PROFILES: Teacher As Person

1. Their behaviour is thoughtful: PRO

The Student Teacher's behaviour is thoughtful. He/She acts out of having considered alternatives; the choices for action are reasoned choices. As well the actions are appropriate to expressed goals. The Student Teacher sometimes seems to have a built-in monitoring system which aids The Student Teacher in analysizing actions taken. This analysis is based upon objective criteria rather than on personal bias.

I would be apt to conclude that The Student Teacher is "in touch" with he/she does. What The Student Teacher does seems to tie in with the goals he/she has reflected on.

1. Their behaviour is thoughtful: CON

The Student Teacher's actions seems to be generated out of whim; his/her behaviour is clearly inconsistent with expressed goals.

The Student Teacher has not always considered what to do before he/she does it. There seems to be a gap between what The Student Teacher says and what The Student Teacher does. When I have confronted The Student Teacher with his/her actions, The Student Teacher has sometimes denied them ("I didn't do that!").

My general impression is that The Student Teacher has not thought a lot about what he/she does or says.

The Student Teacher has taken initiative throughout the term. The Student Teacher hasn't sat around waiting to be told things from the School Associate or from me.

The Student Teacher is not afraid to take risks. I would say of The Student Teacher that, "I can count on him/her to take initiative. He/She gets things done!"

When The Student Teacher's actions result in less than desireable ends, he/she is able to examine what happened in a rational manner, rather than considering it a personal defeat.

In situations where resources are limited, The Student Teacher makes use of what is available. The Student Teacher does not rationalize actions by saying there aren't enough materials, or that the materials are the wrong type.

2. Their behaviour is self-initiating: CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher wants to be told what to do. It's not what The Student Teacher does is unsuccessful, it is that sometimes, The Student Teacher does not take the opportunity to act on their own.

Sometimes, The Student Teacher will begin to do something and then ask for help several times along the way. "Tell me what to do" and "What am I supposed to do?" and "What shall I do now?" characterizes The Student Teacher's behaviour.

In situations where resources are limited, The Student Teacher may attempt to excuse their inaction by claiming that there aren't enough materials; or the materials aren't the right kind. Sometimes, The Student Teacher seems to depend on others to get them started.

The Student Teacher tends to have clear ideas of what he/she believes and classroom practices are consistent with those beliefs. In speaking with me, I get the impression that The Student Teacher has thought a lot about his/her ideas. I can see that these beliefs have been chosen after much reflection.

There is a clarity about his/her purpose and about what he/she stands for. The Student Teacher knows what he/she believes and believes in what he/she does.

3. These teachers have a clear idea of what they believe and those beliefs guide their practice. CON

Sometimes, I have noticed that The Student Teacher's actions are clearly inconsistant with his/her beliefs. For example, The Student Teacher may say that he/she believes in democracy in the classroom, but at times, The Student Teacher shows patterns of following authoritarian-style teaching.

For example, The Student Teacher may say that he/she believes that teachers should have a voice in making decisions, but he/she does not participate in committees, or bother to exercise their votes, claiming that "what one person does doesn't really make a difference."

Sometimes, The Student Teacher's expressed ideas are so very far apart from actions taken, that it seems puzzling. Sometimes, The Student Teacher rationalizes what is done by saying, "They won't let me do that" or "They make me do that" to excuse actions which are inconsistant with expressed beliefs. It's hard to know what The Student Teacher really believes.

In the face of a difficult situation, The Student Teacher is usually able to identify the problem, suggest alternative courses of action, and propose workable strategies.

In the face of conflicting data, The Student Teacher can open his/her mind to them and examine them with objectivity.

The Student Teacher can be seen as inquiring and open-minded. He/She is able to function effectively in the face of new and complex problems.

4. They are problem-solvers. CON

Sometimes, in the face of a problem, The Student Teacher seems to go to pieces. The Student Teacher doesn't know what to do, or how to start. In the absence of direction, The Student Teacher doen't know where or how to begin.

The Student Teacher has difficulty in entertaining discrepant data; his/her mind seems to be closed to them.

Once embarked on a course of action, The Student Teacher is hard to budge. When new alternatives are introduced, The Student Teacher may say something lik " We already have a plan. Let's not waste anyomre time by fooling around with new ideas."

The Student Teacher can take an idea and put it into practice.

The Student Teacher is able to make assessments of group needs, come up with an idea that is appropriate to those needs and then create a scheme for implementing the idea.

The Student Teacher is not thwarted by limited resources. He/She is able to do a lot with a little.

The Student Teacher can generate excitement about he/she is doing. What he/she does is new and fresh and there is a sense of life and vitality to his/her work.

5. They can put new ideas into practice. CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher applies rigid, formula approaches to most new situations. He/She seems to do the same things again and again in the same ways despite having new students, situations, and real;-life concerns within the classroom.

Sometimes, The Student Teacher will use what he/she already knows and uses it with little apparent concern for the individual needs.

Sometimes, there is a staleness and lack of zest in what The Student Teacher does in the classroom.

When The Student Teacher says he/she will do something, then I could depend on them to do it!

If The Student Teacher was unable to a task, he/she would find a way of communicating this in advance, so that other arrangements could be made.

Often, I would feel a sense of trust in The Student Teacher, comfortable in the assurance that what he/she says he/she will do.

6. You can rely on them. CON

Again and again, The Student Teacher would offer to take on a task; and for one reason or another, he/she does not complete it. If I needed a job done, I usually would not be able to depend on The Student Teacher.

The Student Teacher has a cheerful outlook on life! When things go wrong, The Student Teacher was nopt apt to attribute it to some manifest destiny. He/She took things in stride.

The Student Teacher would smile and laugh a lot and seem to genuinely enjoy what he/she was doing.

The Student Teacher has a capacity to look on the bright side of life, and The Student Teacher will openly communicate this to those who come in contact wtih him/her.

7. They have a positive outlook. CON

The Student Teacher sometimes see life in terms of blacks and shades of gray. He/She will sometimes carp and nag a lot about things that "never go right" and expel an unusual amount of energy in complaining.

Sometimes, even after a situation is rectified, The Student Teacher may want to talk about how "bad it was". "What's the use?" is typical of their negative attitude. He/She seems to infect others with his/her pessimism and bleak outlook on life.

The Student Teacher is a thoughtful, intelligent observer of what goes on in the classroom. In situations of uncertainty, in situations where children behave in ways that are not easily understood, The Student Teacher does not resort to simplistic explanations or labelling (eg. "He's doing that because he's lazy.").

The Student Teacher is able to size up make sense of complex situations and risk self-initiated actions that seem appropriate to the situation.

The Student Teacher's actions demonstrate a marraige of problem identification and problem solving.

In his/her problem solving actions, The Student Teacher is able to watch himself/herself and watch the impact of his/her actions on the problem sitaution. They do this non-defensively - - with an open attitude that allows for assessing the effect of his/her actions on the situation.

The Student Teacher does not see his/her actions as the way to solve the problem once and for all.

The Student Teacher understands that while others may help them, he/she is ultimately responsible for educating himself/herself through tis process or reflecting and taking appropraite action.

For The Student Teacher, teaching is certainly becoming an "examined act", and in his/her ability to take risks to deal with problems creatively, they begin to elevate teaching to an art.

8. They are "reflective practitioners". CON

Sometimes The Student Teacher strictly adheres to a predetermined set of procedures and applies them regardless of the need to assess each new classroom situation thoughtfully, on its own differential terms.

Rather than making intelligent assessments of complex situations, The Student Teacher sometimes resorts to simplistic explanations or judgmental labelling - seeing only what he/she wants to see and neglecting to probe for deeper, more complex meanings.

The Student Teacher has neglected to see the problems and consequently he/she applies the "wrong strategies" to deal with the situation. He/She is unaware of the mismatch between action and problem, chiefly because The Student Teacher has not learned how to watch -- to observe and make sense of what he/she sees.

Actions come out of convention instead of what is appropriate to the situation. When the action does not work, The Student Teacher can sometimes blame others for not responding as they should have done.

When confronted with the inappropriateness of his/her action-on-problem, The Student Teacher responds defensively, unwilling to take a deeper look at how they themselves have mis-applied the strategies or misread the problem.

Because The Student Teacher has not learned to watch (either the situation or themselves in action), The Student Teacher has limited capability to learn from their own actions. Sometimes The Student Teacher looks for packaged solutions to problems and often looks to others for those solutions. If the solution does not work, they hold others to account instead of themselves. Teaching for The Student Teacher seems to be an "unexamined act".

PROFILES: Teacher and the Students: Interactions

9. They prize, care about each individual. PRO

The Student Teacher allows pupils to express ideas, opinions, feelings, and he/she accepts these. Not only is The Student Teacher sensitive to and considerate of his/her students' feelings, but The Student Teacher communicates this sensitivity in ways the students can understand. "I am with you" is what is communicated to the students.

In the interactions, the facial expressions, the tone of voice and the language give explicit evidence of The Student Teacher's warmth, praise, and encouragement.

The Student Teacher's interactions reveal a close relationship with the pupils, free of attempts to dominate them. After a brief ineraction with The Student Teacher, pupils usually come away feeling a little better about themselves.

9. They prize, care about each individual. CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher has showed a lack of sensitivity to the pupils. In some interactions, The Student Teacher can appear indifferent rather than warm, disinterested rather than encouraging, mechanical rather than sincere in giving praise.

The Student Teacher sometimes rejects the ideas and opinions of the pupils. The criticisms are cutting and devaluing and seem to be made without regard to pupils' feelings. In fact, The Student Teacher hardly seems aware that pupils' expressions of feeling have a place in the classroom.

The Student Teacher has been able to make informed, intelligent observations of pupil behaviour and use these as data to make diagnoses of problems that interfere with pupil learning. These diagnoses are then used to plan teaching strategies that are appropriate to the individual learner.

The observations made by The Student Teacher are free from personal bias and value judgments. Behavioural descriptions are grounded in what has been observed. The Student Teacher does not label, condemn, attribute or judge harshly. In describing behaviour, The Student Teacher says, "This pupil did such and such" rather than "This pupil acted irresponsibly".

If a student needed special help, The Student Teacher would refer the student to the appropriate agency. While competent to act, The Student Teacher recognized the limits of his/her own ability.

In short, The Student Teacher has been able to observe, interpret and deal with pupil behaviour in the most professional ways.

10. They know how to observe, diagnose and deal with pupils with behavioral difficulties. CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher has been quick to see behaviour that deviates from "normal" as "bad". Rather than attempting to unearth what lies behind such behaviour, The Student Teacher has been apt to attribute motives to the students (eg. "He's just lazy," or "He isn't trying," or "She doesn't want to learn.").

Sometimes, The Student Teacher may try to explain the behaviour in terms of their own arbitrary standards (eg. "He behaves that way because he's an undrachiever," or, "That's the way most of the non-academics act."). Once having "explained" the behaviour, The Student Teacher would seemingly write the pupils off in terms of their own expectations.

Sometimes, The Student Teacher would use punishment or other manipulative tactics as their chief tools for bringing about behavioural changes and advocate their use for bringing students into line.

The Student Teacher is skilled in using reflective responses as a means of helping students to examine their utterances more thoughtfully. When pupils express ideas, thoughts, beliefs, The Student Teacher used responses that enables students to become clearer in their own thinking. Reflective responses were used to help students "work" their ideas and assume responsibility for those ideas.

The Student Teacher was able to hear the pupils' ideas, and he/she is able to attend to the nuances of pupils' expressions. The Student Teacher can formulate reflective reponses -- knowing when to reflect basically what is being said, when to paraphrase, and when to interpret the pupils' ideas.

Whichever reflective response is used, the tone is always nonjudgemental, conveying respect for the pupil and for the idea.

The Student Teacher has been able to use reflective interactions in ways that help pupils find deeper and more substantive meanings in the curriculum being studied.

11. They use reflective reponses to help pupils think about what they are saying. CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher can be overly directive. Practices include manipulating pupils to agree with the ideas of The Student Teacher. The Student Teacher is expert at maneuvering students into producing the right response. "Isn't that right?" and "Can we all agree now?" are typical of responses to the pupils.

The Student Teacher's intention seems to help pupils to not think about their own ideas, but rather to bring pupils' ideas more into line with their own.

The Student Teacher was skilled in promoting the thinking of the students. The questions The Student Teacher choose to ask the pupils are concerned with highrer cognitive skills of interpreting data, problem solving, applying principles, and generating new principles, rather than with the recall of factual thinking.

You will hear The Student Teacher asking questions such as, "Do you have any idea of why that might be so?" and "How can we go about dciding which one of these is correct?" and, "What might be another explanation?" rather than questions like, "In what year was metal first discovered?" and "What were the three causes of the French Revolution?"

The Student Teacher wait for the students to respond to the questions. The Student Teacher gives pupils time to think. It is clear that The Student Teacher are interested in many possible explanations and answers, rather than in finding a single, correct answer.

Instead of doing the pupils' thinking for them, The Student Teacher invite the pupils to think for themselves. The Student Teacher values the development of inquiry in their pupils and this emphasis permeates The Student Teacher's classroom!

12. They promote students' thinking. CON

Sometimes, The Student Teacher placed high value on the aquisition of information for he purposes of arriving at a single, correct answer. The Student Teacher's questions to students sometimes were of the "recall-of-information" type. At times, I wondered whether The Student Teacher's primary job was to get the students to learn the information for that grade.

At times, The Student Teacher could be seen to be in a race with the clock to get as much content across as possible. I wondered whether The Student Teacher was doing most of the thinking in that class.

The Student Teacher has encouraged and invited much interaction among the pupils. The Student Teacher's classroom seemed to be beehives of activity, where there was an almost constant flow of pupil-to-pupil conversation, as these pupils actively engaged in learning.

The Student Teacher would interject questions such as, "What do you think about that, Jenny?" and "What are your ideas Tyler?" to promote further inquiry and to increase student responses. You get the impression that the focus in these classes is on the students.

The Student Teacher provided many kinds of curriculum experiences in which pupils engage in cooperative learning -- dialoguing together and learning from one another.

The Student Teacher did not always cast themselves in the role of dispensers of information. He/She recognized that pupil interaction and cooperative learning are important dimensions of teaching.

13. There's a lot of interaction among pupils in their classes. CON

The Student Teacher tended to talk all the time. I got the idea that The Student Teacher believed that everything that he/she said was important and they sometimes insisted on quiet in their classrooms. I wondered whether The Student Teacher really saw himself/herself as dispensers of information, followed through by questioning to see if students were listening.

The Student Teacher is truly the dominant person in the classroom. He/She has permitted the pupils to talk together occasionally, as a recreational activity, but rarely in the context of what he/she consider a teaching-learning experience.

The Student Teacher sometimes put on a professional mask in their interactions with students. When pupils discuss concerns which affect them deeply, The Student Teacher seemed uncomfortable. Sometimes The Student Teacher would respond by intellectualizing.

The Student Teacher sometimes became defensive in the presence of pupils' challenging behaviour. Sometimes I wondered whether or not I could see the real The Student Teacher.

PROFILES: Teacher and the Curriculum

15. They know what they are doing and it makes sense. PRO

The Student Teacher was skillful in what he/she was doing in the classroom. The teaching strategies and the curriculum materials used were appropriate to his/her educational goals.

The Student Teacher is able to describe what he/she is doing in a clear and educationally sound way.

The Student Teacher can generate feelings of confidence in what is happening in his/her classroom.

15. They know what they are doing and it makes sense. CON

At times, The Student Teacher seemed to teach off the cuff. I got the impression that The Student Teacher was making it uo as he/she went along, and I wondered whether The Student Teacher really thought about what he/she was doing.

When I questioned The Student Teacher about what was happening in his/her classroom, The Student Teacher became defensive and he/she tried to rationalize what he/she was doing by making up objectives to justify his/her actions.

The Student Teacher works hard, but just can't seem to get it right. There doesn't seem to be a close connection between the teaching strategies, the choice of curriculum materials, and the stated goals.

The Student Teacher exhibits a broad and deep knowledge of the curriculum, of principles of learning, and development as these relate to their levels of learning. The Student Teacher is at home in their particular subject area.

When The Student Teacher explains something to a pupil or a colleague, he/she is able to make himself/herself clearly understood. The Student Teacher recognizes the limits of their knowledge, where he/she is uniformed, and The Student Teacher will admit this. The Student Teacher's knowledge earns our respect.

16. They are knowledgable in their fields. CON

The Student Teacher often seems uniformed. He/She lacks the know-how in his/her field. If The Student Teacher has read literature in the field, he/she does not indicate it, either in his/her discussions with fellow educators, or in the quality of his/her teaching.

The Student Teacher uses evaluation to promote learning. He/She recognizes that evaluation is highly subjective and The Student Teacher is undogmatic and open-minded about using the results. The Student Teacher recognizes the difference between evaluation and grading and evaluation as a way of helping students learn.

The Student Teacher uses many different kinds of evaluation procedures, but whichever procedure is used is carefully chosen and is appropriate to stated goals. Moreover, when The Student Teacher engages in evaluation of students' work, there is a sound purpose for the evaluation.

The methods of evaluation do not diminish the dignity of the pupil. Evaluations include suggestions for improvement and these are communicated to the pupils.

The Student Teacher exhibits a concern about promoting self-evaluation in pupils and provides for self-evaluative experiences in the classroom.

17. They use evaluation to promote learning. CON

The Student Teacher was often concerned with how much the students learned and with grading them accordingly. The Student Teacher seems to believe that grading is objective and learning can be assessed objectively.

Frequently, The Student Teacher has been dogmatic about test results and he/she has used these grades in a punitive way. I wondered whether The Student Teacher operated on the theory that the threat of failure can help someone learn.

The Student Teacher's evaluative procedures usually take the form of short-answer and essay-type tests and he/she rarely communicated to the pupils concrete ideas for improvement. Catch phrases such as "careless speller" and "try harder" and "good" pass for suggestions to promote learning.

If students fail, it is because "they are just not capable of doing the work".

The Student Teacher has worked hard to make his/her classroom alive and vital places for learning. There seems to be a lot of activity going on and it is purposeflu activity.

There is evidence around the room of students' learning and I can see that pupils have been engaged in challenging activities.

The Student Teacher continually brought in fresh ideas into the classroom and he/she initiated curriculum experiences which have had meaing and relevance for the lives of the students.

The Student Teacher has provided for individual choice, pacing and cooperative learning in most of the curriculum activities. The time in The Student Teacher's classroom seemed to pass quickly and the pupils seem sorry to hear the bell ring.

18. They classroom is a vital, alive and zestful place. CON

More often than not, the students in The Student Teacher's classroom seemed to be doing the same work all at the same time. When one pupil finsihes early, that pupil must wait (or read a book) until everyone else is finished.

A lot of emphasis is placed on reading from the textbook, doing worksheets, or answering questions from the blackboard.

When the recess or lunch bell sounds, pupils explode out of the class.

The Student Teacher uses a wide variety of resourses as teaching materials. There seems to be a good supply of arts and crafts materials, library books, paperbacks, magazines, photographs, science equipment, newspapers, etc.

The Student Teacher has utilized many resources, including: visitors as resource persons, a field trip, videos, recordings, etc. as part of the curriculum.

Pupils engage in learning in a "hands on" and a "minds on" way!

Materials are produced by The Student Teacher, and they contribute to pupils' thinking about what is important in the curriculum. These materials reflect the deeper, more substantive curriculum issues - the "big ideas" rather than the trivialities.

19. The teaching materials used are varied, imaginative and relevant. CON

The Student Teacher has a limited range of classroom materials. Major emphasis is placed on the textbooks, library reference books and worksbooks. Classroom walls provide very little stimulus for thought.

Pupils have very little opportunity to touch or handle materials. Curriculum experiences in The Student Teacher's class are mostly of the pencil and paper and textbook type.

The Student Teacher has succeeded in the development of harmonious groups in his/her classroom. The students seem to apprciate each other and they have respect for each other.

The class seems to have pride in itself as a group. What's more, the pupils in The Student Teacher's class seem to be very productive, working together as a team.

The Student Teacher has worked hard to provide the opportunities for pupils to get to know each other. The Student Teacher has also created a climate which helps every learner feels secure, prized, cared about and accepted.

20. These teachers unify their groups. CON

The Student Teacher has struggled with trying to bring about group morale. Sometimes, I have noticed pupils being downright rude to each other.

PDP Goals

GOAL 1: The development of a clear, coherent and justified view of education that enables one to: understand the place of education in an open, pluralistic and caring society; determine the content, methods and institutional arrangements that are relevant, worthwhile, and appropriate for the education of children; have a personal vision of what one can acheive as an educator; understand how schooling and other institutions influence students.

GOAL 2: The development of a clear commitment to: respect students as persons with varied interests, backgrounds, points of view, plans, goals, aspirations; care about students and their intellectual development, uphold standards of excellence inherent in various forms of inquiry; uphold the principles that ought to govern a civilized, democratic and pluralistic community; establish and maintain ethical working relationships with all members of the educational community.

GOAL 3: The development of a clear commitment to lifelong learning manifest in: openness to alternatives and possibilitie; reflective practice; engagement in dialogue and collaboration with colleagues, students, parents and others in the educational community; ability to form and reform ideas, methods, techniques; setting an example to students; stimulating students to be continuous learners.

GOAL 4: The development of ability to create opportunities for learning that are: engaging and imaginative; significant and relevant to pupils' educational development; intellectually challenging; sensitive to issues of social equity and cultural diversity; appropriate to building habits of sound thinking; responsive to students' individual learning needs; reflective of growing understanding of what goes on in the classroom; consonant with learning goals.

GOAL 5: The development of ability to put educationally sound curriculum ideas into practice in well-organized ways.

GOAL 6: The development of knowledge about: teaching subjects; how individuals and groups of students learn; evaluation practices.

GOAL 7: The development of ability to be a thoughtful and sensitive observer of what goes on in the classroom.

GOAL 8: The development of ability to use evaulation and assessment practices that: use evaluative data as a means of furthering student learning; appreciate the subjectivity of evaluation; make use of varied practices that are congruent with learning goals; respect the dignity of each learner; show understanding of the moral implications of evaluation and assessment practices; promote self assessment.

GOAL 9: The development of ability to use classroom interactions that: show caring and respect for every student; encourage learners to clarify and examine their ideas; are authentic, unpretentious and honest; communicate openess, a tolerance for uncertainty, and appreciation of the spirit of inquiry.

GOAL 10: The development of appreciation for and skill in organizing harmonious working groups, and interpersonally sound working relationships among students.

GOAL 11: The development of ability to observe, understand and respond respectfully to students with different learning styles and learning difficulties.

GOAL 12: The development of appreciation for and ability to be flexible about curriculum - recreating, re-inventing, re-constituting and discarding practices that have been observed, upon reflection, to be inappropriate to individual and group learning needs.