intasc 9
STANDARD 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice
The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community) and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner.
Standard 9 is all about being a professional. All teachers should first and foremost be well respected, high functioning members of society that students can not only learn from, but also look up to. Being professional means,wearing presentable and appropriate clothing, speaking well and being prompt to meetings, as well as maintaining professional relationships in and outside of the school building. As it relates to music, it is a reality that the world is constantly changing and cultures mixing. The music classroom is no different than others in that it often has students of different ethnicities cultures and backgrounds, learning together in one environment. Music teachers need to deepen their own understanding of these areas, to promote an atmosphere in which all peoples are able learn and share music together. Being professional in a teaching career means working ethically, or not doing anything to compromise the legitimacy of their career. Another important part of the standard is seeking out professional conferences in order to find the newest and best ideas in teaching. At Ball State there are many Professional Development opportunities. I try to attend as many of these opportunities as possible in order to gain real world experiences in a professional setting.
I am only starting my career as a professional and my development of Standard 9. So far, the main thing I have done to be a professional is to dress nicely for my peer teaching opportunities. I like to think I work on Standard 9 every time I have an interaction with an adult or future educator. Making connections with fellow educators is an important aspect of the Standard. Doing observations of other teachers is a good means of developing professionalism. Talking to Ms. Confer, for instance, was a way for me to practice being a professional. We were able to talk about our craft of teaching and how to be effective when teaching young children. It was nice to be able to learn from someone who was able to talk to collage age students and be professional and then immediately transition to being a great teacher of elementary school children.
Being professional is not something that can learned in the classroom. The easiest way to gain experience in Standard 9 is to observe professional educators in their classroom. I have teaching role models that I look to for advice. In the future, I hope to be able to discuss in depth my own feelings about the profession and bounce around ideas with successful music educators. Building a network of people that can help me be the best educator possible is essential in developing myself as a professional. Attending conferences and practicing ethics and professionalism everywhere I go is the best way to build up my skills of Standard 9.
MUSE 375
The biggest way I grew in this standard is by observing and dealing with other teachers as well as doing serval readings written by well known professionals. I learned a great deal from watching my cooperating teacher teach her class. The readings, especially with regard to begin an effective conductor, were extremely enlightening.
MUSE 355
String Methods allowed me to continue my growth in professionalism by allowing me the opportunity do observe and teach in the field. I learned a lot from watching and talking to my cooperating teacher. During this course we also discussed the importance of ethics and boundaries when being a teacher. We all have to take training before going into school, but I think it is important to be able to discuss boundaries and how some might be more blurry than others. Ultimately we determined that student safety is always number one that should be the final say for all boundaries.
