Dispositional Essay_____________________________________________________________________

Being an educator means being responsible for the intricate and malleable future
of humanity. Our influence goes further than academia; to effectively teach we should
also model exemplary global citizenry for our students which helps to establish pivotal
positive personal student relationships. Educators may live up to the expectations of our
high degree of responsibility by conducting both our professional and personal lives
considerately, respectfully, ethically, and with dignity. In a perfect world every educator
would possess the perfect, professional disposition. For educators who do not inherently
possess a professional and ethical disposition there are standards and codes to help guide
them, and should they fail, hold them accountable.
The Conceptual Framework of Wesleyans Education Department outlines the
disposition of an educator should be to know, demonstrate, and believe in: learner
development, diversity, effective classroom management, positive student relationships,
variety in student assessment, and professional self assessment. The Georgia
Professional Standards Commissions Code of Ethics for Educators outlines standards for
accountably with: general laws, professional relationships with students, mind altering
substances, honesty and integrity, entrustment of public goods and funds, remunerative
conduct, confidentiality, honoring contracts, reporting requirements and violations,
professional conduct, and fair and ethical state testing.
I understand the establishment of the Conceptual Framework to be an assessment
of whether one possesses the proper educational disposition. I also understand the Code
of Ethics to be standards of accountability. To me, all which is outlined above is simply
based in effective teaching, common human decency and rationality. I feel my mind
steers naturally towards decency. I want to be treated fairly, so I do the same onto others.

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Dispositional Essay_____________________________________________________________________

If I do back pedal from my initial decent reaction, I remind myself I am a model. I do not
want to practice hypocrisy; expecting the best from my students, but behind closed doors
doing the opposite. I want to model exemplary global citizenry. I also do my best to
rationalize my actions per situation, because nothing is ever just black or white. Even
though much of what is outlined in these documents I feel is obvious, I appreciate that
they are in existence to help guide my rationality.
One standard I feel is the best example for a common issue among educators is
Standard 2 of the Code of Ethics, outlining professional conduct with a student. Some
educators choose to maintain a strict, limited, impersonal relationship with their students
for fear of crossing the professional line. If one wishes to be an effective teacher
however, there must be some establishment of a personal positive relationship. Knowing
how to establish and maintain a positive student relationship is a requirement in the
Conceptual Framework. This is a very pivotal disposition to ever reaching a student. I
believe that to help an educator navigate that sometime hazy professional line, Standard 2
helps because it gives clear (and I cant help but stress again obvious) restrictions. So if I
do feel the need to further a step toward a more personal relationship with a student, like
inviting them into a personal setting, I have clear limitations to how far that relationship
may go.
I believe if educators use the Code of Ethics and the Conceptual Framework to
guide rational decisions, they should easily flow into a life of exemplary global citizenry
to model for students, which will also allow them to flow into pivotal positive personal
student relationships to help with effective teaching.

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Dispositional Essay_____________________________________________________________________

According to Noddings, moral education is achieved through the educator

modeling treatment of others for students (as cited in Jones & Jones, 2013, p. 61). The
modeling is shown through dialogue. The dialogues are open-ended and inviting. The
dialogue openness gives students opportunity to practice and witness further moral
dialogue. This modeling interaction establishes positive behavior practices and
simultaneously builds a strong rapport between the educator and student. The rapport
builds mutual respect so that when the educator validates or questions student behavior, it
is received more openly by the student. This builds the students interpersonal and
intrapersonal skills of patiences and consideration, which can be used in a variety of
situations throughout their life.
This modeling approach to education is in line with the Conceptual Framework
strand II-6c: When the educator knows they are skilled in establishing effective caring
relationships with the students, they can build lifelong learning. We can intentional
make these efforts to model and impress upon our students by, as previously mentioned,
simply living considerately, respectfully, and ethically. We can also unintentionally
impress upon our students. We can unintentionally impress on students by being our
natural selves because we typically live and behave how we feel and believe. It was
previously mentioned that in a perfect world, all educators would have the perfect
disposition. There are some who are naturally negative individuals. Their dispositions
unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) surface.
Lucas (2012) reports on the prevalence of bullying in schools; student-on-student,
teacher-on-student, and teacher-on-teacher bullying. Unfortunately bulling is a natural
and pervasive disposition of some individuals. Bullying occurs for different reasons,

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Dispositional Essay_____________________________________________________________________

however it is usually manifested from closed-mindedness. It is expected that an educator

appreciates and shows respect for diversity by acknowledging the flexibility and fluidity
of curricular decisions based on students diverse learning needs (Conceptual
Framework strand II-4c). Sylvester reports that the most common ways teachers bully
students is "through sarcasm, opaque name calling, refusing late or unidentified work,
and humiliating future students whom they perceive as having potential behavior
problems in the classroom" (as cited in Lucas, 2012). If a teacher is making assumptions
about a students ability to perform, or respond with sarcasm instead of respect, they are
not taking the time to understand their students individually; they are not considering
diversity. They are most likely not appreciating or taking it into account diversity of
instructional approach, of needs, of issues, or of interests or strengths, and they are not
modeling a positive disposition.
Sylvester informs that this teacher bullying can be both intentional and
unintentional (as cited in Lucas 2012). Whether intentional or not it undermines any
educational anti-bullying campaign. If the students see others being treated abusively, or
receive the treatment themselves they will see it as expected behavior. Educators become
negatively associated with this, and educators attempting to remediate this thinking will
be met with dismissal of hypocrisy. In order to rally students to practicing moral behavior
we have to practice ourselves, and in order to practice it, we must believe in it.
Modeling anti-bullying behavior for students does not end with how we as teachers
interact with students; it must also be modeled in how we interact with our own peers: the
teachers and administrators we work with on a daily basis (Lucas, 2012). Once an
educator realizes their impact on making or breaking a positive classroom environment

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Dispositional Essay_____________________________________________________________________

they will be better able to foster an effective climate of teaching and learning
(Conceptual Framework strand II-5c).
Whether an educator is intentionally or unintentionally promoting bullying, they
have the power to intentionally evaluate their practices. Effective teachers are constantly
assessing. The climate of teaching and learning mentioned above are for both students
and educators. Hypocrisy does not facilitate an effective teaching environment. For
educators who are struggling to effectively reach their students, they may need to
evaluate themselves. Individuals struggling to maintain a positive, effective disposition
needed for teaching, perhaps using the Conceptual Framework and Code of Ethics as
guides to constantly assess themselves, may be useful. The reciprocal teaching and
learning environment promotes critical evaluation: constant reflecting revising and
refining professional and pedagogical practices (Conceptual Framework strand III-8c).
There are explicit, methodical means in which to instruct our students on how to
behave, but nothing has as strong or as natural an effect as showing our students. Every
adult serves as a guide to youth, but the role of educators is even more profound. We
dedicate our lives to teaching. We are expected to be models of well-rounded,
interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligent members of society. Educators are entitled to
be human; I will never stress over scrutiny because no one is perfect. However, when we
make decisions we have to think; who is looking up to me?
Reflection and pursuit of betterment is what drives an effective teacher to become
a teacher-leader(Wong & Wong, 2009, p. 302). Teacher leaders have visions and plans
for achievement. Teacher-leaders are constantly expanding their knowledge. They are
lifelong learners. They motivate those around them, and they insight reform. Teacher-

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leaders serve as models for their peers and equally important, we model for our students.
By constantly growing and truly believing in lifelong learning, we become better at
instructing, and become better models, because we are becoming better people.

Reference:
Georgia Professional Standards Commission. (2009). 505-6-.01 THE CODE OF ETHICS
FOR EDUCATORS
Jones, V., Jones L. (2013). Comprehensive Classroom Management: Creating
Communities of Support and Solving Problems, 9th
Lucas, A. M. (2012). Paying attention to ourselves: Modeling anti-bullying behavior for
students. English Journal, 101(6), 13-15. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1030265446?accountid=14961
Wesleyan College Education Department. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CONTRACT: Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions
Wong, H.K., Wong, R.T. (2009). How to Be an Effective Teacher: The First Days of
School, 3rd Edition. Mountain View, CA. Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.

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