TEACHER DISPOSITIONS OR MIND CONTROL?
Besides knowledge and skills, effective teachers are also said to have a certain set of dispositions (Chicoine, 2004). A disposition is a state of mind that creates an inclination to think or act in certain ways. While we cannot observe a disposition, we can observe actions that seem to reflect certain dispositions.
Some teacher preparation programs seek to identify and mandate certain dispositions that “effective” teachers must have. Also, there are efforts by some “scholars” to measure specific dispositions in order to determine who is and is not an effective teacher. There even are schools that seek to hire professional educators with the “right” attitude. Essentially these entities are saying that there are certain states of mind that teachers must have. Another term for this is mind control. To insist that another adopt your way of thinking is the ultimate form of domination and control.
The teacher dispositions you select as being important will be highly influenced by your personal teaching philosophy, your values, and your world view. To be of any value you must ultimately develop, define, and internalize your own.
The dispositions below are those that I believe to be important; however, these are my teaching dispositions. They are aligned with my teaching philosophy, values, and belief systems. They may not be right for you.
Compassion. One seeks to empathize and seek to understand. One seeks to display unconditional positive regard for students and faculty; and to try to understand the motivations and environmental circumstances of students, parents, and faculty.
Kindness. One seeks to interact with students and faculty in a positive, benevolent manner; to be friendly; to seek the highest good of others; and to nurture self, others, and the environment.
Courage. One seeks to stand up for the rights of students, self, faculty, schools, and the academic integrity of programs.
Right effort. One strives to engage and apply oneself in the act of knowing, planning, teaching, and reflection.
Reflection. One seeks to think about one’s actions as a teacher and a person for the intention of personal and professional growth. It is to define a philosophy and act based on that philosophy.
Positive attitude. One seeks to think and speak in a manner that affirms, edifies, and nurtures self, students, faculty and the environment.
Honesty and integrity. One seeks to speak the truth and to seek to act in the best interests of students, parents, faculty, and the school or environment.
Professional respect. One seeks to celebrate differences of opinion and philosophies, to communicate and compromise to find common goals, and to seek the common good.
So which dispositions are the correct ones? The ones that have the potential to bring you and your students to a higher place and that are aligned with your core values, your teaching philosophy, and your belief system. Teachers are not standardized products. We have to stop treating them as such.
Reference
Chicoine, D. (2004). Ignoring the obvious: A constructivist critique of a traditional teacher education program. Educational Studies (36), 245-263.
Learning Activist, Steward, Architect, Speaker-Presenter, Consultant, and Coach
5 年Thanks for your work, Dr. Johnson. I respect your push back on the mind control implications.? We've been trying to train the 1st person learning out of teacher for decades . We seem to want teachers to behave like robotic extensions of the protocols given to them by their institutional leaders.? This is problematic because the machines will soon be able to do that (protocol ordained instruction) better than humans.? Also because students learn best with teachers whose presence calls them to be present in learning.? Which is why, for me, this is not about disposition, it's about orientation. Ideally, the core orientation of teaching is to be 1st person learning oriented in stewarding the? (healthy inside-out participative) learning of learners. Not only is there no better way to differentiate instruction, it models for learners the 'liveliness' of learning in a way that only humans can.?
Product Support Manager | Process | Project Management
5 年Students will encounter people with different dispositions throughout their academic, personal, and professional lives. I'm a firm believer that they should be prepared to interact with and learn from all.