This is Jennifer Gonzales, welcoming you to episode 221 of the Cult of pedagogy podcast.

In this episode, we're going to talk about a simple photography project that helped teachers in one school

see each other through a different lens. Something about teaching that we rarely talk about is how teachers are almost

expected to suppress parts of their humanity in order to do their jobs. There's kind of an

unspoken standard that being professional means you must bring a more neutral

more bland version of yourself to the classroom.

While this could be said for all kinds of jobs, because teachers work with kids, there's

a little extra pressure to be mindful of being a role model, to remember that you're

there to serve, and to never forget that this work is about the kids, not you. And that's

fine.

It certainly isn't on the list of complaints that teachers have about their jobs.

And no one gets into this profession to be some kind of a celebrity.

But every now and then, I think it would be nice if teachers got more of a true

spotlight, if they felt a little more seen as the full humans they are. This is what I was thinking when I saw a collection of

portraits taken by Dan Tricarico, a high school English teacher in San Diego and

author of two books for teachers, the Zen teacher creating focused

simplicity and tranquility in the classroom and sanctuaries self-care for

stressed out teachers. Dan's specialty is mindfulness in a school context.

So when he started taking photos around his school campus, it was done in an effort to pay

closer attention and more deeply appreciate his surroundings.

After a little while, though, his focus shifted to portraits of his colleagues,

really stunning images that captured each teacher's personality in a way a yearbook

...