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.

Disposition 7

Efficacy

Children cannot be fooled by empty praise and condescending encouragement...ego identity gains real strength only from wholehearted and consistent recognition of real accomplishment, that is, achievement that has meaning in the culture.

-Erik Erikson

Describe a time when you helped someone believe in their ability to succeed at something.

Today, I had a violin lesson with my four year old student. She has been playing the violin for two and a half months or so, and she has made so much progress! Admittedly, the first month or so, I myself was discouraged because I thought we'd be moving at a much faster pace. When I started playing cello and bass in my String Methods course, I felt what it was like to do something completely foreign to me. I didn't understand why someone (young or old) wouldn't be able to put their first finger down in the right spot on the fingerboard and move the bow at the correct speed. I really didn't understand that that wasn't a fair expectation. I began to think about how much her four year old brain was processing, and how much of that was new for her. I was overwhelmed with excitement and pride.

When I understood what she was going through, I began to give her more genuine praise. I, of course, always told her she was doing a good job, even if I could not recognize the tune she was playing. Yes, she was doing a good job, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you why. Understanding what's difficult and what is happening for the person you're instructing almost forces you to be somewhat emotionally invested.

Well, today, she was having trouble standing without wiggling around, and couldn't play more than two notes in a row without putting her instrument down because she was tired. When she needed to take a break, I would tell her all the things she was doing well, and then give her one thing to think about for when we played next. It seems like common sense, but knowing that how hard she was working helped me to tell her how happy I was with her progress. She could tell the difference between my praise in recent weeks (more genuine) and earlier in the semester (less genuine) and my genuine praise effected her focus, which effected her progress.

Random Disposition

Education and Health

In my French 201 class this week, we talked about the education system in France. It was really interesting in that there is no option of homeschooling or alternative education (only one private Roman Catholic option, no charter schools or ALCs). They have their system regulated to the extent that each child learns everything within the same year, no matter the location or school. Each child in the third grade learns to play the recorder, all sixth graders learn about the French Revolution through a certain text book, etc. All education is free, the government can sue parents for not sending students to school, BUT there are no school athletics, clubs, or ensembles. It is 8 am to 5 pm academics 5.5 days a week (half day Friday and school on Saturday).

I was really surprised at the lack of extra curriculars. I tried to imagine going to such a school, and saw it lacking school spirit and sort of a sense of community. Our instructor said that the high school and college suicide rates are much higher in France. When asked why, she explained that with fewer outlets available, people end up isolated and unsuccessful more easily. If you're in a school that specializes in math, and you don't do math well, odds are that you're not going to do well academically, socially, or mentally.

This leads me to wonder, What is a school's role in general well being of students? Luther College not only offers, but requires, Personal Fitness and Wellness, which I've heard from many students to be a joke of a course. When I took it, I saw good intentions, but not so excellent execution of those intentions (but that's beside the point).

A school's role is to educate, but how does one define "educate". As a hopeful future educator, I've found my definition of education to be the development of a person. For me, that includes physical, emotional, social, and cognitive. Through these facets, I believe education can help to form a fully functioning, thoughtful, intentional person.

Disposition 6

Inventiveness

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk - Thomas Edison

How do we encourage, teach and reward creativity and imagination in our schools?

We encourage creativity firstly by giving students opportunities to exercise and use it. If we use worksheets or other structured assignments all the time, students won't have to make their own choices or decisions. I think there are many activities that could be used to teach creativity. Personally, I would start with listening to and being aware of the body. Bringing students to a field or forest and asking them to go where they want. Give them time to get lost and have a sound that they have to find at the end of the time. Through this experience students would independently seek something, a rare occurrence in a classroom. Encouraging creativity and imagination is as simple as speaking and connecting with people. Asking them how they feel, what they want to continue learning, what makes them excited, what direction they are taking projects, etc. Each person has many capabilities, we just have to give students opportunities to exercise them.

How important is creativity as a skill for the 21st Century?

Unless we want the world to stay the way it is forever, people need to come up with ideas. Even if things stay the same, our living conditions and lives would change in a negative way. Solutions and new ideas require creativity and passion. Yes, answers can be found when people don't have a burning passion for finding them. However, I believe that the best answers are found when people have a connection or passion for what they're doing. They would be more likely to go one step further or look for one more option when they already have something satisfactory.

As a future music educator, I am aware that other countries in the world do better in the areas of reading, science, and math. As a nation, we certainly need to do well in those areas, but instead of seeing those topics as the main commodity in the world, we need to step up our education in the arts. With creativity and basic skill, you can do anything. With a higher training and level of skill in a concrete area, you can do those few things very well. In order for our children to be successful, they need to be creative and skilled. The rest will follow.