Assessing and Developing Teacher Dispositions

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Assessing and Developing Teacher Dispositions

• Oregon Association of Teacher Educators
• Annual Conference
• February 24, 2006
• Roy Bunch, Corban College

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This session

• National Network for the Study of Educator
  Dispositions (NNSED)
• Definitions Revisited
• TED Examples Around the Country
• Emerging Patterns In Disposition Protocol
• Corban College (?)
• A Couple of Significant Issues (?)
• Where are you in the process with your
  colleagues? How can we help each other?

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(No Transcript)
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Dispositions Framework and Protocol

• Framework
• Dispositions defined per institution mission
• Desired Dispositions identified
• Associated Manifestations/Behaviors listed
• Purpose Statement
• Protocol
• All necessary Instruments
• Schedule of Assessment
• Evaluators
• Common Procedures
• Remediation Procedures

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• Definitions. Revisited
• NCATE the one we all know
• The values, commitments, and professional
  ethics that influence behaviors toward students,
  families, colleagues, and communities and affect
  student learning, motivation and development as
  well as the educators own professional growth. 
• Dispositions are guided by beliefs and
  attitudes related to values such as caring,
  fairness, honesty, responsibility and social
  justice.

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Other Definitions

• Characteristic manners of thinking and acting
• Habitual frames of mind
• Trends in actions that are intentional on the
  part of the actor
• Values, beliefs and intentions that are
  discovered in consistent patterns of behavior
• Attitudes, inclinations and personal qualities
  that candidates hold toward teaching, learning,
  students and colleagues
• Habits of thinking and action regarding teaching
  and children
• Prevailing tendency, mood or inclination

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Definition Disquisition
Formal investigation or discussion, with the
connotation of seemingly endless conversation
without coming to a conclusion.

• No silver bullet or holy grail

• Define Dispositions through the lens of your
  institutions unique mission and in light of
  ongoing dialogue and discoveries in the
  educational community.

• Consider the general nature of dispositions as
  qualities more deeply held than observable
  behaviors, but revealed in patterns of behavior.

• Most institutions are choosing to identify
  dispositions as a broader category with
  associated behaviors or manifestations.

• Some going to the use of commitments as
  defining term for dispositions - for good
  reasons.

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Eastern Kentucky University

• Empathy
• Positive View of Others
• Positive View of Self
• Authenticity
• Meaningful Purpose and Vision

Assessment at various stages in the program,
using Human Relations Incident. This is
similar to a case study prompt and training is
required for all faculty evaluators.
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University of Vermont PADA Professional
Attitudes and Dispositions Assessment

• Collegiality
• Reliability
• Interpersonal Skills
• Intrapersonal Skills
• Attendance
• Oral Communication
• Written Commun.
• Non-verbal Expression

• Response to Feedback
• Desire to improve teaching
• Diversity
• Collaboration
• Pedagogical Knowledge
• Attitude toward St Teaching
• Adheres to Policies

Assessment is by an online Likert scale, up to 25
times by various faculty and supervisors during
the course of the program. Students have
immediate access to results.
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Washington State Examination of the
dispositions frameworks of 22 teacher education
institutions led to the following categories of
dispositions

• Character
• Leadership
• Human interaction
• Communication
• Self-development

Framework and Protocol vary by institution but
assessment strategies include interviews, Likert
scales, student self-assess, institutional
assessment and student responses to case studies
and prompts.
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Asbury College (Wesleyan Methodist Heritage)

• Moral and Ethical Integrity
• Respect and Compassion for Others
• Personal and Emotional Wellness and Vitality
• Passion for Teaching
• Spiritual Sensitivity and Purpose

Assessment at various stages in the program,
using interviews, case studies, moral dilemma
analysis and 50-item Asbury Dispositions Rating
Instrument.
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Asbury College (Wesleyan Methodist Heritage)

• Focus on DEVELOPMENT of the dispositions rather
  than
• assessment for selection and admissions. Choosing
  to see the
• candidates potential and teaching and supporting
  them as we
• do in the development of knowledge and skills.

• Triadic Approach Dispositional Development
• Developing KNOWLEDGE of the Dispositions
• Developing the IDENTITY with the Dispositions
• Enacting the Dispositions (ACTION)

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Emerging Patterns in the Design of Dispositions
Framework and Protocol

• No One Right Way

• Dispositions are deeply held orientations
  revealed in behavior patterns, and an
  increasingly common approach to assessment and
  development is to address the specific behaviors.

• Development of the actual disposition depends on
  many variables, including the depth of the
  orientation and how we approach the endeavor with
  students.

• Teacher educators are moving more to disposition
  frameworks that emphasize development more than
  admissions or selection criteria.

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Emerging Patterns in the Design of Dispositions
Framework and Protocol

• Asbury College Triadic Approach to Disposition
  Development is a model for how many are thinking
  Knowledge, Identity, Action

• As in all teaching and learning, assessment is
  not the heart of the dispositions matter. What
  we are doing to help our students develop the
  desired dispositions is the more pressing issue.

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Emerging Patterns in the Design of Dispositions
Framework and Protocol

• Strategies for Development of Dispositions

• Demonstrate the high value of Dispositions from
  the beginning
• Full-day Workshop early in the Program

• Prescribed teaching and learning activities in
  specific courses
• Squirms, Vignettes, Written responses to Prompts

• Multiple opportunities for self-assessment
• Multiple institutional assessments, by multiple
  evaluators

• Conversations with students based on assessments
• Remediation only in cases of significant
  deficiencies
• (Punctilious in your protocol)

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Emerging Patterns in the Design of Dispositions
Framework and Protocol

• Along the Way
• Building Trust
• Continual Reinforcement
• Providing Support
• Modeling the Dispositions Ourselves

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Corban College (Framework and Protocol still in
development)
Definition Characteristics and commitments
essential in the teaching and learning
environment which we expect our graduates to
cultivate in themselves and demonstrate in their
classrooms and schools
Purpose We are developing a Dispositions
Framework and Protocol because we believe that
being an effective teacher requires more than
content knowledge and pedagogy skills. We also
believe that our responsibility as teacher
educators includes guiding our students toward
personal reflection and growth, emotionally,
socially, professionally and spiritually. This
endeavor is a purposeful application of the
Corban College motto, Dedicating Heart and Mind
to God.
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Corban College (Framework and Protocol still in
development)

• Dispositions
• Respect and Compassion for Others
• Commitment to Personal and Professional Growth
• Moral and Ethical Integrity
• Capacity for Leadership

• Manifestations
• An inchoate list of 35-45 characteristics and
  behaviors aligned with each of the dispositions.
• Such as collaborative, teachable, adaptable,
  seeks opportunity to serve, speaks well of
  others, above reproach in matters of conscience
  and personal vitality

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Significant Issue Bad Press and Legal
Complications

• Dispositions perceived as a whacking stick to
  ensure conformity to political ideology
• WSU, Boston College, LaMoyne College
• NCATE Behaviors not ideologies (youre on your
  own)
• Even the critics see no problem with most
  dispositions (collaborative, professional
  development, adaptable)
• Social Justice is the usual lightning rod

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Significant Issue Bad Press and Legal
Complications

• How are teacher educators dealing with the issue
• Remaining true to the institutional mission
• Self-reflection Considering any truth in the
  critics voice
• Punctilious Protocol
• Demonstrating the relationship of teacher
  dispositions to student achievement

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Significant Issue 2 Paucity of Research

• 70s and 80s Research made demonstrated
  correlations between some qualities we call
  dispositions and effective teaching.
• But effective teaching not defined strictly by
  student learning gains.
• 90s and 2000s same pattern continues.

• We need to fill the gap.
• NNSED is hoping to facilitate.

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Assessing and Developing Teacher Dispositions

• Oregon Association of Teacher Educators

So where are you with your colleagues in this
process?Did you pick up anything new or helpful
today?How can we help each other?