The rats 🐀 living in Sir Tanko’s house are the fattest on the street; that’s their emblem. When people see them, they know where they’ve come from and where they’re headed. Sir Tanko wasn’t quite pleased with this ‘reputation’ of his, so he thought to do something about the rats. He got a cat 🐈.
Bad news for the rats! They couldn’t move about as freely as before and lost many meals and loved ones to their ferocious new neighbour.
They quickly called a meeting. ‘What do we do about this cat?’ they asked one another. Several ideas came up, but none was feasible. Finally, a young rat spoke.
“While the cat takes a nap, let’s tie a bell 🔔 around its neck, so that whenever it moves, we will hear it ring, know the cat is coming, and then hide.”
All the cats agreed it was a fantastic idea 💡. They applauded the young rat and hailed his wisdom. They cheered 🍻 and celebrated 🍾 how they’ve finally come up with an idea to outsmart the cat. Some of them even said things like, ‘See why we should let young people lead this country? They have a lot to offer.’
When there was a bit of calm, an old rat raised his hand and said, ‘Solid idea my young friend! So, which one of us will bell the cat?’
Every rat went quiet 🤫! None would take the risk to bell the cat.
As teachers, almost daily, we find ourselves in many situations where we have to seize the bull’s horn or blaze a trail 👣 in a bush. There are many uncharted territories in education, and those who choose to be the first to chart a course become heroes and beacons of light for others.
You must not be afraid to take risks with new knowledge, for instance. Get permission from your supervisor, if required, then explore. You, your learners, and your school will be the better for it.
When you’re in a staff meeting and your boss asks for suggestions, be the first to speak. Many times, your idea, albeit insignificant in your mind, will be the ember that fans to flame 🔥 more ideas in people’s minds. I learnt from a boss at AGDC (Afterschool Graduate Development Centre) that this simple trick is the secret that helped me get my job with Corona Schools in 2011, amongst over 4000 applicants [More on that in another article].
Approach difficult parents with confidence. Let’s face it, even school leaders sometimes avoid having to confront some difficult parents. Yet, you must not be the kind of teacher who passes the buck. As a matter of practice, I don’t let my bosses deal with parents for me, unless the parent took the issue directly to my boss, in which case I sometimes politely ask that I tend to the matter myself.
In summary, bell 🔔 your cat 🐈. What’s the worst that could happen? You fail and then you learn!
These are the few ideas that this story brought to mind. Are there more ideas you can think of? Please share in the comment section. I’d like to learn from you.
If you want this article to help you grow, then take the Bell that Cat exercises in the Workspace section.
Thank you for reading. Share this article with any teacher you know.
Got questions? Do you need advice or have a story/experience to share? Pour your thoughts in the comments box. Let’s create a family on this page. Or you can email me privately via leke@penspeakers.com.
14 thoughts on “Bell that Cat”
Great lesson! Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you Pastor Omoniyi.
I’m not a classroom teacher but the lessons here are solid and I’m taking them with me to my homeschooling space. What cat do I need to bell as I teach my daughter? Food for Dee thought. Well done Leke
Glad you found this thought-provoking Lois.
Beautiful piece Mr Amoo. This is a timeless allegory of the benefits of having diverse personalities in a formidable team. Most often,we tend to amplify the voices of the extroverted orator and tend to consciously or unconsciously silence the unsure inexperience introverts. The most interesting thing is that,most of the groundbreaking and innovative ideas come from the inexperience as they see only possibilities.
I have had the privilege to be the head of successful teams in the past, and my secret ingredient is to study the lips and expressions,in addition to what is discussed and agreed in meetings. I,then have private meetings,to get the opinions of those who are not bold enough to speak in meetings.
Great ideas come from the inexperience,but then, you will need a great collaboration with the old guns,who has seen it all,to implement the ideas.
Solid thoughts Francis.
Great lesson to learn from, sir.
Taking the 21CLD exam today, vast majority of the educators were waiting for who will first attempt the exam. Myself and Richard “decided to bell the cat” by being the sacrificial lamb. Thank Grace we scaled through.
Exactly! You paced the way… blazed the trail and others followed. Kudos! 👏
Characteristic of Lekean philosophy! However, I’d like to think that the ideas are ostensive and, in practice, banjaxed.
Did the rats succeed in belling the cat? This is central to my position. It has the connotations of untenable idealistic posturing. We need to capture the realities of our private schools in situating your thoughts in our subsisting educational clime which disables the nurturing of your ideas. As such, the essential omissions are discernible.
We are aware that schools shield teachers from any form of communication with parents, for instance. I’ve been to places where teachers’ ideas don’t count and they are not given the opportunity to raise any because it is believed that whatever ideas they have are jejune and pigmy as the teachers themselves. In such situation, they do not initiate ideas; they merely take instructions. These are the realities of some of our schools.
As to the actual belling of the cat in the workplace like ours, that will be a menu for another day. But our inexhaustible ideas about better alternatives must be matched with our infinite capacities for attaining them until the cat is eventually belled!
My parents would say, we can’t all sleep facing the same direction. Our experiences differ and colour our perspective to things. Thanks for your robust comment. I’m glad you pick a thing or two.
As a grounded teacher/caregiver, indeed the lessons here are really impacted and helpful in our world of today. My daughters will really benefit from this experience of mine from this article. Well-done Leke, you’re indeed inspiring.
Thank you Isaac. I am certain your daughters will learn a lot from you.
This is beautiful, well written and articulated alot to learn from this. More grace to keep building us up sir.
Amen. Thanks Bright.