Category Archives: Teacher Support

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Why Am I a Teacher?

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Discipleship Ministries

Who Am I as a Teacher?

by Diana L. Hynson

We teach and lead because God has called us to do so. For thousands of years God has asked people to participate in the work of helping others come to know God and live as people of faith. These teachers and leaders have come in many shapes and forms, from many backgrounds, and with many levels of ability. But each has somehow heard a call to teach and has responded.

You may not even realize that you responded to a call. You may think you merely answered a plea for help, or just knew it was your turn to help the third graders! But God’s call can come in many ways:

  • through the voice of a friend
  • through prayerful discernment
  • from the challenge of a sermon
  • by identifying your spiritual gifts
  • upon seeing a need and responding
  • through the strong movement of the Holy Spirit
  • even by a seeming accident as you “fall” into teaching.

 

Take a brief inventory before exploring Basics of Teaching.

Read each statement; then circle the number that best describes your situation.

1 = Not at all; 2 = Somewhat; 3 = Mostly; 4 = Definitely

 

1 2 3 4 I understand that my teaching is in response to a call from God.
1 2 3 4 I know I never enter a classroom alone, for God is always present with me.
1 2 3 4 I understand that one of my primary roles as a teacher is to model the Christian faith to the best of my ability.
1 2 3 4 I believe the role of a teacher is not only to share information but also to create an environment where God can transform us into the people God wants us to be.
1 2 3 4 I understand how the primary task of the local congregation relates to my role as a teacher.
1 2 3 4 I know that people prefer different learning styles, and I am able to incorporate these different styles into my lesson plans.
1 2 3 4 I use a wide variety of methods in my teaching, and I am able to adapt them to the preferences of my class.

 

Why We Teach
Students, Participants, and Partners in Teaching
The Role of a Teacher
The Primary Task of Every Congregation
Many Ways to Teach
Using Curriculum Resources

 

WHY WE TEACH
You are called. Read the story of Moses’ call to leadership in Exodus 3:1–4:17. Notice some of Moses’ feelings and concerns that you also experienced when first asked to teach or lead. God’s call to you may not be as flashy as Moses’ call through a burning bush, but God’s need of you and God’s promise of support are just as strong as they were in biblical times.

Like Moses, your first reaction to a call may have been reluctance or fear. That’s normal. When God gives us a task, it can seem overwhelming and we may feel ill-equipped. Moses tried to argue with God and pointed out all of his own personal shortcomings. God assured Moses that his gifts were sufficient and that help would arrive when needed. Like Moses, we can be assured that God will use whatever skills we have and that we will find the help we need to be an effective teacher or leader.

 

God’s Presence
God does not call us and then leave us alone. As a teacher and spiritual leader, you have the promise that God will be with you. Story after story in the Bible tells us that God wants to be in relationship with us and to be present for us at all times. For example, “I will be with you,” God says to Moses in Exodus 3:12, and promises to help. When God sends Aaron to assist Moses, God adds, “I will . . . teach you what you shall do” (Exodus 4:15).

Jesus promised his followers that the Holy Spirit would be with them: “. . . I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (John 14:14-16). You can trust that God’s Spirit is present with you in the classroom, enabling you to accomplish things you could not do on your own.

A wise teacher once told a group of people who were learning how to teach that “God goes before me into every classroom I enter. God is present in that room before, during, and after I teach. I don’t have to do it all.” God is already present and working in the lives of the people you lead. God will continue to work within them long after you are no longer around. Thanks be to God!

God’s presence also assumes God’s grace. In church we often hear, sing, and read about the concept of grace. Very simply, grace means God’s loving concern for every person. There is nothing we can do to earn it; God simply loves us. There is no certain number of good deeds we must perform to qualify for it; we just receive it. Grace is the overwhelming, undeserved blessing of God’s love. It is this grace that surrounds us, supports us, and helps us lead and teach. You are not responsible for changing the lives of your students by your teaching; it is the God of grace who does this. You just tell the story of God’s love, and trust God to do the rest.

As a teacher you may encounter the term means of grace. This refers to an action or practice that is a channel for God’s grace. Means of grace are things we do that bring us into contact with God and open the possibility for us to grow closer to God. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, felt that each Christian (especially leaders) should be involved in these practices. The means of grace include (but are not limited to)

  • prayer
  • bible study
  • worship
  • Holy Communion
  • fasting
  • acts of service and compassion
  • Christian conferencing (talking together about our faith)

As teachers and leaders we should be thinking about how we are personally involved in these means of grace and how we can help our students learn to practice them. The very act of teaching can be a means of grace. As we teach and as we open ourselves to learn, God’s mysterious work of grace happens; and all of us—teachers and learners alike—are transformed.

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
1.Reread and reflect on the Scriptures mentioned above. Use them in a devotional setting–let the words seep into your heart; look for the word of God to you. What do these stories and promises hold for you? Do you have experience of God in ways suggested by those passages? How is God calling you?

2.Look through The United Methodist Hymnal (or other hymnal used by your congregation). List the hymns that include the word grace. How is the word used? How do these hymns help you better understand the meaning of God’s grace?

 

For Further Study and Reflection
1.Gather with other teachers and small group leaders to share your stories and questions about how God has called you. What do you think God wants of each of you? What gifts do you see in yourself? Call forth and name the gifts and strengths you see in each other. Are any of those gifts complementary? How might you work together in different ways to enhance the teaching ministry?

2.Commit with other teachers to form a covenant group (for several weeks, at least) to study and consider prayerfully Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living, by Rueben P. Job (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007; available through Cokesbury). The third section specifically addresses the means of grace, but don’t skip the prior sections.

 

STUDENTS, PARTICIPANTS, AND PARTNERS IN TEACHING
No one comes to a class or small group completely “on empty.” The designated teacher not only has learners, but persons with something to offer as well.

A Cloud of Witnesses
Some of our best teachers are not immediately present. Who are some of the people who have been witnesses to the Christian faith? Who modeled or taught you what it means to be a follower of Christ? Thank God for their witness!

Hebrews 12 begins with the words, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses . . .” This phrase follows a long listing of biblical people who were examples of faith. People like Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Esther, David, Mary, Paul, and many others not called by name— these people have gone before us and sought to be faithful to God. You can add other names to this list: people who are important in the history of your local congregation, pastors who guided you, parents who taught you the faith, Sunday school teachers who helped you grow. You are “surrounded” by these people when you seek to lead a group or teach a lesson. You can almost imagine them sitting in a balcony of your classroom cheering you on!

Class Members
Whether you teach three-year-old children or older adults, whether your group has two members or two hundred, you can know that the Holy Spirit is present. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). A teacher learns quickly that students and group members quite often “teach” the teacher. Group members come with a wealth of experience, knowledge, and backgrounds that one leader cannot provide. Often a student will share an insight that the leader has never thought about. Even the youngest learners can teach by the questions they ask and the different perspectives they bring to the subject at hand. A young child’s spontaneous hug and “I love you” can teach the teacher something about God’s grace. Teaching is a mutual process where all share together in the experience of teaching and learning. The older the student or group member, the more they bring and the more they expect to be allowed to bring.

 

The Congregation
You have been asked to teach on behalf of your congregation. Hopefully the congregation is supporting you by providing the space, study materials, and supplies you need to be effective. Other ways congregations can support teachers include

  • providing prayer partners
  • offering spiritual growth and study opportunities for teachers
  • enlisting others to be substitute teachers or to serve on teaching teams
  • providing training events in the local congregation and/or sending teachers to district and conference training events
  • helping the entire congregation understand the value of the ministry of teaching.

If you would like to be supported in any of these ways, ask! Sometimes congregations just haven’t thought of all the possibilities.

 

The United Methodist Connection
United Methodist congregations are connected to one another in a special way. Local churches are joined together into districts; districts are joined into annual conferences; annual conferences are joined into jurisdictions; and jurisdictions are joined together with conferences outside the United States to make up the entire United Methodist denomination. The general agencies help support all of these different parts. Just as local congregations share their resources of money and service with these larger bodies, so the districts, conferences, and general agencies share their knowledge, resources, and skills with local congregations. Ask your pastor or Sunday school superintendent about training events and resources that might be available in your area. A district or conference staff person may be available to help provide training for teachers and leaders in your church. Perhaps several congregations located near one another could sponsor a joint learning event. General agencies provide written and internet-based resources that can be helpful.

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
1. Think more deeply about your own “cloud of witnesses.” What was it that made them good models and teachers? good spiritual mentors and leaders? Dig more deeply than, “She cared about me” to what it was that she did to demonstrate care or further than “the lessons were good” to what sort of preparation made them good. By delving more specifically into your reflections you can identify the success factors that you may be able to adopt and adapt. What have you learned that you can make your own?

2. Consider also the members of your class or group. What does each of them bring to the session? How might their knowledge and experience augment your own? What contributions have you missed so far that could add value to the rest of the group?

 

For Further Study and Reflection
1. Invite members of the congregation who are not currently in a class or group to meet together to share what inspiration, experience, gifts, strengths, or ideas they might contribute, on occasion, to the education ministry. Observers and past participants may have a perspective and gifts that need to be considered. Friends of the education ministry may be willing to be partners in some fashion, even if they are not present in a group each time it meets.

2. Call your conference office or go online to the conference web page to see what sort of helps are available.

 

THE ROLE OF A TEACHER 
You have probably known someone in your life who was a truly gifted teacher. He or she seemed to have a deep knowledge of a subject, effortlessly knew what method to use, and was able to inspire others to learn. In fact, teaching is identified in the New Testament as one of the spiritual gifts given to people to be used in God’s service.

Many of us may never claim the title of gifted teacher, but all of us fill a teaching role at some point. Anytime we encourage, share information, guide, support, challenge, parent, or tell another about how God has acted in our lives, we are filling a teaching role. One resource states it this way:

In a real sense, every person in the congregation participates in the teaching ministry. We teach through worship, through service, through engagement in the administrative tasks of the church. Everyone in the congregation is both teacher and learner. (From Foundations: Shaping the Ministry of Christian Education in Your Congregation; copyright © 1993 Discipleship Resources; used by permission; page 4.)

One of the characteristics of a good teacher is being a good learner and a good listener. Teachers model for their students the value of learning. We can never learn all there is to know about teaching, nor will we ever have all the answers. Trust, value, and seek the wisdom of your class or group members. Listen to the questions and reflections of their hearts, knowledge, and experience.

Who do you consider the best teacher you ever experienced? What did he or she do that was so memorable or effective? It may be helpful to think of the following three words to describe your role as a teacher:

 

  • model
  • formation
  • information

 

 

Model
A teacher is one who models the Christian faith, hopefully to the best of his or her ability. People learn by watching others’ actions and words. What we do is more powerful than what we say; how we live is stronger than how we claim we should live. Your students (of all ages) will watch you and learn from you. It is vital, then, that you model and teach well. The most powerful Christian teacher is one who not only recites, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31), but also actually practices it. An effective teacher is one whose faith is evidenced in his or her actions in the congregation and the community.

This does not mean that you cannot accept a teaching role until you are a perfect Christian. (If it did, our teaching ministry would have ended with Jesus!) It does mean that you understand the importance of seeking to grow into the likeness of Christ. A teacher should be growing in his or her own knowledge of the Bible, learning to pray, attending worship, and setting the example of a follower of Christ.

 

Formation
The role of a teacher of the faith is not just to pass on information or facts. It is to help people be formed as disciples (learners and followers) of Christ, and transformed into the people God has created them to be. Romans 12:2 says:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God— what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Transformation is the process of being converted or changed so that our fullest humanity can be realized. Sometimes transformation is a slow process, like water rushing over rocks for years and slowly changing their shapes. Other times it seems to happen much more quickly, like a river flooding over its banks and radically altering the shape of the land. In either instance, transformation is the work of God in our lives that changes us more and more from our current state of being into the people God wants us to be.

The good news for teachers is that we are not responsible for this transformation—God is! A teacher’s role is only to create places, times, and atmosphere where people can learn about God, hear the stories of Christian people, experience Christian community, and talk about how God may want them to live in their everyday world. We trust God to do the rest.

 

Information
Part of the teaching responsibility is, indeed, to share information. There is more to learn about the Christian faith than any of us can ever know: information about the Bible and the stories in the Bible, the history of the church, theology (or how people think and talk about God), facts about the beliefs and practices of The United Methodist Church, and much more.

Much of the information you will share will come from printed study resources provided by your congregation. Other information will come from your own personal study and reflection. Your class or group members will also bring their collective and individual wisdom. No teacher will ever know all the answers. Yet we can help people learn some important information that will help them know what it means to be a Christian and will assist them in their walk with God.

 

Building Relationships
Perhaps one of the most important things a teacher can do is build relationships. A teacher first works to strengthen his or her relationship with God. Daily prayer and reflection, study of Scripture, participation in worship, involvement in service activities—these are just a few of the practices that can draw each of us closer to God. Next, a teacher seeks to develop a strong relationship with the students or group members in the class. Few Christians remember much of what a Sunday school teacher actually taught them. What they remember most is the warm and caring relationship with the teacher—or the lack thereof! A good teacher also pays attention to the relationships between members of the group, helping them build an open, supportive Christian community.

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
1. Consider how your class time is spent in information-giving.

  • What do you do in your own class or group that informs?
  • What proportion of your time together is spent in getting the facts?
  • What emphasis is placed upon correct information? What happens when someone offers an answer that doesn’t square with the facts as you understand or present them?

2. Think next about how your class or group is structured to allow for formation and transformation.

  • Do participants feel free to offer insights and to ask questions?
  • Are all questions allowed or are there certain things “we don’t talk about in church!”?
  • Is there time given in the group session for reflection or something “off the subject”?
  • Is any part of the time spent for participants to reflect on what a text, comment, or Scripture means to them as a person of faith?
  • Are participants challenged (in age-appropriate ways) to live out what they learn? If so, do you also help participants reflect on their service or other experiences in light of Scripture?
  • Do you look for transformation and celebrate it when you see it?
  • How are you developing your relationship with members of your class or group? What kind of relationship do they have with one another? What could you do to help?

 

For Further Study and Reflection
1. Gather the other teachers and group leaders together to explore the reference materials that each of you has. What is in your church library or pastor’s study that might be available to you? Do you search out information in sources other than the printed curriculum or study Bible notes? Commit to more background study as part of your preparation for a month or so to see what difference it makes in your teaching.

2. Work with the other teachers, especially those who work with the same approximate age-level, to discuss how they structure the class for transformation. What can you learn from and teach to the others? If you are unsure about how to structure your time to allow for transformation, consider joining with several other people for your own devotional time together (not primarily study time). Use candles or icons for focus; take time to pray silently and together; search the Scriptures for the service challenges they offer you and embrace something. Go back to the group to reflect on your own experiences and to explore how to set a similar stage in your learning setting.

  • If you are an experienced teacher, consider being a mentor to a less experienced teacher. This could be in a formalized way, where you meet with the teacher on a regular basis to help him or her plan and to reflect upon what is happening in the classroom. Or it could be in a more informal process of sharing ideas, asking how things are going, or doing some joint activities.

THE PRIMARY TASK OF EVERY CONGREGATION 
The primary task of every congregation is

  • to reach out to welcome people where they are and to receive them as they are
  • to relate them to God through Jesus Christ
  • to nurture their growth in faith
  • to send them into the world to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The primary task as described here is not four things, but one task with several dimensions. That one task can also be described as disciple making. The commission to be God’s partner in making disciples is the responsibility of every congregation. All the ministries, including the ministry of education and Christian formation, should align around what it means for your congregation to make disciples in its own time and context. Each ministry area, class, and group has a stake in disciple making. It may be someone else’s “job,” but it surely is your job.

Some groups will do one dimension more completely than others, and so the complementarity of all the groups and classes is important. Together, they engage in the primary task– all dimensions of it.

As a teacher or leader of a small group, you can pay attention to this primary task by

  • creating a hospitable and welcoming atmosphere
  • helping your group members come to know God and Jesus Christ by creating a safe place for them to talk about issues of faith and life
  • encouraging your group members to grow and mature in faith through Bible study, discussion, learning activities, service, and worship
  • sending your group members forth to live as Christian disciples in order to make the world more loving and just.

Each week you help your students reflect on how they live out their faith in the community. Then you send them out to begin the process again.

This may sound complicated, but it can be as simple as calling a child by name as he or she enters the room and giving the child a hug, telling your students stories about God and Jesus Christ, talking with your students about how a Christian tries to follow Jesus, then praying as you send your students out that each child, youth, and adult can find a way to help others in the name of Jesus.

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
1. Think about this primary task by rewriting it in your own words or by drawing an image or diagram of it. What examples do you see of each dimension in the church, over all?
2. List the things that you do in your class that relate to each part of the primary task. If you are not addressing each dimension, what’s missing? What can you do to engage that dimension?

 

For Further Study and Reflection
Gather with a group of other teachers or education leaders and study the portions of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church (or the “marching orders” of your faith tradition) to gain further insight into the church’s mission and goals. How can you incorporate these understandings in your class or group and in the way you approach teaching?

 

MANY WAYS TO TEACH 
There are many different methods and activities to use in teaching and leading groups. There are entire books dedicated to explaining different ways to teach and learn. Most study resources designed for church classrooms suggest a number of different methods. Just remember that the most important person in deciding which method to use is not the teacher but the learner.

 

Ways People Learn
Listed below are a number of ways that individuals learn.

  • Words: Learn through reading, speaking, discussing, and other language-based activities.
  • Pictures: Learn through drawing, diagrams, and other visuals.
  • Physical Experience: Learn through dance, athletics, games, drama, building, holding or manipulating objects, and other physical action.
  • Music: Learn through singing, playing musical instruments, and other musical and rhythmic experiences.
  • Numbers and Patterns: Learn through puzzles, experiments, and other activities involving logical analysis, sequences, and patterns.
  • Self-Reflection: Learn through journaling, independent projects, and other reflective activities.
  • Social Experience: Learn through group discussion, group projects, roleplay, and other activities that involve working together.

 

The Needs of the Learner
An effective teacher has a deep knowledge about the students he or she teaches. Only after reflecting on the answers to the following questions should a teacher decide which methods to use.

  1. What are the specific age-level characteristics of the people you teach? Can they read? Are they able to understand abstract concepts?
  2. What are the physical characteristics of your students? Do they need lots of space to move around and work off energy? Are study materials in large print helpful? Do any group members have special physical needs, such as wheelchair accessibility or assistance in hearing?
  3. What are the life concerns that your group members are experiencing—new parents? divorce? retirement? For what are they searching?

Choose a variety of different methods so that over several weeks you can meet the needs of all of your group members. Don’t be afraid to try new methods and approaches—you may find your students more responsive than you think. (See also the teaching methods in Using Curriculum Resources.)

When you have carefully considered the answers to these questions and thought about your students’ needs and preferred ways of learning, you will be much better prepared to choose methods and activities that will make the class come alive. Remember—you teach people, not lessons!

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
1. Take the time to jot down answers to the three questions above. What insights have emerged from a thoughtful consideration of these questions that helps you understand your group members better?
2. There are numerous inventories related to multiple intelligences (the ways people learn). Search the internet for “multiple intelligences” to find an inventory and complete it yourself. If your group members are old enough to understand and complete an inventory, print it and ask them to complete it. (To avoid copyright violation, record the results and discard the inventories. Do not share them beyond the class.) Use this information to evaluate your teaching methods.

 

For Further Study and Reflection
Go back to the list of ways people learn and place each class or group member’s name by the way that seems strongest for them; then record the lowest scores in the same way. (Remember that there is no right or wrong to this; it just is.) Next look back over your past few lessons. If you adapted or eliminated activities, in what category did they fall? Did you favor your own strongest learning style(s)? In future planning/ adapting, try to offer a blend of several methodologies, then ask your group members to evaluate the session.

 

 

USING CURRICULUM RESOURCES
Most study materials provide a number of different options for teaching and learning activities. You will want to pick and choose among these options in light of the preferences of your class and your own level of comfort and interest. But the resource materials are only the beginning point for your lesson plan. You must make the lesson plan your own.

Some teachers like to teach from the book or leader’s guide. Others prefer to write out their plan or outline on a separate piece of paper. It doesn’t really matter how you go about it. The important thing is for you to know the material well enough to focus more on what is happening in the room than on your notes.

Be flexible! You never know what might happen when we gather to learn in God’s presence. If the Spirit is moving in the room and people begin to share in a deep manner, let it happen. Don’t rush on to another activity because you planned it that way. On the other hand, if the method you thought people would enjoy and would take thirty minutes to complete turns out not to work at all and is over in ten minutes, move on to the next thing you have planned. Plan an extra activity or two that you can add if you need.

Variety of Methods
Here is a list of possible learning activities, methods, and aids.

 

  • Audio tape
  • Banners
  • Bulletin board
  • CD-ROM
  • Clay
  • Collage
  • Computer games
  • Creative writing:
    • Cinquain poetry
    • Haiku poetry
    • Parables
  • Debate
  • Discussion:
    • Total Group
    • One-on-one
    • Small group
    • Circular response
    • Question and answer
  • Drama
  • Drawing/painting
  • Field trips
  • Fingerpainting
  • Group projects
  • Guest speaker
  • Internet
  • Interpretive movement
  • Journaling
  • Lecture
  • Listening
  • Mock interview of Bible characters
  • Movies
  • Mural
  • Musical instruments
  • News report
  • Open-ended questions
  • Overhead projector
  • Pantomime
  • Paraphrasing Bible story
  • Pictures
  • Pipe cleaner sculpture
  • Poster making
  • Puppets
  • Puzzle
  • Questionnaire
  • Quiz game
  • Reading plays
  • Reporting
  • Roleplay
  • Service projects
  • Simulation game
  • Singing
  • Skits
  • Slides
  • Songwriting
  • Storytelling
  • Summary
  • Timeline
  • TV
  • VCR
  • Videos
  • Wire sculpture

 

What a wonderful list of creative options! The problem is rarely, “What will I do?” but instead, “Which one of my options is better?” Remember, any of these methods can be effective if they are appropriate for the age level and needs of your group members and they are chosen because they will help people connect the good news of God’s love to their own particular life situations.

 

Dig Deeper: Personal Exercises
Look again at the list of methods and check any activity that you have used in the past. Using a different mark, check any method you want to know more about or might consider using in the future.

 

For Further Study and Reflection
1. Ask to have aDisciple orChristian Believer group (www.cokesbury.com) orCompanions in Christgroup in your church particularly for teachers and small group leaders who desire to deepen their own knowledge and faith life.

2. Start a study group for teachers and small group leaders using one or more of these teacher development resources, fromThe Upper Room bookstore,unless otherwise noted.

Categories: Basic Resources, What Every Teacher Needs to Know

Phases of First-Year Teaching

#bethebestyoucanbe, #justbecauseyoushouldknow, #pieedu, #whyamIhere, 21st Century Learning, Back to School, Teacher Support

Section 1: Phases of First-Year Teaching

phases

It’s alarming but true: studies have shown that 35% of teachers leave the profession during the first year. By the end of the fifth year, 50% of teachers have left the field! — From Teachers Helping Teachers, Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MA

The first year of teaching is a difficult challenge. If you are currently in your first year of teaching, the graph above probably applies to you. And you are most certainly not alone! Whether you are currently feeling extremely overwhelmed or abundantly triumphant, other first-year teachers are going through the same thing. The University of California Santa Cruz New Teacher Project has worked to support the efforts of new teachers. They have identified phases through which all new teachers progress. The phases are very useful for mentors and new teachers as they work together the first year. Teachers move through the phases from anticipation, to survival, to disillusionment, to rejuvenation, to reflection, and then back to anticipation.

Anticipation Phase
The anticipation stage begins during the student teaching portion of preservice preparation. The closer student teachers get to completing their assignment, the more excited and anxious they become about their first teaching positions. They tend to romanticize the role of the teachers and the positions. New teachers enter with a tremendous commitment to making a difference and a somewhat idealistic view of how to accomplish their goals. This feeling of excitement carries new teachers through the first few weeks of school.

Survival Phase
The first month of school is very overwhelming for new teachers. They are learning a lot at a very rapid pace. Beginning teachers are instantly bombarded with a variety of problems and situations they had not anticipated. Despite teacher preparation programs, new teachers are caught off guard by the realities of teaching.

During the survival phase, most new teachers struggle to keep their heads above water. They become very focused and consumed with the day-to-day routine of teaching. There is little time to stop and reflect on their experiences. It is not uncommon for new teachers to spend up to seventy hours a week on schoolwork.

Particularly overwhelming is the constant need to develop curriculum. Veteran teachers routinely reuse excellent lessons and units from the past. New teachers, still uncertain of what will really work, must develop their lessons for the first time. Even depending on unfamiliar prepared curriculum such as textbooks, is enormously time consuming.

Disillusionment Phase
After six to eight weeks of nonstop work and stress, new teachers enter the disillusionment phase. The intensity and length of the phase varies among new teachers. The extensive time commitment, the realization that things are probably not going as smoothly as they want, and low morale contribute to this period of disenchantment. New teachers begin questioning both their commitment and their competence. Many new teachers get sick during this phase.

Top 5 Concerns of New Teachers

1. Classroom arrangement and management

2. Curriculum planning
and pacing

3. Establishing a grading system that’s fair

4. Parent conferences

5. Personal sanity

Compounding an already difficult situation is the fact that new teachers are confronted with several new events during this time frame. They are faced with back-to-school night, parent conferences, and their first formal evaluation by the site administrator. Each of these important milestones places an already vulnerable individual in a very stressful situation.

During the disillusionment phase, classroom management is a major source of distress. New teachers want to focus more time on curriculum and less on classroom management and discipline.

At this point, the accumulated stress of the first year teachers, coupled with months of excessive time allotted to teaching, often bring complaints from family and friends. This is a very difficult and challenging phase for new entrants into the profession. They express self-doubt, have lower self-esteem, and question their profession commitment. In fact, getting through this phase may be the toughest challenge new teachers face.

Rejuvenation Phase 
The rejuvenation phase is characterized by a slow rise in the new teacher’s attitude toward teaching. It generally begins in January. Having a winter break makes a tremendous difference for new teachers. It allows them to resume a more normal lifestyle, with plenty of rest, food, exercise, and time for family and friends. This vacation is the first opportunity that new teachers have for organizing materials and planning curriculum. It is a time for them to sort through materials that have accumulated and prepare new ones. This breath of fresh air gives novice teachers a broader perspective with renewed hope.

They seem ready to put past problems behind them. A better understanding of the system, an acceptance of the realities of teaching, and a sense of accomplishment help to rejuvenate new teachers.

Through their experiences in the first half of the year, beginning teachers gain new coping strategies and skills to prevent, reduce, or manage many problems they are likely to encounter during the second half of the year. Many feel a great sense of relief that they have made it through the first half of the year. During this phase, new teachers focus on curriculum development, long-term planning, and teaching strategies.

Reflection Phase 
The reflection phase, beginning in May, is a particularly invigorating time for first-year teachers. Reflecting back over the year, they highlight events that were successful and those that were not. They think about the various changes that they plan to make the following year in management, curriculum, and teaching strategies. The end is almost in sight, and they have almost made it; but more importantly, a vision emerges as to what their second year will look like, which brings them to a new phase of anticipation.

It is critical that we assist new teachers and ease the transition from student teachers to full-time professionals. Recognizing the phases new teachers go through gives us a framework within which we can begin to design support programs to make the first year of teaching a more positive experience for our new colleagues. — Ellen Moir, New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz

SOS! Survival of Substitutes

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Section 2: SOS! Survival of Substitutes

No one can give you better advice than yourself. — Cicero

You aren’t thinking about it right now, but sometime in your future you’re going to miss a day of school.

This is the IDEAL time to begin preparing for that event because the questions you have now are the same questions a substitute teacher might have. Later, with a routine established, you may forget to think about such details.

Label a file folder or notebook “Substitute,” and keep it in a place anyone would logically look.

Here are some suggestions to include for your substitute:

  • Your schedule of classes including regular classes, special classes (day and time), and an alternate plan in case special classes are cancelled;
  • Names and schedules of students who leave the classroom for special reasons such as medication, remedial or gifted programs, speech, etc.;
  • Opening activities: class roll, seating chart for regular activities and special work groups, attendance procedures, lunch count, etc.;
  • Lesson plans or where to find the plan book (include alternate plans in case the lesson depends on resources only you have);
  • Classroom expectations and discipline procedures (include any district policies and notes about special cases);
  • Location of manuals and other materials to be used (including procedures for use of AV materials/ equipment);
  • Names and schedules of ESP and/or volunteers, name and location of a teacher to call upon for assistance, and other faculty and staff likely to be encountered;
  • Names of pupils who can be depended upon to help;
  • Procedures for sick or injured children (location of nurse’s office, district policy on dispensing medication, notes on allergies or special needs, etc.);
  • Procedures for regular and early dismissal; Floor plan of the building and procedures for emergency drills.

What Leaders Actually Do?

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E6 is the major practice for Leadership:

  1. Envision – Clear view of what they want the future to look like.  1:27
  2. Enlist Others – help shape the dream – stay dedicated to the dream 2:45
  3. Embody The Message – Keep congruence between what you say and how you act.  Integrity.  You don’t believe the message unless you believe the messenger.  4:05
  4. Empower People – Let others stand.  Equip the team that are part of the process.  Training has to be consistent and often.  This is vital! 5:10
  5. Evaluate – Constant process of checking where you are.  Daily Feedback.  How are the ethics? Are we excellent?  6:57
  6. Encourage – Be the cheerleader.  Continuously lift up and motivate your team.  Light people up! Be the beam of light!  Be solid! 8:20

When you collaborate and the team works WITH you, then you will all be working toward the common goal.  When you are all excited about where you are going, then you have created leadership.

 

 

Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents

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Issue Table of Contents

Michael G. Fullan

Teacher education programs must help teaching candidates to link the moral purpose that influences them with the tools that will prepare them to engage in productive change.

Teaching at its core is a moral profession. Scratch a good teacher and you will find a moral purpose. At the Faculty of Education, University of Toronto, we recently examined why people enter the teaching profession (Stiegelbauer 1992). In a random sample of 20 percent of 1,100 student teachers, the most frequently mentioned theme was “to make a difference in the lives of students.” Of course, such statements cannot be taken at face value because people have a variety of motives for becoming teachers. Nonetheless, there is a strong kernel of truth to this conclusion.

What happens in teacher preparation, the early years of teaching, and throughout the career, however, is another story. Those with a clear sense of moral purpose often become disheartened, and those with a limited sense of purpose are never called upon to demonstrate their commitment. In an extensive study of teacher burnout, Farber (1991) identifies the devastating effects of the growing “sense of inconsequentiality” that often accompanies the teacher’s career. Many teachers, says Farber, begin their careers “with a sense that their work is socially meaningful and will yield great personal satisfactions. ” This sense dissipates, however, as “the inevitable difficulties of teaching … interact with personal issues and vulnerabilities, as well as social pressure and values, to engender a sense of frustration and force a reassessment of the possibilities of the job and the investment one wants to make in it” (1991, p. 36).

A Natural Alliance

Certainly calls for reestablishing the moral foundation of teaching are warranted, but increased commitment at the one-to-one and classroom levels alone is a recipe for moral martyrdom. To have any chance of making teaching a noble and effective profession—and this is my theme here—teachers must combine the mantle of moral purpose with the skills of change agentry.

Moral purpose and change agentry, at first glance, appear to be strange bedfellows. On closer examination they are natural allies (Fullan 1993). Stated more directly, moral purpose—or making a difference—concerns bringing about improvements. It is, in other words, a change theme. In addition to the need to make moral purpose more explicit, educators need the tools to engage in change productively. Moral purpose keeps teachers close to the needs of children and youth; change agentry causes them to develop better strategies for accomplishing their moral goals.

Those skilled in change appreciate its volatile character, and they explicitly seek ideas for coping with and influencing change toward some desired ends. I see four core capacities for building greater change capacity: personal vision-building, inquiry, mastery, and collaboration (see Senge 1990 and Fullan 1993). Each of these has its institutional counterpart: shared vision-building; organizational structures, norms, and practices of inquiry; the development of increased repertoires of skills and know-how among organizational members; and collaborative work cultures.

But we are facing a huge dilemma. On the one hand, schools are expected to engage in continuous renewal, and change expectations are constantly swirling around them. On the other hand, the way teachers are trained, the way schools are organized, the way the educational hierarchy operates, and the way political decision makers treat educators results in a system that is more likely to retain the status quo. One way out of this quandary is to make explicit the goals and skills of change agentry. To break the impasse, we need a new conception of teacher professionalism that integrates moral purpose and change agentry, one that works simultaneously on individual and institutional development. One cannot wait for the other.

Personal Vision-Building

Working on personal visions means examining and re-examining why we came into teaching. Asking “What difference am I trying to make personally?” is a good place to start.

For most of us, the reasons are there, but possibly buried. For the beginning teacher, they may be underdeveloped. It is time to make them front and center. Block emphasizes that “creating a vision forces us to take a stand for a preferred future” (1987, p. 102). To articulate our vision of the future “is to come out of the closet with our doubts about the organization and the way it operates” (p. 105).

Personal vision comes from within. It gives meaning to work, and it exists independently of the organization or group we happen to be in. Once it gets going, it is not as private as it sounds. Especially in moral occupations like teaching, the more one takes the risk to express personal purpose, the more kindred spirits one will find. Paradoxically, personal purpose is the route to organizational change. When it is diminished, we see in its place group-think and a continual stream of fragmented, surface changes acquired uncritically and easily discarded.

Inquiry

All four capacities of change are intimately interrelated and mutually reinforcing. The second one—inquiry—indicates that formation and enactment of personal purpose are not static matters but, rather, a perennial quest. Pascale (1990) captures this precisely: “The essential activity for keeping our paradigm current is persistent questioning. I will use the term inquiry. Inquiry is the engine of vitality and self-renewal”(p. 14, emphasis in original).

Inquiry is necessary for forming and reforming personal purpose. While the latter comes from within, it must be fueled by information and ideas in the environment. Inquiry means internalizing norms, habits, and techniques for continuous learning. For the beginner, learning is critical because of its formative timing. Lifelong learning is essential because in complex, ever-changing societies mental maps “cease to fit the territory” (Pascale 1990, p. 13). Teachers as change agents are career-long learners, without which they would not be able to stimulate students to be continuous learners.

Mastery

Mastery is a third crucial ingredient. People behave their way into new visions and ideas, not just think their way into them. Mastery is obviously necessary for effectiveness, but it is also a means for achieving deeper understanding. New mind-sets arise from mastery as much as the reverse.

It has long been known that expertise is central to successful change, so it is surprising how little attention we pay to it beyond one-shot workshops and disconnected training. Mastery involves strong initial teacher education and career-long staff development, but when we place it in the perspective of comprehensive change, it is much more than this. Beyond exposure to new ideas, we have to know where they fit, and we have to become skilled in them, not just like them.

To be effective at change, mastery is essential both in relation to specific innovations and as a personal habit.

Collaboration

There is a ceiling effect to how much we can learn if we keep to ourselves (Fullan and Hargreaves 1991). The ability to collaborate on both a small- and large-scale is becoming one of the core requisites of postmodern society. Personal strength, as long as it is open-minded (that is, inquiry-oriented), goes hand-in-hand with effective collaboration—in fact, without personal strength collaboration will be more form than content. Personal and group mastery thrive on each other in learning organizations.

In sum, the moral purpose of teaching must be reconceptualized as a change theme. Moral purpose without change agentry is martyrdom; change agentry without moral purpose is change for the sake of change. In combination, not only are they effective in getting things done, but they are good at getting the right things done. The implications for teacher education and for redesigning schools are profound.

Society’s Missed Opportunity

Despite the rhetoric about teacher education today, there does not seem to be a real belief that investing in teacher education will yield results. With all the problems demanding immediate solution, it is easy to overlook a preventive strategy that would take several years to have an impact.

Currently, teacher education—from initial preparation throughout the career—is not geared toward continuous learning. Teacher education has the honor of being the worst problem and the best solution in education. The absence of a strong publicly stated knowledge base allows the misconception to continue that any smart person can teach. After visiting 14 colleges of education across the U.S., Kramer (1992) concludes:

Everything [a person] needs to know about how to teach could be learned by intelligent people in a single summer of well-planned instruction (p. 24).

In a twisted way, there is some truth to this observation. It is true in the sense that many people did and still do take such minimal instruction and manage to have a career in teaching. It is true also that some people with a strong summer program would end up knowing as much or more as others who take a weak yearlong program. In her journey, Kramer found plenty of examples of moral purpose—caring people, committed to social equality. What she found wanting was an emphasis on knowledge and understanding. Caring and competence are of course not mutually exclusive (indeed this is the point), but they can seem that way when the knowledge base is so poorly formulated.

Teacher education institutions themselves must take responsibility for their current reputation as laggards rather than leaders of educational reform. I will not take up the critical area of recruitment and selection in the profession (for the best discussion, see Schlechty 1990, chapter 1). In many ways an “if you build it, they will come” strategy is called for. It is self-defeating to seek candidates who turn out to be better than the programs they enter. What is needed is a combination of selection criteria that focus on academics as well as experience (related, for example, to moral purpose), sponsorship for underrepresented groups, and a damn good program.

Teacher educators like other would-be change agents must take some initiative themselves. Examples are now happening on several fronts. At the University of Toronto, we embarked on a major reform effort in 1988. With a faculty of some 90 staff and 1,100 full-time students in a one-year post-baccalaureate teacher certification program, we piloted a number of field-based options in partnerships with school systems (see University of Toronto, Making a Difference Video, 1992a). In 1991 I prepared a paper for our strategic planning committee, taking as a starting point the following premise: Faculties of Education should not advocate things for teachers or schools that they are not capable of practicing themselves. Using a hypothetical “best faculty of education in the country” metaphor, I suggested that such a faculty would:

  1. commit itself to producing teachers who are agents of educational and social improvement,
  2. commit itself to continuous improvement through program innovation and evaluation,
  3. value and practice exemplary teaching,
  4. engage in constant inquiry,
  5. model and develop lifelong learning among staff and students,
  6. model and develop collaboration among staff and students,
  7. be respected and engaged as a vital part of the university as a whole,
  8. form partnerships with schools and other agencies,
  9. be visible and valued internationally in a way that contributes locally and globally,
  10. work collaboratively to build regional, national, and international networks (Fullan 1991).

To illustrate, consider items 3 and 6. It would seem self-evident that faculties of education would stand for exemplary teaching among their own staff. Faculties of education have some excellent (and poor) teachers, but I would venture to say that hardly any have effective institutional mechanisms for improving their own teaching. Regarding item 6, many faculties of education advocate collaborative work cultures for schools, and some participate in professional development schools. This leads to two embarrassing questions. First, to what extent are teacher preparation programs designed so that student teachers deliberately develop and practice the habits and skills of collaboration? Even more embarrassing, to what extent do university professors (arts and science, as well as education) value and practice collaboration in their own teaching and scholarship?

Key Images for Teacher Preparation

With such guiding principles, and some experience with them through our pilot projects, we at the University of Toronto have recently begun redesigning the entire teacher preparation program. Our Restructuring Committee has proposed that:

Every teacher should be knowledgeable about, committed to, and skilled in:

  1. working with all students in an equitable, effective, and caring manner by respecting diversity in relation to ethnicity, race, gender, and special needs of each learner;
  2. being active learners who continuously seek, assess, apply, and communicate knowledge as reflective practitioners throughout their careers;
  3. developing and applying knowledge of curriculum, instruction, principles of learning, and evaluation needed to implement and monitor effective and evolving programs for all learners;
  4. initiating, valuing, and practicing collaboration and partnerships with students, colleagues, parents, community, government, and social and business agencies;
  5. appreciating and practicing the principles, ethics, and legal responsibilities of teaching as a profession;
  6. developing a personal philosophy of teaching which is informed by and contributes to the organizational, community, societal, and global contexts of education (University of Toronto, B.Ed. Restructuring Committee, 1992b).

We are now developing the actual program, curriculum, and teaching designs. Everything we know about the complexities of change applies in spades to the reform of higher education institutions. Nonetheless, after four years, we have made good progress and look forward to the next four years as the ones when more comprehensive and systematic reform will be put into place (see also Goodlad 1991, Howey 1992, and the third report of the Holmes Group, forthcoming).

To summarize: Faculties of education must redesign their programs to focus directly on developing the beginner’s knowledge base for effective teaching and the knowledge base for changing the conditions that affect teaching. Sarason puts it this way: “Is it asking too much of preparatory programs to prepare their students for a `real world’ which they must understand and seek to change if as persons and professionals they are to grow, not only to survive” (in press, p. 252, my emphasis). Goodlad (1991) asks a similar question: “Are a large percentage of these educators thoroughly grounded in the knowledge and skills required to bring about meaningful change?” (p. 4). The new standard for the future is that every teacher must strive to become effective at managing change.

Redesigning Schools

One of the main reasons that restructuring has failed so far is that there is no underlying conception that grounds what would happen within new structures. Restructuring has caused changes in participation, in governance, and in other formal aspects of the organization, but in the majority of cases, it has not affected the teaching-learning core and professional culture (Berends 1992, Fullan 1993). To restructure is not to reculture.

The professional teacher, to be effective, must become a career-long learner of more sophisticated pedagogies and technologies and be able to form and reform productive collaborations with colleagues, parents, community agencies, businesses, and others. The teacher of the future, in other words, must be equally at home in the classroom and in working with others to bring about continuous improvements.

I do not have the space to elaborate—indeed many of the details have not been worked out. The general directions, however, are clear. In terms of pedagogy, the works of Gardner (1991) and Sizer (1992)—in developing approaches to teaching for understanding—exemplify the kinds of knowledge and skills that teachers must develop and enlarge upon throughout their careers.

Beyond better pedagogy, the teacher of the future must actively improve the conditions for learning in his or her immediate environments. Put one way, teachers will never improve learning in the classroom (or whatever the direct learning environment) unless they also help improve conditions that surround the classroom. Andy Hargreaves and I developed 12 guidelines for action consistent with this new conception of “interactive professionalism”:

  1. locate, listen to, and articulate your inner voice;
  2. practice reflection in action, on action, and about action;
  3. develop a risk-taking mentality;
  4. trust processes as well as people;
  5. appreciate the total person in working with others;
  6. commit to working with colleagues;
  7. seek variety and avoid balkanization;
  8. redefine your role to extend beyond the classroom;
  9. balance work and life;
  10. push and support principals and other administrators to develop interactive professionalism;
  11. commit to continuous improvement and perpetual learning;
  12. monitor and strengthen the connection between your development and students’ development (Fullan and Hargreaves 1991).

We also developed eight guidelines for principals that focus their energies on reculturing the school toward greater interactive professionalism to make a difference in the educational lives of students. However, as important as principals can be, they are a diversion (and perhaps a liability) as far as new conceptions of the professional teacher are concerned. In a real sense, what gives the contemporary principalship inflated importance is the absence of leadership opportunities on the part of teachers (Fullan 1993).

A New Professionalism

Teacher professionalism is at a threshold. Moral purpose and change agentry are implicit in what good teaching and effective change are about, but as yet they are society’s (and teaching’s) great untapped resources for radical and continuous improvement. We need to go public with a new rationale for why teaching and teacher development are fundamental to the future of society.

Above all, we need action that links initial teacher preparation and continuous teacher development based on moral purpose and change agentry with the corresponding restructuring of universities and schools and their relationships. Systems don’t change by themselves. Rather, the actions of individuals and small groups working on new conceptions intersect to produce breakthroughs (Fullan 1993). New conceptions, once mobilized, become new paradigms. The new paradigm for teacher professionalism synthesizes the forces of moral purpose and change agentry.

References

Berends, M. (1992). “A Description of Restructuring in Nationally Nominated Schools.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

Block, P. (1987). The Empowered Manager. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Farber, B. (1991). Crisis in Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fullan, M. (1991). “The Best Faculty of Education in the Country: A Fable.” Submitted to the Strategic Planning Committee. Faculty of Education, University of Toronto.

Fullan, M. (1993). Change Forces: Probing the Depths of Educational Reform. London: Falmer Press.

Fullan, M., and A. Hargreaves. (1991). What’s Worth Fighting for in Your School? Toronto: Ontario Public School Teachers’ Federation; Andover, Mass.: The Network; Buckingham, U.K.: Open University Press; Melbourne: Australian Council of Educational Administration.

Gardner, H. (1991). The Unschooled Mind. New York: Basic Books.

Goodlad, J. (1991). “Why We Need a Complete Redesign of Teacher Education.” Educational Leadership 49, 3: 4–10.

Holmes Group. (In press). Tomorrow’s Colleges of Education. East Lansing, Mich.: Holmes Group.

Howey, K. R. (1992). The Network of Fifteen. Columbus: Ohio State University.

Kramer, R. (1992). Ed School Follies. New York: Foss Press.

Pascale, P. (1990). Managing on the Edge. New York: Touchstone.

Sarason, S. (In press). The Case for a Change: The Preparation of Educators. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schlechty, P. (1990). Reform in Teacher Education. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Colleges of Education.

Senge, P. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Sizer, T. (1992). Horace’s School: Redesigning the American High School. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Stiegelbauer, S. (1992). “Why We Want to Be Teachers.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

University of Toronto, Faculty of Education. (1992a). Making a Difference Video, Toronto, Ontario.

University of Toronto, Faculty of Education. (1992b). “B.Ed. Restructuring Committee Report,” Toronto, Ontario.

Michael G. Fullan is Dean of Education, University of Toronto, 371 Bloor St., West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2R7.

Nine Professional Dispositions of a Good Teacher

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Do you know how to exercise? Do you exercise? Your answer might be “yes” to the first and “no” to the second. The first question asks about ability: Do you know the ways to exercise so as to do you some good? The second question goes beyond ability and asks about inclination: Are you disposed to exercise? Do you exercise regularly?

Professional dispositions are the principles or standards that underpin a teacher’s success in the classroom. They are the values, commitments, and professional ethics that govern how a teacher acts with students, families, colleagues, and communities.

https://education.wsu.edu/undergradprograms/teachered/professionaldisposition/

From Washington University

The Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) mandates, through the Washington Administrative Code (WAC), that all certified educators must be “fit to teach” and “have the proper dispositions to teach.” The transformation of a person from one who merely possesses knowledge and technique into a superior teacher must include the development of characteristics such as a capacity for active and creative communication, a tendency to probe, and a willingness to explore topics from a variety of perspectives. Further, an outstanding educator must possess the desire to engage and encourage students who have a wide range of abilities, interests, and temperaments.

In order to provide the highest quality teacher force possible, Washington State University ’s College of Education has the responsibility of evaluating teacher effectiveness along a variety of dimensions. It uses many instruments and methods to assess the effectiveness of prospective teachers, to make certain they have the knowledge, skills and professional habits necessary to serve in the highly dynamic and complex classrooms of the 21st century.

Good teachers come fom widely different backgrounds, and have varied opinions, interests, and personalities. But some qualities, such as the ability to communicate clearly, are common to nearly all good teachers. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine a teacher being a success without possessing these qualities.

Likewise, students in Washington’s K-12 classrooms come from varied backgrounds. They have a wide range of abilities, different levels of prior knowledge, and vary in how they feel about learning and school. These young people grow and develop, sometimes slowly, sometimes with astonishing quickness. Each classroom, therefore, is a mix of dozens of competing interests, stages of development, and strategies for learning.

Even within a single student’s attempt to learn, a teacher may have to try several approaches before finding one that succeeds. A student may believe that she is “no good at math (or science or history or reading),” for reasons having nothing to do with her abilities.

With as many as a hundred different students and several different subjects to teach every day, teachers have an almost impossible mission. Yet we expect nothing less of them than success with every student.

In order to be successful—to leave, truly, no child behind—teachers must purposefully act in caring, fair, professional, respectful, and responsible ways.

Professional dispositions of good teachers

  1. Good teachers are active, respectful participants in discussions.
  2. Good teachers express themselves clearly and effectively.
  3. Good teachers listen thoughtfully and responsively.
  4. Good teachers engage in lifelong learning, aided by reflection and assessment of new information and ideas.
  5. Good teachers interact effectively, respectfully, and empathetically across a wide range of situations and people.
  6. Good teachers work to ensure system-wide high quality learning opportunities and experiences for all students.
  7. Good teachers seek understanding of complex issues in order to solve problems both independently and collaboratively.
  8. Good teachers are committed to mastering best practices informed by sound theory.
  9. Good teachers are responsible colleagues.

How is it possible to tell whether a person possesses these professional dispositions? By careful observation of their behaviors and actions. Is the teacher candidate a thoughtful, active listener? Does he or she participate in discussions, and is that participation respectful? Does the teacher candidate give help readily?

Excellence is a long, laborious process. It is not always easy to foretell which teachers will excel in their careers. But patterns of action that show up in the course of teacher preparation can be presumed also to show up later on the job. A person demonstrating promptness, courtesy, and scrupulous attention to detail in teacher preparation will likely act likewise when employed. A person habitually late, or rude, or careless in pre-service work will, in contrast, be likely to have trouble in a teaching position.

These are judgments about professional potential, not about persons or their opinions or beliefs. Institutions certifying teachers owe the state’s citizens their best judgment and keenest observations when making decisions that will have such profound future effects. The identification and evaluation of professional dispositions is a valuable tool for identifying and capturing important information about prospective teachers, to make sure that they are best prepared for their professional lives.

Read our Professional Disposition Assessment Form (PDA).

The issue of dispositions has been widely discussed. The President of NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) has responded to claims in the press. Read the letter by NCATE President Arthur E. Wise.

See how our Professional Disposition Assessment (PDA) formcompares with state, national, and accreditation standards.

Professional disposition forms

PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITION ASSESSMENT (PDA)
PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS EVALUATION FOR FIELD EXPERIENCES (PDEFE)

The Professional Dispositions Assessment (PDA) is the form used by the Department of Teaching & Learning to document a student’s disposition to be a teacher based upon their performance in the University classroom.

The Professional Dispositions evaluation for Field Experiences (PDEFE) is the form used to document a student’s dispositions during practicum/field experiences. The PDA form and the process used by the Department of Teaching and Learning have received national accolades.

The procedures for the forms vary depending upon a student’s tenure in the program and the circumstances that precipitated the documentation. For example, all students taking T&L 301 will receive a PDA indicating strengths and weaknesses (if any). In T&L 301, students will discuss the concepts of teacher dispositions. Later in the program, a professor may issue a PDA/PDEFE when specific behaviors are noted and must be documented.

If you have any questions about disposition or the PDA/PDEFE, do not hesitate to contact Chris Sodorff, Director of Field Services at csodorff@wsu.edu or 509-335-0925.

Professional disposition

CMC – Human Dimensions of Mathematics

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The 2018 California Math Council – Central put on a stunning Symposium March 9-12 at the new Tulare County Office of Education in Visalia, California.  On Friday, March 9th, Leadership Session Speak Matt Larson spoke on “Overcoming Obstacles to Make Mathematics Work FOR Students”.  Saturday, March 11th, the Keynote Speaker was Leslie Hamburger on “Developing Teacher Expertise to Work with English Language Learners”.  Breakout Sessions were lead by Anne Schwartz, Jeanie Behrend, McKenzi Hurick, Priscilla Sustaita-Clark, Nacy Nagatani, Mario Valdez, Chris Atkin, Troy Hayes, Ed Campos, Duane Habecker, LaMar Queen, and Hilda Wright.  Elementary Schools students were also present to model strategies they have learned in their classrooms.  Thanks to all who work so hard for the sake of student learning!

The Leader in Me

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This summer, I joined this book study with this group in Chatham, Illinois, via Google Docs. My lifetime friend, Pam Hogan, and her team started this move in Chatham in 2016 and as you will hear from the principal, Elizabeth Gregurich, who is an awesome top down supporter, the paradigm shift is visible on their campus.  The district technology lead, Josh Mulvaney, is now involved via the book study,  which took it to district level.

Why did this hit home for me?  As stated in the previous post, finding everyone’s gifts, talents, passions, skills is what I have been preaching about for years.  “Everyone is a Genius”  states Elizabeth Gregurich.  I believe we all put on this planet for purpose and to delve into what those gifts, skills, talents and passions are will help you find yours!  “What is your genius”?

Albert Einstein wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” The question I have for you at this point of our journey together is, “What is your genius?”

We know that ALL students can learn.  Students learn very differently just as you do.  How do we reach all students?  Differentiating instruction, meeting all modalities, understanding we all learn best at different times of the day, understanding we all don’t hear everything the first time, understanding that everyone is in a different place with prior knowledge, not everyone understands the academic language, and everyone has very different home situations.  These are the many concepts that educators must consider in a day while teaching their topic.

So, I have taken on the task to assist with “peppering” this cultural change onto their already full plate without the feeling of adding more to an already hectic schedule.  I’m looking for inspiration from all of you reading this.  Hoping someone in each district will look at the powerful positive outcome this creates and take it on for the sake of students and community.  Hopefully, this group will develop into assisting each other with ideas that create the interdependence necessary to produce best practices.~Sandy

Enjoy  the video below on how this school implemented the “The 7 Habits for Highly Effective People” through “The Leader In Me” as well as other resources.

 

https://youtu.be/SgkqzMQ91bM

I apologize for the quality but its about getting it said and done, not how perfect it is. ~Sandy