Chief_Snow_Toad
How would you respond to this question? Dispositions are very…
How would you respond to this question?
Dispositions are very important to teaching and producing quality teachers. I believe that a person can change and grow based on their life experiences, but I also believe that a person has to have the desire to change and the resources to do so. For example, the online student population of Liberty University are required to use the SCRIP Dispositions (Conceptual Framework | School of Education | Liberty University, 2022), but the student must have a desire to learn and become a better Christian, or the student can just do the required work and choose not to change.
As a family member of an addict, this story has played out many times in my life. Until an addict wants to change, they never will. The same is true for teacher candidates. They can complete the required assignments and answer surveys the way that universities want to see, but until they choose to take the lessons offered to heart, they will not truly change and grow their dispositions.
When I think of disposition requirements, I think that every educator should have a compassionate disposition and a loving heart. I wish I could say that teachers should be Christians, but that would change my disposition because I believe that people can be good, but not yet Christians, therefore it is my job to minister to them through modeling and love. My personal goal has always been that people should know I am a Christian by my acts rather than me telling them about my faith.
I do not remember the disposition section of my undergraduate or master’s degree, but I can guarantee that I will remember this portion of my doctorate degree. I will remember this portion of my doctorate degree for many reasons, but I believe that the biggest one is that I am in a season of life, in which I want to learn and grow as a Christian woman as well as earn a higher degree. A part of me is more mature and I have experienced so much more life, I have learned to take the opportunity for change and growth and embrace it.
The question of determining the effectiveness of dispositions training is a difficult one. In their article, Bialka (2016), mentioned using surveys, which are as effective as one can get in this type of testing, but I really believe that the surveys should be taken by the people that work with the educators and the students of the educators. I used to believe that good teachers were not made, but they were born with a compassionate heart, however, I have watched many a teacher grow into an amazing educator with the love of good people, the birth of their own children, and the change of their hearts towards God. I have personally witnessed people change. I have watched my brother change in so many good, bad, and wonderful ways since he was a child. I also know that we were raised the same way, so exposure to the love of Jesus is not always the cure to make someone change, they must want to change on their own. I have also witnessed people change for the worse. I have watched teachers with a love of education be torn down until they leave the profession and are just empty shells of what they used to be.
The changing of one’s core beliefs is a journey. It must be traveled by one who wants to change, and it must be done delicately, at the right time, or it will not result in the appropriate type of change. Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens” (King James Bible 2023/1769). If we trust in the Lord, the timing is right, and our hearts are ready, changing, and growing dispositions can occur, but if we are not in the right season, no true change can occur. There is, therefore, no way to promise that the dispositions of teachers can change and grow within the University timeframe. However, we cannot give up. The SCRIP program is an awesome program because it provides those ready to grow with ways and means to do so. It needs to continue for all in the hope that changes can occur.
Roman’s 12:2 states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will ishis good, pleasing, and perfect will” (King James Bible 2023/1769). When we are choosing cadidates to become teachers, we must use our minds and look at the person as God wants us to. He can help us find teachers that have the dispositions, whether fully developed and ready at this season in their lives or waiting patiently beneath the surface to grow into amazing educators. As school leaders, our job is to make sure that we are providing children with the best of the best and that can only be done when we do His will, which I honestly believe is to provide excellent educators to His children.
Bialka, C. (2016). Beyond knowledge and skills best practices for attending to dispositioons in teacher education programs. Issues in Teacher Education, 25(2), 3-21.
Conceptual Framework | School of Education | Liberty University. (2022, February 11). School of Education. https://www.liberty.edu/education/conceptual-framework/? _ga=2.123053580.684470731.1677970927-1740805561.1667179236
King James Bible. (2023/1769). King James Bible Online.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
Links to an external site.
(Original work published 1769)
