Unit5Assignment

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RUNNING HEAD: Philosophy of Education Statement 1 Philosophy of Education Statement Draft Unit 5 Assignment October 24, 2023 Samantha Longhi

Philosophy of Education Statement 2 To be an educator in the 21 st century is vastly different from the past. Being a teacher- leader in the 21 st century is also a unique task. Currently, due to teacher shortages, teacher- leaders are in high demand (University of San Diego, 2023). There is also an expectation that teacher-leaders will have the ability to be flexible in providing a positive structure to their learning environment (University of San Diego, 2023). First, to define the expectations of a teacher-leader would be “when a teacher goes above and beyond their classroom responsibilities and assume informal and formal roles within the school to influence and enhance instruction and learning for all students.” (University of San Diego, 2023). Therefore, under this definition, one would expect teacher-leaders to act as advocates for their students and school, serve as a peer mentor, and aid in the design of curriculum, assessments, and instruction planning. (University of San Diego, 2023). To be a teacher-leader in the 21 st century differs again from the past due to the dependency on technology thus meaning that teacher-leaders need to constantly remain current on the most up to date technologies and programs. (OldBrainTeacher, 2017). This is due partly to adapting education to the world around us and to the concept of personalized learning. (OldBrainTeacher, 2017). The challenges of personalized learning are reduced greatly by using technology and its ability to tailor lessons to a students’ academic ability. The rapid spread in the trend of teaching through digital means is often equated to a healthy infection with the goal of spreading as quickly as possible. (OldBrainTeacher, 2017). With this in mind, Malcom Gladwell coined a theory for the types of qualities that a teacher- leader in this era would optimally possess. The “Law of the Few” is a theory that states that the “success of any kind of academic epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of teacher leaders with a particular and rare set of pedagogical gifts” (OldBrainTeacher, 2017).

Philosophy of Education Statement 3 Furthermore, some of these “gifts” are described as The Marine; a teacher that is first in for new challenges, The Maven; a teacher who is up to date on the latest digital instruction information, The Media Moguls; teachers that are on various and multiple social media platforms, and lastly The McGyvers; teachers that will redefine an age-old lesson to fit into digital parameters. (OldBrainTeacher, 2017). Teacher leaders are not only in high demand for their teaching expertise, but also for their understanding of the academic climate. It is important that every school has a set of core values so each individual has the ability to uphold the same quality of education. A school’s core values can be limitless and there is no uniform set used by all institutions. (Jackson, 2020). However, it is always recommended that the group of educators collaborate to create this list. When working together as a group to create one’s own school core values, it would be the hope that these core values would be ones that the educators, staff, and students had the ability to uphold. (Jackson, 2020). By making this a collaborative process, the expectation would also be that decisions made about the core values would be such that everyone felt a sense of ownership and pride about them. Additionally, by creating their school’s core values, teachers and all others would be able to use these values in decision making. Possessing a concrete set of core values also allows others to know how the decision process will look (Jackson, 2020). For example, if a school’s core values were compassion, respect, and communication educators could use these to help in making decisions. For example, looking at the value of respect, all students and staff should know that every person and any property is treated with respect or action will be taken.

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Philosophy of Education Statement 4 Regarding compassion, everyone should know that each person is a unique individual that brings their own experience to the table. Using the idea of compassion in decision making might look like allowing for extra time to complete a task due to an extenuating circumstance. Communication as a core value in the decision-making process could be used to set clear expectations of behaviors and responsibilities and their consequences. For example, a teacher should make it clear that should a student be disrespectful, it will result in a write up. Being openly communicative regarding expectations will mean that all rules and consequences will be treated uniformly, and all staff and students will know prior to any incidents. Lastly, respect as a core value adds to the process of decision making by having the expectation set that everyone will be treated with the same common courtesy. By using the core value of respect in the process of making any decision regarding discipline, for example allows for any educational professional to follow the same guidelines when a consequence is necessary. If a student is name calling another student, then the educator and student alike will know immediately what consequence that action will result in. When talking about core values used by teachers and teacher-leaders, there are also leadership competencies that are expected to be implemented. One of these competencies is organizing. As defined by the National Education Association, the competency of organization means that a professional aims to recruit, retain, and identify diverse members (National Education Association, 2023). This aligns with the core value of putting others ahead of oneself because it shows that the professional wants the best for the group. The leadership competency of Governance and Leadership connects best with integrity because it monitors strategies that create thriving organizations (National Educational

Philosophy of Education Statement 5 Association, 2023). A real-life example of this would be professional development meetings where teachers are able to collaborate and talk about what they see as working for their classrooms and what is making their students successful. Leading Our Professions is yet another leadership competency outlined by the National Educational Association. This competency best aligns with compassion and fairness because it advocates for leaders’ professional development and advancing educational transformation in a way that shows understanding of an individual (National Education Association, 2023). An example of implementing Leading Our Professions through compassion and fairness would be if an educator saw that one student (or group of students) did not have the same access to learning materials as other children, the teacher would make sure they went through proper channels to get the students what they needed. Based on information from the University of Michigan, research-based strategies can be used in the classroom to help support students learning. One of those strategies is acknowledging that students bring information learned previously into the classroom. If this information is correct, it can be helpful but to gauge a student’s academic level, using a diagnostic tool can also be helpful (University of Michigan, 2021). This connects with the leadership competency of organization and the core value of putting others before self because once a class has been tested on their ability, the teacher might have to adjust their lesson plans and not get to teach how or what they originally wanted to. Another strategy is knowing that the students’ motivation determines what they learn (University of Michigan, 2021). This aligns with the core value of respect and integrity and the leadership competency of Governance and Leadership. Knowing what the students’ interests are

Philosophy of Education Statement 6 will produce a more engaging and thriving environment which are key components of the core value and leadership competency mentioned above. Yet another research-based strategy is goal-directed practice coupled with targeted feedback, which enhances the quality of learning. According to the University of Michigan (2021), this strategy means that an educator understands that learning and performance occurs best when a student focuses on a specific goal with clearly communicated criterion, and feedback on performance of that goal explicitly relays specific aspects of the student’s performance. This best connects to the leadership competency of Leading Our Professions and the core values of compassion and fairness because the teacher fosters the concept of learning on an individual basis and makes sure that students have the materials to do so. As a teacher leader, one responsibility is facilitating collaboration among colleagues. This is important because collaboration between colleagues will improve student achievement. To facilitate collaboration among colleagues using teacher led professional development meetings is an effective method. When teachers can communicate and brainstorm with their peers, it will lead to a more effective outcome because they are learning from people having similar experiences to themselves (AITSL,2016). Once a teacher feels empowered and supported, the goal is to have that translate into their instruction, thus creating higher levels of student engagement and achievement. Building relationships with students and colleagues is also another important part of being an educational leader. Building positive relationships between colleagues and students will help establish trust (Gustafson, 2017). When leaders connect with their staff and students in a positive manner this helps the culture of the school community become one that is healthy. A healthy school culture based off connectedness and trust between staff and students will often

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Philosophy of Education Statement 7 translate to having a positive impact on culture outside of the four walls of a school building (Gustafson, 2017). Another way of building connections is through recognition of diversity and supporting diverse learners. Understanding that students bring prior knowledge and experiences with them means that educators not only have to adapt to a student’s academic ability, but also to their emotional state. Showing compassion in this situation would be done through accommodating the students’ needs and differences to make them successful (Ahmad, Sabat, Trump-Steele & King, 2019). As a leader, the topic of diversity should be presented to the faculty using the leadership competency of organization. Organization will help recruit, retain, and identify students and leaders that are part of a diverse group (National Education Association, 2023). Research shows that students in these groups feel isolated and distant from faculty (Ahmad, Sabat, Trump-Steele & King, 2019).. To retain and recruit diverse students, diverse recruitment ads are shown to make the institutions look more attractive (Ahmad, Sabat, Trump-Steele & King, 2019). Following enrollment of diverse students, faculty and staff must also make an effort to connect with the students and make sure they have equal access to all the necessary things to make them successful. As an educator, data is used in a multitude of ways. Data is used in determining goals for students, so knowing how to collect the data to make it most informative is also important. Some ways educators can collect data is through observations in the classroom, reading student files, or diagnostic testing (Alber, 2017).

Philosophy of Education Statement 8 Educators use the information collected from the data to do a myriad of things. Some of these tasks include using the diagnostic testing results to determine a student’s most appropriate academic level. Observations can be used to form an educated opinion on a student’s social emotional state and to place them in appropriate groupings. Additionally, reading a student’s file can help give an educator insight on any significant experiences the student may have had (Alber, 2017). Being able to collect data on students for the purpose of education is vital because as educators, the primary goal is to support the student to be as successful as possible. The leadership competency of Governance and Leadership states that it is the educators’ responsibility to set and monitor strategies that allow for students to thrive (National Education Association, 2023). Having as much data on a student is helpful in making sure they have all the support and access required to thrive in the educational environment. To conclude, educators are faced with a unique task in that they often take on leadership roles in an informal manner. Due to shortages in the field of education, those who are dedicated to the profession chose to do what they can to make each student successful. Through holding and attending collaborative meetings between all staff, acclimating themselves to the digital climate that education is leaning toward, and acknowledging the increasing diversity in learners’ educators are presented with the challenge of not only making sure their students are successful, but also that their peers are supported in that effort as well.

Philosophy of Education Statement 9 References Ahmad, A. S., Sabat, I., Trump-Steele, R., & King, E. (2019). Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Undergraduate Research Labs. Frontiers in psychology , 10 , 1305. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01305 AITSL. “New Role, New Conversations-Leadership Scenarios”. YouTube. 7 July, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3PJuGz0Njs . Alber, R. (2017). 3 Ways Student Data Can Inform Your Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-student-data-inform-teaching-rebecca-alber Gustafson, B. (2017). Renegade Leadership . SAGE Publications. Jackson, R. (2020). Co-Creating Your School’s Core Values. ASCD. 62(12), Retrieved from https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/co-creating-your-schools-core-values National Education Association. (2023). Leadership Competencies. Retrieved from https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/leadership-development/leadership-competencies OldBrainTeacher. (2017). Teacher Leaders in the 21 st Century. Retrieved from https://www.theedadvocate.org/teacher-leaders-21st-century/ University of Michigan. (2021). Research-based Principles of Learning & Teaching Strategies. Retrieved from https://crlt.umich.edu/gsis/p4_7 University of San Diego. (2023). Teacher Leadership in Education: 5 Must-Have Skills for Educators. Retrieved from https://pce.sandiego.edu/teacher-leadership/#:~:text=Expand %20All-,What%20is%20teacher%20leadership%3F,and%20learning%20for%20all%20students.

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