Teacher Professionalism - Essay Example

Mario (pseudonym) is a student who is believed to have some degree of autism, although he has not been officially diagnosed. He is greatly affected by his surroundings and feels immense frustration, especially when he thinks he will disappoint his mother or peers. An example being, on one afternoon, after my CT had returned the students’ math tests and was going over the corrections on the smart board, the bell rang and the students began to gather their belongings to go home. Abruptly Mario began to cry.

My CT Marianna, (pseudonym) immediately noticed and asked him what was wrong. He replied “I told my mom that I would get at least 70% and I really tried”. Marianna asked him if he understood the corrections and he replied, “sort of”. Marianna then told him that she was proud of him for trying and that she would allow him to retake the exam the next day. “Really! you would let me do that?” Mario asked. “Yes, look over your notes and you will answer only the questions that you got wrong”.

I realized that the situation and the decision of my CT, constituted the 5th Professional Competency in keeping with the role of teacher as set by MELS. Specifically, the decision is cognizant of the 1st and 3rd features of the competency which are: Gathers information as students are engaged in a learning situation in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to review and adapt his or her teaching accordingly to help them progress.Designs or uses tools to evaluate student progress and mastery of competencies.

When Marianna noticed and asked Mario why he was crying, she displayed what reflects the 1st Featured in our module Teacher Training – Orientations – Professional Competencies (2001) set by the MELS which expresses that teachers “observe them (students) and question them” to see their way of thinking, and correct any “misunderstandings regarding the instructions”. Moreover, when she asked Mario if he understood the corrections, she displayed what reflects the 3rd Feature laid by the MELS which expresses that teachers must “judge how well the student has read the problem situation.

” These two features in the 5th Competency would mean that the MELS notion of the role of teacher not only comprises instruction, but also the social aspect. It is clear then that teachers should motivate and inspire the students in order for the teaching and learning process to be more effective. This will equate to a turnaround of the traditional means of evaluation for the teacher, thus bringing about a reformative process of the professional conduct in schools.In my ongoing professional development as a teacher, I observed and now comprehend that the conduct of my skilled CT is professional and that she is a very caring individual.

She gave the student a chance after recognizing that indeed he understood what were his mistakes. This correlates slightly with the other features under the 5th Competency which is similarly grounded on the idea of evaluating the student progress on a standpoint of socio-constructivism.This situation introduced me to the standard of teaching where the virtues of compassion and understanding are instilled. It is worthy of emulation! Moreover, I derived from the response of my CT in this particular situation that a student’s psychomotor and affective performance in the class is relevant among the variables of the child’s grades along with his cognitive performance.

When my CT allowed the student to redo only the answers that were wrong in the test, I realized the importance of a teacher being supportive in giving encouragement and building a positive self-image for the student.Reference PageMartinet, M.A., Raymond, D. & Gauthier, C., 2001. Teacher Training – Orientations – Professional Competencies. [PDF]. Ministère de l'Éducation. Retrieved 09 May 2011, from http://www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dftps/interieur/pdf/formation_ens_a.pdf.