Professional Issues and Abuse
Seattle Pacific University’s Program Standards defines professional
practice as:
- The teacher participates
collaboratively in the educational community to improve instruction, advance
the knowledge and practice of teaching as a profession, and ultimately impact
student learning.
When I read this
statement for the first time, I had no
idea what it truly meant until I took this course. Before I became a practicing
teacher in an academic setting, I worked
as a dance teacher in various dance studios in the Washington area. I was lucky
enough to have three wonderful women take me under their wing and guide me
through the small but murky world of dance. The mentoring
these ladies showed me was collaboration. Teaching, meeting, assessing
and choreographing together for the greater good of our students and
competitive dancers. I could take it further back to something as simple as a
group project I did in elementary school. The point of it all is that work is done collectively with minds that think alike
can produce more than those who are divided or not working with the same
intentions.
Standard 8.1 reminds
us that “Participating in a Professional Community
Relationships
with colleagues are characterized by mutual support and cooperation.”
Through this course, we have listened and read various
articles and podcasts in regards to the
most widely used educational strategy for helping teachers. Our Module eight
reading had this to say about collaboration.
“There is abundant research
linking higher levels of student achievement to educators who work in the
collaborative culture of a professional learning community”- Dufour, R.
"Work Together: But Only If You Want to." Phi Delta Kappan 92.5 (2011):
57-61. Web.
This quote is a
reminder of what I witness every day at work. Our grade level teams and program
groups meet every other Wednesday, and we
hold staff meetings every Friday to work as a collective group on behalf of our
students. Here is where we can share our
ideas and even create positive discourse about what is best practice for our
school. Besides the general care that the staff has
for each other, you can see the unified desire to help students. Progressive ideas have come from listening to
others speak about what they are doing and learning about students that are
poorly behaving for some but not for others.
Having the opportunity to work with
teachers who are supportive of the collaborative process has helped me as I
transition from being a K-1charter school teacher to a full-time public high school teacher. The information from this
course has contributed to lay a
foundation for what I am experiencing every day at work. I might not be as
experienced as everyone else, but I still
feel valued as a contributing member of my staff and collaborative teams.
