Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
- Essential
Knowledge 9i and 9j
- 9(i)
The teacher understands how personal identity, worldview, and prior
experience affect perceptions and expectations, and recognizes how
they may bias behaviors and interactions with others.
Our culture, background, and life experiences shape who we are, and no two people have exactly the same outlook. As teachers it is important that we do not allow our personal viewpoints to prejudice us against any of our students. We need to be aware of factors that may have shaped our own outlook, but we also need to learn where our students are coming from. This will enable us to be understanding of their differences and also to use teaching methods that will be the most effective for their needs. - 9(j) The teacher understands laws related to learners’ rights and teacher responsibilities (e.g., for educational equity, appropriate education for learners with disabilities, confidentiality, privacy, appropriate treatment of learners, reporting in situations related to possible child abuse)
- Through the review of several case studies, our class was encouraged to think about how these laws might come in to play in real life situations. We reviewed sixteen possible scenarios and were encouraged to analyze what we thought the best legal response was in each case. We then read the accompanying explanation of the applicable laws. I also learned about many of the laws that apply to learners with disabilities in my RAPS activity for standard 10 which focused on understanding IDEA.
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Critical
Dispositions 9m,9n, 9o
- 9(m)
The teacher is committed to deepening understanding of his/her own
frames of reference (e.g., culture, gender, language, abilities,
ways of knowing), the potential biases in these frames, and their
impact on expectations for and relationships with learners and their
families.
Our discussions on multiculturalism made us examine our own background and how it might differ from the backgrounds of students. It is important that we don't consider our way of looking at things as the only right way, but show respect for the viewpoints of others. Awareness and analysis of how our own life experiences may affect our viewpoints will help us detect possible biases in our own thinking so that we can avoid letting them negatively affect our interactions with students and their families. - 9(n)
The teacher sees him/herself as a learner, continuously seeking
opportunities to draw upon current education policy and research as
sources of analysis and reflection to improve practice.
Through our readings on school reform we learned that education is a constantly evolving field. This stresses the importance for teachers to keep up with current advancements. We also discussed the importance of reading educational journals and learning from peers as ways to evaluate and improve our methods. I think that my final paragraph of my philosophy of teaching sums up my views on continued learning perfectly: As a professional, I realize that I still have much growing to do. I have very limited classroom experience, mostly as an observer or a volunteer. As an educator, I know that I will not ever reach a point where my own education is complete. Education is constantly evolving, and I don't plan to be left behind. In order to become as effective a teacher as possible, I will take advantage of educational opportunities provided by the school that I will eventually work for. I will also include reading for professional development in my activities when I am not at school. I will read articles in current education journals as well as books written by leading educators. Finally, I plan to learn through observation and collaboration. I will converse with others and find out what methods have worked for them. I will never stop growing. The road to effective teaching is never-ending, but it is a journey that I am excited to take. - 9(o)
The teacher understands the expectations of the profession including
codes of ethics, professional standards of practice, and relevant
law and policy.
I think that I have a fairly good instinct about many of the laws that relate to teaching, since on my first try I gave correct answers in 13 out of 16 of the case studies that we examined. I was also able to see the reasoning behind the ones that I had answered incorrectly. There are many laws that affect a teacher's career, and it's important to be aware of them. In our class discussions we also touched on the issue of ethics, especially regarding plagiarism. It is important not only to encourage our students not to plagiarize but also to be careful that we aren't doing it ourselves. Teachers will face many ethical issues, and by modeling the values that are important for our students to develop and involving them in discussions around some of these issues when appropriate, we can help students to form their own responsible codes of ethics. Ethics also come in to play when observing students and noticing possible signs of child abuse that need to be reported. As teachers we are not only educators, but sometimes we also need to be protectors.