Disposition 11

Conclusion

Can dispositions be taught in the end?

In order to answer this question, disposition needs to be clearly defined.

Disposition - a person's inherent quality of mind and character

Using this definition, I don't believe it possible to "teach" dispositions in a classroom. I believed dispositions can be challenged, formed, encouraged and/or discouraged in a classroom.

What would be your recommendation for enhancing the dispositions of teachers?

Discussions, journaling, and honest conversation.

Disposition 10

Resilience

How do we prepare teachers for the stresses related to the teaching profession?

Whenever I have talked with current teachers about what they were most unprepared for, they say something about politics, parents, or administration. At first it really surprised me, but once another couple teachers said something along the same line, I thought about it. In my planned course work, there isn't anything on team work, authority, or parents. As a teacher, your job is people. Forming, relating to, and educating people. We cover the psychology of the developing mind, but not the mentality of a parent who is concerned about their child failing. We are well informed about "special education" students, but not about the pressures put on the curriculum directors of our districts. In order to prepare educators for these things, I suggest a "social skills in the work place" course. It sounds like, "how do you get along with your cubicle neighbor?" but it really would be a lot more than that. Your job is based on your ability to relate to people, so you should understand who they are and their perspective in order to best serve them.

How do we prevent 50% of teachers from changing professions less than three years into their career?

I think that having more social activities for the staff and more collaborative learning experiences (like team teaching or swapping teachers for one hour) would be really helpful. I feel that teaching is a very isolated profession - the lack of connection would lead me to quit. Also, I think teaching the same students for two or more years would be a positive experience for both students and teacher, as they would be more connected and know how to work with each other well. Having mentors might also help. If you are a new teacher at a school or district, having someone who knows your position meet with you regularly (once a week at first, then once a month etc) for the first year or two would be really helpful. It's really tough to start in a new place, and having someone help you get your bearings would be invaluably helpful.

Disposition 9

Humility

When was the last time you were wrong?

Academically, the last time I was wrong was in probably in theory class. It's not surprising that I was wrong in theory, as this is not my best subject. I very much enjoy music theory but most days my brain is just not up to it. I am, true to form, a little slower than others in my class. So, having tried to find the right chord, and being proud of myself for identifying it, I offered up my answer. My professor didn't make an example of me... just kind of hesitated and said, "are you sure about that?", giving me time to reconsider my answer. Outside of the classroom, I'm wrong all the time. I forget things, ask people lots of questions, try to write stuff down so I can remember things, and sometimes just have no clue what I'm doing or talking about. Like most others, I've been trained that wrong is bad, and so I avoid it. I'd like to think that there is a positive place in the classroom for the wrong answers. I'd even prefer if there were no right and wrong and students were encouraged to explore and justify their findings.

How does a teacher strike a balance between confidence and genuine humility?

I think that both of these attributes are admirable and desirable, and that they aren't mutually exclusive. Personally, I struggle with balancing contrasting attributes. I have come to find that there isn't really one way to operate in all situations. Rather, that it is a matter of timing. I feel that especially as an educator, a person should have the ability to temporarily take themselves out of a situation and ask themselves what is needed from them at the moment. That includes how it effects themselves, others, the outcome, and both long and short term effects. It's important to show both confidence and humility in a classroom, and more important to show both the positive AND negative aspects to each trait.

Disposition 8

Collaborativeness

what makes for a highly effective team or group?

In my experience, groups operate best when people are genuinely excited about and care about what they're doing. When people care, it's more likely that feet will get stepped on and feelings will get hurt, but if people are willing to work it out, the end product will be better than that produced by a group of people who aren't invested in their work.

I've also found that people need to be willing to work together- not prefer their own work to everyone else's. I feel it's more common for people to do too much of the work rather than people not doing what's expected of them. Everybody needs to have some sort of interest in the work and be willing to work together on the end product.

how is collaboration different than group work or cooperative learning?

The difference I see is that collaboration implies that people are coming from different backgrounds where as group works implies that you all have a lot in common. Cooperative learning also has a completely different goal- learning. Collaboration usually has some sort of material goal - a presentation or product.