Final Post

I think that dispositions cannot be taught, but they can be encouraged. The growth of any one of these dispositions can be hindered, but if we allow teachers and potential teachers to explore these dispositions and figure out what they want out of each of them, then many of these dispositions can grow. By doing this, we will allow the future generations of teachers to be be better teachers that truly love what they do, thus increasing the levels of resilience and authenticity. I think that these dispositions can be encouraged by allowing teachers to grow and develop in their style, be creative in lesson planning, and explore new areas and developments in eduction that excite them and re-inspire them. Keeping teachers fresh and excited will lead to the best education for future generations, no matter what roads education will take in the future.

Resilience

well, this is a difficult disposition for me to discuss. I, for example know that I would be one of those teachers who doesn't stay in the profession long- this, along with passion, is why I will not be continuing with education. I do think, however, that resilience is an important issue. For the book presentations, we heard author after author and group after group talk about how the current system is flawed. There still does not seem to be a change happening in this important area. I think that if we want to increase this disposition in teachers, then we should make teaching a profession with less stress that understands the ways in which a teacher struggles in their first year and accommodates to them. However, with some parents being so easy to offend about anything and everything, I do not see this changing anytime soon.

Humility

Humility is a big issue, and it is one that I fear most people never resolve. It is one thing to exude confidence, but another thing all together to appear to be an egotistical know-it-all. The balance is incredibly delicate and must be monitored, because either extreme should be avoided. I'm not really sure that I know what the perfect balance between humility and confidence is. A teacher must certainly be confident in what they are teaching and show that to their students This is absolutely essential to appear as a person worth learning from. "Um"s and awkward pauses are bad things for a teacher to employ. Maintaining that professionalism and confidence, they must still not have the air of "I have an advanced degree and you don't, so you should just listen to everything I say as absolute fact" When you get to that point, you have gone too far. A teacher should listen to and respect the questions and opinions of their students and try at all times to treat them like people. I do believe, however, that a little more confidence than humility that is kept in check at all times is an ideal balance.

Collaborativeness

I personally believe that collaboration and group work are very distinct concepts. A group most certainly does not have to be collaborative. In high school, I was in some horrible groups for projects. The group participation consisted of one or two people who worked hard and did most of the work and the rest that contributed next to (or actually) nothing. Collaboration, on the other hand means that all members of the group are putting forth a more or less equal effort. In a collaboration, the project would not and could not have been the same without the hard work and effort that everyone put forth into it.

Certainly, the ability to collaborate is essential to teachers. They must be able to work well with their colleges as well as with administration. Also, effective teachers should encourage students to step beyond the realm of group work into the realm of collaboration

Efficacy

To be honest, I don't really know what "efficacy" is. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines efficacy as, "The ability to produce an effect." I do not really understand how this relates to the questions that we were prompted with, so I'll address both.

My response to the definition is pretty obvious. Yes, it is important for teachers to be able to produce an effect: that's what teachers are trained to do. They are trained to produce the effect of helping children to grow and develop. This, of course, is not necessarily something that someone is born with. One can certainly be naturally gifted at teaching, but a lot of this must be taught. Much of the efficacy that a teacher possesses is learned in college.

As far as the prompt questions, self-awareness plays a major role in the effectiveness of a teacher. They must be able to convince others that they are an expert, and therefore, they must have a certain level of believing themselves to be an expert. As far as some of the other traits listed are concerned, a high work ethic and persistence all help to develop confidence as well as help the teacher to show their expertise. These are best developed through exposure to rigor. When a future teacher learns to work hard academically for a goal that they really want (like a teaching license), they learn or at least develop this skill

Inventiveness

For this particular disposition, I'm not so sure that I agree with the name. To me "Inventiveness" restricts the disposition a little bit. I think that inventiveness is instead a subsection of both Creativity and Imagination. That being said, I will discuss the disposition instead of just its name.

Creativity is a crucial skill for anyone to have. It is important to remember that we are not raising robots, but children. And while professionalism is a valuable skill, it is important to remember that a proper balance of professionalism and creativity is important. Uninhibited creativity can be an issue, but it is more important for children to learn to be creative than for them to learn to be professional. Professionalism can (and should) be taught later.

I really don't think that creativity can be taught. It can be either encouraged and celebrated, allowing the natural creativity in all kids to develop. There is, however, a certain level of creativity given to each person. To use a musical example (which I know I do a lot), each person has a unique voice that usually fits into or close to a specific category. A woman who is born an alto (or mezzo soprano to be technically correct) will likely never have the high notes of a soprano, but that doesn't mean that her voice is any less special. likewise, people have different and unique skills and traits, including creativity, and encouraging all of these traits to develop in students is important

Reflection

Well, Reflection is a tricky subject. It is hard to reflect upon and judge oneself. I have found both in my own personal experience and through watching others that often times one cannot look beyond the flaws of a performance or action to see what was good. In terms of music, this means that you cannot look beyond the note that you missed, or the spot where your voice cracked to see that other than that, it was an exceptional performance. It can also go the other way around. There are people who think much higher of themselves than they aught to and thus fail to see the areas that they could improve upon. For these reasons, self-reflection can be dangerous.

It is, however, important. For someone to be able to reflect upon an action or, in terms of teaching, a lesson, is an important skill. The fact that it is tricky makes it more important. It must be encouraged in students as well as trained to an extent, so that children can learn to become reflective people who think things through before acting upon something

Passion

For this particular blog entry, I'd like to deviate a little bit from the questions that we were given. I firmly believe that there are two major passions that any effective teacher MUST have: a passion for teaching, and a passion for the subject that they are teaching. Without either of these passions, I believe that prospective teachers have the moral obligation to themselves and to their would be students to choose another career.

I'd like, now, to embellish on this seemingly harsh statement. I'll start with a passion for what a person teaches. I firmly believe and often say that, "Notes devoid of passion is not music." What I mean by that is this: When one makes music, they give the piece life through their interpretation. In the case of a piece that is centuries old even, it is not enough to say that you are playing a Mozart sonata. You also need to feel the piece, live the piece, and learn to love the piece. In that case, with all of these met as well as a certain degree of technical preparation and accuracy, that sonata becomes more than just notes on a page. It becomes art, it becomes the music that extends beyond a simple question of how many notes you got right. It is this that makes me want to be a musician. I truly want to take pieces that are centuries old and breath new life into them. This is, in terms of music (in my opinion) passion. I am reminded of a quotation of James Levine, the current musical director and head conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, in which he discusses why musicians choose to keep trying in vain for the perfect performance, "We have a constant drive for perfection, yes, but not for physical perfection. Perfection in the sense that the composer had an idea in his imagination of what this piece should sound like, of what this piece should communicate, and what we are on the eternal search for, there is no doubt about it. That’s why we get up in the morning, trying to get a little closer." This passion does extend, of course, in to all disciplines in different ways. I could not describe as vividly for any other subject what it means to be passionate as I can for music. It truly takes a passionate person in the subject to describe what passion means to them. This is the first type of essential passion that any effective teacher must possess.

The second type of passion is one that I unfortunately cannot elaborate so heavily on. It is a passion for teaching. An effective teacher must know that they are 100% devoted to being a teacher, that there is nothing that they'd rather do. This passion entails many things such as a genuine desire to see the kids you teach succeed, a genuine desire to help them learn, and an immense patience. It is in this area of passion that I am lacking.