Rita F. Pierson was an educator as a part of a tradition that spanned three different generations. Both her parents and her mother’s parents worked in the same profession, and she took inspiration from their work and took up the same career path. Mrs. Pierson spent forty years in the trade, throughout which she worked with numerous children and interacted with other teachers. Unfortunately, shortly after giving a TED talk on education and the teacher’s relationship with the children they teach, she died. This paper will summarize the talk and discuss its traits as well as those of the speaker.
The author chose it because the topic of children and how they are to be treated, especially when they struggle, is highly relevant to them. The key message of the talk is that the educator should try to convince the children to like them to succeed. According to Pierson (2013), the teacher is an actor, one that acts bravely regardless of the situation and is a champion to the child, never giving up on them and encouraging them to do their best. The job is difficult, but it is rewarded through the relationships they form and the difference they create.
The target audience for the talk is younger teachers who are trying to understand their relationship with their students. The speaker was engaging because of the practical examples she gave, which helped illustrate the concepts that she tried to explain. She was knowledgeable and experienced, which provided additional credibility to her ideas, especially because she offered the perspectives of some other teachers. Overall, the author would identify the speaker as an ethical one; she was respectful and did not appear to plagiarize information or be untruthful.
Reference
Pierson, R. F. (2013). Every kid needs a champion [Video]. TED.