance given to becoming more of a citizen of the world.
But, there are additional emotional factors tied to the environment in which these women have grown and developed academically and socially. Some of the applicants' countries of origin suffer internal wars: genocide; lack of freedom of the press; racial, religious and cultural discrimination; and other discriminatory practices. The fact that they are women prevents them from finding support in their families, communities, and countries. An educated, strengthened woman can help change these situations upon her return. Most WF recipients, knowing this, express the desire to return and make a difference in their communities upon obtaining the educational degrees they earn.
DKG through its association with World Fellowship actively contributes to improving the quality of life for those women who are distinguished with a World Fellowship Program grant. DKG member contributions made a difference in the individual and in the communities these recipients represent worldwide.

Share, Share, Share through Publicity and Marketing

 

In the last blog post, we talked about the goods and services that DKG promotes and provides that we can MARKET. Now let’s talk Publicity! How are we currently publicizing what we do? Many chapters and states are already using LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media, which are proven, effective ways to connect to our current customers (members). Consistency in posting and sharing information is key to an effective site. “Use it or lose it,” so they say. These are vehicles that are at our fingertips so that we can share, share, share! You want to be the reliable, go-to source for your members. Pictures are worth a thousand words (be sure to have member’s permission). Develop and maintain a chapter or state website to inform members about activities and upcoming events. Consider partnering with other local and state organizations to provide learning opportunities for educators and publicize what we are doing!

Each one of us has an impact on education so let’s get LOUD! Let’s bring new ideas to the table to market and publicize ourselves across the globe. Together, we CAN make a huge impact on teachers, students and their families!

WE ARE DKG!! Let’s Share it!

At DKG, we provide a service and want the world to know about it!

A recent Collegial Exchange article centered around questions “What is Marketing?” and “What is Publicity?” So, let’s talk about it! Marketing is about how you reach your customers to “sell” your goods or services. Publicity, on the other hand, is about gaining public awareness for a product or service through media, albeit social media, television, radio, or print.

Here at DKG, what are our “goods and services?” We know we are leading women educators who are actively engaged in promoting personal and professional growth. Our members are individuals who are concerned about educational issues worldwide and we often partner on projects that support education in developing countries. We also have a voice in educational policies that impact students and their families.

We are not just an organization of teachers and principals. We are educators in a plethora of settings-- for example, a school nurse or librarian, college professor, a scientist, a researcher for an education-focused law firm, an early childhood educator at a local daycare. Most recently, we began to induct collegiate women to increase opportunities for mentoring. These are all the ways we can promote our goods and services to recruit top-level educators to join our organization.

We provide scholarships and stipends for members to continue their education or realize projects that make a difference in their communities, which is wonderful, but are we really reaching our core “consumers”? Are we “marketing” our organization to bring awareness to who we really are, what we really do, and what our mission is?

How Should We Honor Our Deceased Members?

Focus #1: 

Honoring a Deceased Member…
The International Membership Committee is often asked about the need for chapters and state organizations to strictly adhere to the published procedural practices when planning the Celebration of Life/ Remembrance/Necrology Ceremony for a deceased member.

Our response is that chapters and state organizations are free to honor their deceased members by any processes and procedures they choose. Chapters and state organizations are not bound or restricted to any International Ceremony of Life/Remembrance/Necrology Service, including those suggested on the website or other publications.

The content of the ceremony is entirely at the chapter and state discretion. Many chapters and state organization do choose the traditional published ceremonies to provide continuity of practice. It is their choice.

Individualized ceremonies remind us of the personal aspects of our deceased member’s contributions to DKG. The International Membership Committee encourages unique and personal tributes appropriate to the memory of members; whether that be through printed biographies, testimonies, photographic displays, PowerPoints, necrology readings, music, artistic displays, deciding on the use of roses/ academic regalia or candles, or a combination of these or other enclosures when developing a personalized ceremony.

The important factor is to honor the member and to remember her service to DKG.