Benefits of tweeting for an International Head
by Mark Leppard, Principal Doha College
Love it, or hate it, social media is here and it is only going to grow. The generation we teach treats it as the norm, and many do not know of the time before social media, unless it is explained through a History lesson!
As a Head of a leading International school @DohaCollege, I am amazed at how we have embraced Twitter. Not only as a school, but also as individual departments, college projects, our own conferences and student led committees.
"It is a brilliant way of keeping up-to-date with what is taking place, and an amazing way to showcase, as well as raise topics for discussion."
Not to be outdone, I decided to tweet as the Principal of Doha College "DCprincipal" @mark_leppard. Initially, it was about dipping my toe into the water, but now, I use it for discovering great leadership articles, promoting the college and sharing some thought provoking ideas. I was amazed that anybody, let alone our students voluntarily chose to follow me!
As an International Head, you can sometimes feel detached from the UK, mainly due to distance.
"However, an enormous benefit is that by tweeting, I feel far more informed and this information is instant."
Therefore, I am hearing about new developments at exactly the same time as my UK based counterparts. This benefits of this cannot be over emphasised.
I would highly recommend tweeting as a Head, even if you are more a follower, although in your position, I imagine you will enjoy being followed just as much!
THREE SIMPLE STEPS TO TWEETING
Set-up an account and start following (listening/research)
Start to retweet and comment on other people’s tweets (participation)
Create your own opinions and tweets for others to follow (opinion former)
The video below by @SimonNoakes (MD @intSchools) describes this in more detail.
