Teacher Dispositions: Disposition Two

Introduction

Teacher dispositions consist of the teachers’ values and beliefs regarding the teaching profession and about the children. National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2007) identifies the dispositions as:

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 educator’s own professional growth. Dispositions are lead by beliefs and attitudes connected to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility, and social justice. (p. 53)

The overall concept of disposition two outlines that the teacher understands how learning takes place. The students build knowledge, gain skills, and widen the habits of mind. In parallel, the teacher understands how to utilize instructional strategies that encourage student learning. The teacher also knows that students' domains, physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development, impact learning and recognizes how to deal with these aspects when making instructional decisions. Finally, the teacher is knowledgeable of likely developmental advances and scopes of individual differences and can identify levels of readiness in learning, and knows how development in any one area may influence performance in others.

All dispositions work together in an effort to produce optimal learning environments that are supportive of student learning and development. However, it is my belief that disposition number two is the most significant for the professional educator to display proficiently. Disposition two outlines that the professional educator understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportuniti...

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