Contact

My email: doldfield@k12.wv.us or oldfield.derek@gmail.com

@Mr_Oldfield on Twitter and Voxer

2 thoughts on “Contact

  1. Hi, Derek,

    We have met virtually at #wvedchat and I believe through the WVLearns. I am really impressed with the format you used here.

    I would not be surprised to see you get that leadership position.

    Just a thought here as an older woman. In my opinion it is very good for you to show your family. For men it shows stability and commitment. I am not sure it would be advisable for a woman seeking a leadership position to show her family. (Forgive me as this is my philosophical side.) I would like to know your thoughts about this.

    • Hi Pam, I’m glad we’ve connected! I remember you from the chats. Thank you very much for the feedback on the site format. I’m still in the process of adding things here and there as I see them used effectively in other places.

      As for showing my family… It’s also my subtle attempt to share my position on personal life vs professional life. For me, there’s little distinction between the two. Obviously I have a family and a life beyond those 8 contract hours Monday – Friday, but my family is well aware of my passions and I hope when Miley (my daughter) grows up, she’ll find a career that allows her to live our her passions. I want my life to serve as inspiration for her. My wife is also an educator so it’s not unreasonable for me to say that my family shares my passion. It would be a lie for me to draw rigid lines in the sand that separate my professional life from my personal life. I’m not certain any educator can do that in the glass bottles we live in today with social media. I suppose there are still some educators that lead very private lives outside of school, but most people have added a level of transparency to their lives through social media use. That puts a measure of accountability and responsibility on educators to live the life of someone that would inspire young people. Should women seeking leadership positions show a bit of their personal life through images of their family? I’m 32 years old, I’m wondering if another generation would answer this differently. I’ll retreat to my comments above and say that forward thinking district leaders would seek out potential school leaders whose passion goes beyond the 7:30-3:30 school day. Without going into details, my thoughts are likely influenced by the gender roles my wife and I share in our relationship. I guess we’re a product of a younger generation where both spouses work away from the home, so things like laundry, dinner, dishes, cleaning, etc. are very much shared duties in our house.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *