The educator profession requires a lot of qualities and competencies to establish and maintain successful interactions with students and colleagues. I have always felt that this field is my heart’s calling, and I will do everything to become a proficient teacher who will inspire students to reach their goals. The understanding of dispositions remains the central focus that ties all processes together. While some I am confident I possess from experience and personal qualities, others I look forward to mastering before entering the classroom as a teacher.
Choosing my future profession, I knew that some characteristics have always been my priority in life. Such dispositions as compassion, honesty, and fairness are the core values necessary to me personally. I consider them crucial in every career, especially in education, because they are applied to me as a specialist and to students who will be directly affected by those characteristics. Additionally, as dispositions, compassion, and fairness are closely connected with each other, it is evident in their featured behaviors, such as establishing good relations with the students or spending time communicating with students beyond the classroom (Grand Canyon University, n.d.). I am sure these acquired dispositions will be a strong foundation for the further development of effective educational engagement with the class.
Another essential part that makes me believe I will be a successful teacher is the interrelation of teaching standards with the mentioned qualities. For instance, standard #3, learning environment, highly depends on the emotional and social atmosphere in the classroom (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011). It means that a potentially friendly, positive, and healthy setting can increase students’ engagement in the learning process. Thus, I think compassion, honesty, and fairness as my prioritized qualities will help me to be a successful teacher.
However, many aspects of the educator profession, connected with dispositions, still require improvement. Curiosity is one of them, and I think there are many opportunities for me to improve it. This point is interconnected with creative thinking and problem-solving skills (Grand Canyon University, n.d.). And I am confident that college courses will help me improve and transmit it further in my teaching career. This disposition is also vital in applying content during classes, and it can affect education equally to its outcomes.
Succeeding in such a task, I plan to apply various practices to build curiosity in students. Therefore, after acquiring an educator certificate from the Arizona Department of Education, I will support both personal and general learning curiosity in the classroom (Arizona Department of Education, n.d.). For instance, the universal approach encourages questions during every assessment and task. Leaving open ideas and concepts can engage students in a discussion that will form strong views on controversial topics. Additionally, personal curiosity can be built through essay assignments and other forms of individual work that require deep research. Nevertheless, the requirement of challenging ideas in the projects is important for the constant improvement of such skills and not the passive complement of the tasks.
Another part that affects the professional activity is respect for the diversity of others. I completely support and share that one of our college’s primary purposes is to serve all students in the spirit of servant leadership (College of Education, n.d.). Respect for the students’ cultural differences is essential to develop good relationships in the classroom and address current social diversity problems. The inclusive educational environment will help students adapt to future life and create a better community based on equal respect without discrimination. As a teacher, I will also engage with the students’ families to identify possible problems and learning restrictions their children face. It will help to adequately promote inclusivity in education, addressing relevant issues in practice. Potential bias, however, can drastically affect teaching, result in adverse educational outcomes, and damage students’ mental health. The biased approach of the teacher will be immediately reflected in the class and, as a consequence, involve a decrease in students’ motivation and interest in learning and potentially lead to social problems among children. Therefore, it is crucial for a teacher to follow the disposition of respect for diversity, connected with fairness in the class, to establish clear social messages and perspectives of the learning process.
The final aspect that must be discussed is connected with reflection as a disposition and the role of feedback. It is related to both students and teachers and presents the component accountable for the constant improvement of the practices. I think annual performance evaluations and observations can help adjust educational methods and strategies according to the student’s needs and detect problems. Only through feedback is it possible to understand the situation thoroughly and select the best solutions quickly. Data analysis is an irreplaceable part of teaching that provides systematized information on the chosen style. I will utilize it to replace successful practices with more contemporary and practical ones.
Therefore, dispositions are the central system that drives the educational mechanisms further. To become a successful teacher aims to learn, lead, and serve – it is a crucial step to master each of them. Even though I already possess some of the features, others require additional work, and I will do my best to improve every component appropriately and effectively share the knowledge with future generations.
References
Arizona Department of Education. (n.d.). Educator Certification. Web.
College of Education. (n.d.). GCU’s College of Education Pledge and Promise. Grand Canyon University. Web.
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2011). Interstate teacher assessment and support consortium (InTASC) model core teaching standards: A resource for state dialogue. Washington, DC: Author.
Grand Canyon University. (n.d). Professional dispositions of learners. Web.