Every occupation has a set of rules, policies, or guidelines which all its employees must abide by, and teachers are no exception. In Manitoba, the Manitoba Teachers Society (MTS) has a code of professional practice, which contains thirteen required standards of conduct for all its members. Once you have entered into the Faculty of Education you are considered a member of MTS. I have provided a link to this document if you wish to read each of the standards of conduct.
To be honest, I was a little surprised when I read through the code of professional practise, due to the simplicity of it. I guess I was expecting a long paper on all the expectations and guidelines of being a member of MTS. I was quite pleased by the layout of this document, as its easy to see the thirteen standards which all teachers are to follow. Each of these standards makes so much sense, and some seem like common sense for anyone who knows the school system.
In reading through this code, it was interesting to see the similarities between our definitions of professionalism and the thirteen standards of conducts printed here. In a class discussion of defining professionalism we came up with the following definitions: "Meticulous adherence to unwavering commitment of the education of society (students, parents, and colleagues) and to the practice of education itself. A person must always uphold their standards and values as well." and "A manner in which an individual adheres to a code of conduct, ethics, and values of the teaching profession. There is an assumed commitment towards students, parents, the school, and community which must be upheld at all times. Professionals must also be willing to be life long learners." In both of these definitions our class managed to reach well over half of the standards of conduct printed by MTS. This is a good sign since all of us are now members of MTS, and will be for many years to come.
I'm very glad that we covered this document, as there were a couple standards that I was not previously certain of. One of these was number seven, where a teacher is told that if they are having a problem with another teacher, they must direct their complaint to that person directly before going to the appropriate officials, with the other teachers awareness. I had always assumed that if there was a problem in the school the principal would be the person to talk to, but after becoming familiar with this document I have come to see how it is best to just confront the person you are having the issue with and try to solve it internally, before getting others involved. This prevents a lot of talking behind people's backs, which is not appropriate for a professional place of work. Another standard that I had never been quite certain of was number twelve, where a teacher can not accept a position at a school if the school is in dispute with MTS. I was glad to learn that Manitoba teachers can not strike, so hopefully I do not have to experience this situation.
I believe this was an important document to familiarize myself with and to learn while I am student teaching and acquainting myself with others in the profession of teaching. These are all serious standards of conduct for anyone who wishes to be considered a professional teacher, and I would not want to put myself in the position of not abiding by one due to my ignorance of the code of professional practise.
http://www.mbteach.org/inside-mts/professionalcode.html
Saturday, January 22, 2011
What Teachers Make
I found this great video that I think everyone, especially teachers, should watch. Enjoy!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Sergiovanni's Professionalism
Over the past couple of days, our class has been studying Sergiovanni's definition of professionalism, as well as attempting to develop our own. Each of us understands what a professional looks like, however it is a bit more difficult to come up with a definition of all that this entails. Sergiovanni sorts his definition of professionalism into four commitments, which I believe works rather well. Each of these commitments are broad enough that they include many of the smaller definitions we had developed in our class groups.
The first of Sergiovanni's commitments is the commitment to caring. This includes caring about the students, not just in academics, but emotionally and socially as well. Our job as teachers is not just to make sure each child is educated, but to have their safety and best interests in mind, both in the classroom and on the playground. The parents must also be shown care, as we have to provide them with the information necessary for their child to do well in school. Sharing, supporting, and being there for our colleagues is also included. I believe this is absolutely essential for teachers, for we must work as a team in order for our students to excel. As teachers, we have the ability to understand some of the problems our fellow colleagues will be dealing with, so we have to support them and the faculty we are a part of. This goes along with caring about our school, for our students can not take pride in a place if their teacher role models are not working to make it the best place it can be.
The second commitment is the commitment to practise in exemplary ways. As teachers, we have to take pride in our job by developing the best lessons we can for our students. Our commitment to the practise of teaching is also shown through our classroom managment techniques. Each teaching position we will be offered has a job description, however there is an unwritten expectation that goes along with each position. These expectations include things like chaperoning at school dances, noon hour supervision, coaching after school sports, or taking classes on field trips. In order to be a professional we must be willing to go beyond the classroom and take part in extracurricular activities with our students. I believe this is so important, for it is often outside of the classroom that students can develop a great relationship with their teacher, and this goes back into the classroom.
The third commitment is the commitment to one's own practise and to the practise itself. Teachers must act professionally towards other teachers, and support those in the field of education. This includes going to the PD sessions to continue learning from your colleagues or becoming a member of MTS. Volunteering to take on a student teacher is also included here, as this is one way to give back to the education system. We have chosen the field of teaching, so we must commit to this practise and be supportive of education.
The fourth commitment is the commitment to valued social ends. We have chosen this career so that we can contribute to our community in the best way we are able. The world is a huge place, and sometimes all the difficulties it faces may seem overwhelming. But as teachers we have to show our students that every action can help make a difference. This can be seen in offering global support, to places such as Haiti, working to stop violence or bullying, or even picking up garbage around the school yard.
Sergiovanni's definition of professionalism may appear short when you just see the four points, but these points include everything that I think a professional should be. If I wished to get rid of all the explanation, and just have one simple definition for a professional, this would be it:
"A professional is someone so passionate about their job that they will do nothing to jeopardize their position, everything in their power to make themselves the ultimate, while always being respectful of each person on their path".
The first of Sergiovanni's commitments is the commitment to caring. This includes caring about the students, not just in academics, but emotionally and socially as well. Our job as teachers is not just to make sure each child is educated, but to have their safety and best interests in mind, both in the classroom and on the playground. The parents must also be shown care, as we have to provide them with the information necessary for their child to do well in school. Sharing, supporting, and being there for our colleagues is also included. I believe this is absolutely essential for teachers, for we must work as a team in order for our students to excel. As teachers, we have the ability to understand some of the problems our fellow colleagues will be dealing with, so we have to support them and the faculty we are a part of. This goes along with caring about our school, for our students can not take pride in a place if their teacher role models are not working to make it the best place it can be.
The second commitment is the commitment to practise in exemplary ways. As teachers, we have to take pride in our job by developing the best lessons we can for our students. Our commitment to the practise of teaching is also shown through our classroom managment techniques. Each teaching position we will be offered has a job description, however there is an unwritten expectation that goes along with each position. These expectations include things like chaperoning at school dances, noon hour supervision, coaching after school sports, or taking classes on field trips. In order to be a professional we must be willing to go beyond the classroom and take part in extracurricular activities with our students. I believe this is so important, for it is often outside of the classroom that students can develop a great relationship with their teacher, and this goes back into the classroom.
The third commitment is the commitment to one's own practise and to the practise itself. Teachers must act professionally towards other teachers, and support those in the field of education. This includes going to the PD sessions to continue learning from your colleagues or becoming a member of MTS. Volunteering to take on a student teacher is also included here, as this is one way to give back to the education system. We have chosen the field of teaching, so we must commit to this practise and be supportive of education.
The fourth commitment is the commitment to valued social ends. We have chosen this career so that we can contribute to our community in the best way we are able. The world is a huge place, and sometimes all the difficulties it faces may seem overwhelming. But as teachers we have to show our students that every action can help make a difference. This can be seen in offering global support, to places such as Haiti, working to stop violence or bullying, or even picking up garbage around the school yard.
Sergiovanni's definition of professionalism may appear short when you just see the four points, but these points include everything that I think a professional should be. If I wished to get rid of all the explanation, and just have one simple definition for a professional, this would be it:
"A professional is someone so passionate about their job that they will do nothing to jeopardize their position, everything in their power to make themselves the ultimate, while always being respectful of each person on their path".
Friday, January 14, 2011
Professional vs. Subject Knowledge
The debate in education over whether professional knowledge or subject knowledge is most critical to teaching a subject can provoke a lot of discussion and valuable arguments. Some will argue that if you are a good teacher, with good strategies, and possess a knowledge of how to teach, you will be able to teach any grade, any subject. Others oppose this, stating that it is more important to have a knowlege of the subject you are going to be teaching to students. I believe there is a lot of credibility to both of these arguments, and it is not possible to choose only one or the other. Both professional and subject knowlege must be apparent in order for a teacher to do a good job.
Knowing how to teach is an asset to becoming a good teacher, for in teaching you must be able to rephrase directions and instructions many different ways in order to pass along a skill to a learner. Professional knowledge is very important, but a bit of subject knowledge must also be evident. Someone does not have to be a master before they can pass along their talents, but they must have basic skills if they wish to teach others.
Using myself as an example, I would be a very poor grade 12 physics teacher. I have been trained to teach, but have no background in physics. I would not know enough basics to teach this subject unless I was given time to prepare and learn the course prior to stepping in the classroom. Thus being said, I would do well as a grade 12 english teacher, for I majored in english in my undergraduate degree. In both situations I have the same professional knowledge, but having that little bit of subject knowledge helps make a good teacher.
If teachers solely have a subject knowledge with little professional knowledge, they can often only teach to a small percentage of the classroom. This is because they do not possess the strategies to present the information to a variety of learners. I had this experience in highschool, where I was in a course with a brilliant teacher. Mathematics had always come easily to him, so he had no trouble assisting those who averaged in the 90's every test. These students could easily understand his thinking. He ran into trouble with those students who needed the information to be explained in an alternate form. This caused many students to become rather frustrated, as well as the teacher, for they could not communicate with each other. The teacher in this case possessed a strong subject knowledge, but his professional knowledge was not quite as strong.
Professional knowledge is highly important to being a teacher, but that little bit of subject knowledge, or the time to develop that knowledge, must also be evident. Teachers will have to work on this balance, so that they become capable of helping each student learn as best as they can.
Knowing how to teach is an asset to becoming a good teacher, for in teaching you must be able to rephrase directions and instructions many different ways in order to pass along a skill to a learner. Professional knowledge is very important, but a bit of subject knowledge must also be evident. Someone does not have to be a master before they can pass along their talents, but they must have basic skills if they wish to teach others.
Using myself as an example, I would be a very poor grade 12 physics teacher. I have been trained to teach, but have no background in physics. I would not know enough basics to teach this subject unless I was given time to prepare and learn the course prior to stepping in the classroom. Thus being said, I would do well as a grade 12 english teacher, for I majored in english in my undergraduate degree. In both situations I have the same professional knowledge, but having that little bit of subject knowledge helps make a good teacher.
If teachers solely have a subject knowledge with little professional knowledge, they can often only teach to a small percentage of the classroom. This is because they do not possess the strategies to present the information to a variety of learners. I had this experience in highschool, where I was in a course with a brilliant teacher. Mathematics had always come easily to him, so he had no trouble assisting those who averaged in the 90's every test. These students could easily understand his thinking. He ran into trouble with those students who needed the information to be explained in an alternate form. This caused many students to become rather frustrated, as well as the teacher, for they could not communicate with each other. The teacher in this case possessed a strong subject knowledge, but his professional knowledge was not quite as strong.
Professional knowledge is highly important to being a teacher, but that little bit of subject knowledge, or the time to develop that knowledge, must also be evident. Teachers will have to work on this balance, so that they become capable of helping each student learn as best as they can.
Why Teach?
When I tell people that I am attending University to become a teacher, not all of them understand. Countless times I have been asked, "Out of all the careers you could have, why would you pick that? Why teach?" I pondered this question a lot, but eventually developed a response.
To everyone that has wondered "Why teach?" all I can say is
Why not...
To everyone that has wondered "Why teach?" all I can say is
Why not...
- make the difference in the life of child?
- contribute to my community and the rest of society in the best way I am able?
- help a child fall in love with learning?
- have a career that I am so passionate about that I forget all about the paycheque?
- go to work where everyday is unpredictable and full of surprises - good and bad?
- make 20 new best friends every September?
- pay it forward for all the great teachers I had growing up?
- work for the goal that one day no child will hate going to school?
- create a better future for our world?
- have July and August, weekends and spring break to recharge and rejuvenate?
- take a child out of their unfair world and take them to a place where they can be safe and happy from 9:00 until 3:30 every day?
- work in a place where you can fingerpaint, read stories, go critter dipping, and have a teddy bear picnic all before noon?
- have a hand in creating the doctors, athletes, authors, musicians, parents, and teachers of tomorrow?
- have a profession where nothing is impossible and all dreams have the potential to come true?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
My Favourite Teacher ~ Here's to you Miss Anderson!
Inside the minds of every prospective teacher is an image of the teacher they wish to become. Often this image is a portrait of a teacher they once had; one who made them fall in love with school and the teaching profession. For myself, every time I close my eyes and picture the teacher I wish to become I picture Miss. Anderson.
I think of myself as very fortunate to have grown up in the community of Manitou, as I was blessed with being educated by so many irreplaceable teachers; Mr. Thorleifson, Mr. Mutcheson, Mrs. Amy-McElroy, Mrs. Matchullis, Mrs. Holliston, the list continues on. However, there is one teacher that stands above them all in my memory, for she was the one who first inspired me to take on becoming a teacher as my life goal.
Miss. Anderson was the teacher you heard about all elementary school. She was the one who allowed her class to play computer games, use popcorn makers at school, and even paint a life size dinosaur outside on the blacktop. She taught grade five, and I anticipated her class with every passing summer. Finally the time came when I was in the fifth grade and I was so excited to be a part of her adventures.
Miss. Anderson loved her job, which was easily evident as soon as you met her. She always wore a huge smile, a messy Miss. Frizzle bun in her hair, and those coke bottle lense glasses. Every morning she was at school before most of us were even up, and in the evenings when we would play at the playground after supper we would always see the light on in her classroom. In the later fall when it got too cold out after just a short evening soccer game, we would all go knock on the window of her classroom, and hope Miss. Anderson would let us in. She always unlocked the school door and let us come play on the computers, or help her get set up for the next days events. When it would start to get dark out, she'd tell us we should probably head home, but we'd always see her there the next day.
Everyday Miss. Anderson strived to make learning fun and memorable. She bought the computer game "Math for the Real World" which we would beg her to play all the time. I'm sure over half of the students in my class asked for it for Christmas that year. The crazy thing was, it was a hard game. You had to use fractions, multiplication, division, everything you need to know for early years math. Still, we all loved it. Miss. Anderson's classroom was lined with cupboards full of stuff for math and science, and counters overflowing with plants and books. Being creative, she painted all the cupboards with chalkboard paint, so that each student would have their own personal chalkboard. Everyday we would each get to sit at our own cupboard and try to work out a word problem that Miss. Anderson would read to the class. We all got to move around, and try something different, which made us so excited we didn't even feel like we were working.
The environment was very important to Miss. Anderson, so every year her class organized a bake sale on Earth Day. The highlight was that the morning of the bake sale the grade fives got to spread around the school and pop brown paper bags full of popcorn machine popcorn to sell. She made us feel proud, and as though even though we were just eleven years old we were really doing something to help make our world a better place.
She was more than a teacher though, she was also a friend. You could tell Miss. Anderson anything and she would just sit and listen, then try to help you as best as she could. She never judged, yelled, or made you feel stupid if you didn't understand something. It was all the little things she did that let you know she really did care about you. One of these little things took place during the months of May and June. Everyday students would leave school for half hour periods throughout the day to walk to the outside pool for swimming lessons. It was not always the warmest out, so most of us usually walked back to school with blue lips. When we got back to our grade 5 room Miss. Anderson always had hot chocolate sitting on the counter, just in case we needed it.
I'm twenty two years old now, but I still remember many of the small gestures Miss. Anderson did to help me get excited about school at the age of ten. She loved her job, and left such a lasting impression on each student she met. In 2006 when I graduated highschool, our class decided that we wished for her to be our guest speaker. We were saddened to discover that Miss. Anderson had gone almost completely blind and was having trouble gettting around. She wished us all the best, but she said had to decline our offer.
She was an amazing person, and to say she was just my favourite teacher is a great understatement; she was my inspiration to become involved in this great profession. Miss. Anderson is my proof that teaching really is the best job created.
If I can one day be "Miss. Anderson" to one of my students, I will feel as though I truely was a good teacher. I wish to help my students develop a love for learning and school, to find fun in every lesson, and to be their friend.
I think of myself as very fortunate to have grown up in the community of Manitou, as I was blessed with being educated by so many irreplaceable teachers; Mr. Thorleifson, Mr. Mutcheson, Mrs. Amy-McElroy, Mrs. Matchullis, Mrs. Holliston, the list continues on. However, there is one teacher that stands above them all in my memory, for she was the one who first inspired me to take on becoming a teacher as my life goal.
Miss. Anderson was the teacher you heard about all elementary school. She was the one who allowed her class to play computer games, use popcorn makers at school, and even paint a life size dinosaur outside on the blacktop. She taught grade five, and I anticipated her class with every passing summer. Finally the time came when I was in the fifth grade and I was so excited to be a part of her adventures.
Miss. Anderson loved her job, which was easily evident as soon as you met her. She always wore a huge smile, a messy Miss. Frizzle bun in her hair, and those coke bottle lense glasses. Every morning she was at school before most of us were even up, and in the evenings when we would play at the playground after supper we would always see the light on in her classroom. In the later fall when it got too cold out after just a short evening soccer game, we would all go knock on the window of her classroom, and hope Miss. Anderson would let us in. She always unlocked the school door and let us come play on the computers, or help her get set up for the next days events. When it would start to get dark out, she'd tell us we should probably head home, but we'd always see her there the next day.
Everyday Miss. Anderson strived to make learning fun and memorable. She bought the computer game "Math for the Real World" which we would beg her to play all the time. I'm sure over half of the students in my class asked for it for Christmas that year. The crazy thing was, it was a hard game. You had to use fractions, multiplication, division, everything you need to know for early years math. Still, we all loved it. Miss. Anderson's classroom was lined with cupboards full of stuff for math and science, and counters overflowing with plants and books. Being creative, she painted all the cupboards with chalkboard paint, so that each student would have their own personal chalkboard. Everyday we would each get to sit at our own cupboard and try to work out a word problem that Miss. Anderson would read to the class. We all got to move around, and try something different, which made us so excited we didn't even feel like we were working.
The environment was very important to Miss. Anderson, so every year her class organized a bake sale on Earth Day. The highlight was that the morning of the bake sale the grade fives got to spread around the school and pop brown paper bags full of popcorn machine popcorn to sell. She made us feel proud, and as though even though we were just eleven years old we were really doing something to help make our world a better place.
She was more than a teacher though, she was also a friend. You could tell Miss. Anderson anything and she would just sit and listen, then try to help you as best as she could. She never judged, yelled, or made you feel stupid if you didn't understand something. It was all the little things she did that let you know she really did care about you. One of these little things took place during the months of May and June. Everyday students would leave school for half hour periods throughout the day to walk to the outside pool for swimming lessons. It was not always the warmest out, so most of us usually walked back to school with blue lips. When we got back to our grade 5 room Miss. Anderson always had hot chocolate sitting on the counter, just in case we needed it.
I'm twenty two years old now, but I still remember many of the small gestures Miss. Anderson did to help me get excited about school at the age of ten. She loved her job, and left such a lasting impression on each student she met. In 2006 when I graduated highschool, our class decided that we wished for her to be our guest speaker. We were saddened to discover that Miss. Anderson had gone almost completely blind and was having trouble gettting around. She wished us all the best, but she said had to decline our offer.
She was an amazing person, and to say she was just my favourite teacher is a great understatement; she was my inspiration to become involved in this great profession. Miss. Anderson is my proof that teaching really is the best job created.
If I can one day be "Miss. Anderson" to one of my students, I will feel as though I truely was a good teacher. I wish to help my students develop a love for learning and school, to find fun in every lesson, and to be their friend.
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