Professional Development Goals / Timeline
Year
|
Professional Development Goals
|
Year 1-2: 2015
|
Ø Complete Master Degree in Education
Ø Complete BTSA year one
|
Year 2:
2016
|
Ø Complete BTSA to clear preliminary
credential
|
Year 3:
2017
|
Ø Refresh instrument experience with more
practice, private lessons, and university classes
|
Year 4:
2018
|
Ø Attend “50 Music Center” music teacher
professional development meeting in Los Angeles
|
Year 5:
2019
|
Ø Attend NAfME Conference
|
“Looking
Forward: Reflection On and Rationale for My
Professional Development Plan
(TPE Domain 6-F)”
Ciana L.
Whitfield
National
University
Author
Note:
Ciana
Whitfield, Department of Music, Parkside Middle School.
In
partial fulfillment of the requirements for TED 690 Capstone for Professor
Clifton Johnson.
Correspondence
concerning this document should be addressed to Ciana Whitfield, Department of Music,
Parkside Middle School, San Bruno, CA 94066. Contact: cwhitfield@sbpsd.k12.ca.us
Abstract
This second
document “Looking Forward” for my PDQP will
serve to provide further foundational elements of the Capstone PDQP on my quest
to becoming a more effective teacher. A
professional development plan, based on the goals identified in assignment 1
for TPE Domain 6 (F), with an included timeline, for the purposes of describing and reflecting upon the rationale
for this plan, TPE Domain Six (F), will describe what I would like to accomplish in my career as a music educator
projected approximately five years into the future. Five available courses, workshops, and
related professional development activities, assuming these opportunities will
still exist in the future, will be sought after to meet one or more of my
goals, and placed on a five-year timeline in an organization working for my projected
future needs and available time. Each of
the professional development activities should lead to university credit,
certification, or other evidence of achievement recognized in your place of
employment or projected place of employment.
Four to six artifacts for the domains of your PDQP will be
included. A reflection on my rationale for
selection of your artifacts will be included and how they will assist me to
move closer to my professional goals.
Keywords: pdqp, music education, professional development plan
PDQP “Looking Forward”
The creation of a PDQP and specific professional development plan is
an effective tool for professional development.
A teacher can create a new plan or refresh this plan in order to best
assist their teaching, student experiences, and the culture of education in any
given teaching situation. A professional
development plan with artifacts of evidence and examples are outlined below as
an elemental and crucial part of a PDQP.
Literature Review
The article selected as a supporting
literature review for this document is entitled “Growing as a Professional
Music Educator” from the General Music
today Journal in 2012 by Philip Hesterman.
Philip Hesterman “is a veteran music educator working in Lincoln,
Nebraska, having taught music at all levels (K-12) in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Texas, and Nebraska, a member of the Nebraska Music Educators Association, the
National Association for Music Education, the Nebraska Choral Directors
Association, and the American Choral Directors Association, and the past
president of the Nebraska Choral Directors Association” (Hesterman, 2012). The article describes different elements
that can be examined in order to continue growing as a music teacher.
The article tends to focus on
college education but there are many valuable lessons that can be applied to
any age level. The article begins in
describing the importance of continuous growth and self-inquisition as a
teacher in order to continue to mature into a professional music educator. The article describes the importance of being
affiliated with reputable music education organizations in order to gain large
amounts of knowledge and from which you can learn. Later in the article, it describes the
difficulties of being a first-year teacher and many of the often overlooked
elements with which teachers need help.
Further elements of improving a music
teacher’s lessons are “ that could be beneficial would include training in Orff
Schulwerk and the Kodály method for general music specialists,
choral music techniques
for band teachers who find themselves teaching choral music, and instrumental music techniques for choral
teachers who find themselves teaching band, in addition to education in current
technology for use in the music classroom,
and topics for professional development
included activities for singing in tune for young children, arranging,
assessment, band techniques, classroom methodology, current trends and
practices, discipline (classroom management), elementary rhythm and note-naming
games, history training, instrumental conducting, movement within the vocal
rehearsal, orchestral conducting, physiology of the voice, preparing music without an accompanist,
private voice instruction techniques, repertoire suggestions, string pedagogy,
student engagement, student recruitment and retention, swing choir ideas,
teaching the current curriculum in less time, technology, vocal development at
various levels, vocal warm-up activities, vocal pedagogy, woodwinds pedagogy,
and working with beginners in instrumental music” (Hesterman, 2012).
In the end, the importance of
continuous growth and observation is highlighted in order to show that
long-term and critical errors can be made if professional development is
ignored. It is said that a positive
attitude makes a difference and that dedication and self-efficacy is key
(Hesterman, 2012).
Discussion
A professional development plan is a crucial part of a PDQP, a
teacher’s career, and the culture of education.
“A professional development plan delineates a teacher’s goals for short-
and long-term professional growth” (Costantino & De Lorenzo, 2009,
p. 18). This
development plan along with artifacts will be described below. A rationale will cover the basis of each
element included in this document.
Professional
Development Plan, Reflection, and Rationale (Part A)
As an
in-service teacher, my professional development plan will be ‘focused on
continued professional growth related to performance evaluations and individual
career objectives with the intent of facilitating reflection and to improve
teaching effectiveness’ (Costantino & De Lorenzo,
2009, p. 18). A
professional development plan can be seen as a plan for assuring future
professional development as well as can be seen as a shell with seven main
ideas across the course of planning the activities and fulfilling the actions
required. Identification of professional
goals, exploration of options that will facilitate the meeting of the goals, selection
of appropriate options and design for an action plan to reach goals,
implementation of the plan, documentation showing evidence of planning,
collection of evidence of successful teaching and learning, validation, and
reflection on all the professional development plan elements to evaluate if
they are reaching the proposed goals (Costantino & De Lorenzo, 2009). Professional development plans often include
these seven steps, the timeline within each element is in line to be achieved,
and success points. It is included as
part of a portfolio and a teacher’s career to improve the education experience
for the teacher, the students, the education community, and society.
The
intent of this document is to not discuss the above seven steps of professional
development planning (although the format is helpful for creating a
professional development plan and timeline) but instead to outline the
importance of incorporating professional development into a teaching
career. It is too often a teacher is not
granted enough quality professional development opportunities and is often left
to find any time possible to explore the options that will best suit their
needs outside of school if time allows, often without support from the school
or time to connect with other educators.
An example related to music education, “music- making is a powerful
personal and pedagogical tool in music education for many music teachers, and I
urge policymakers to recognize the benefits explored in this article and
provide opportunities for music teachers to engage in professional development
that includes a music-making component” (Pelligrino, 2010, p. 87). If music teacher do not have time, money, and
resources to build their skills, how can they have the best classes available
to their students? A plan can help
include healthy planning to avoid stress and to build a collaborative community
aimed towards the greater goal of education.
Personal
Professional Development. My
prior experience as a teacher has included teaching in private and public
schools and training from two different universities. My experience with professional development
is new as the many places I have worked did not include many opportunities to
develop my teaching skills in a collaborative manner. As I teach music, it is often not
incorporated into a school’s major plans despite it being a very important part
of education. Korea is known to be at
the top of the PISA testing which represents the ranked education systems in
the world. “Interestingly, while U.S.
schools have been reducing the time they spend teaching subjects other than
reading and math, the Korean curriculum devotes the large majority of time to a
liberal arts curriculum that devotes significant time at every grade level to
social studies, science, physical education, music, fine arts, moral education,
foreign language (English), practical arts, and a range of extracurricular
activities and electives’ (Darling-Hammond, 2009, p. 176).
In my
current position, I teach three levels of concert band, choir, and
extracurricular jazz and rock band. Each
group and level has an entirely different setting, maturity level, and character
and there is much to be improved on top of our recent goals that have already
changed our school’s music culture dramatically in the last two years. Via strong collaboration with the other half
of the music program and a supportive school staff, our school has improved
dramatically in the music education area.
Our next steps are to improve further via utilization of the below
professional development plan.
Professional Development Goals. Step one of creating a professional development plan
includes the identification of professional goals, themes, and performance
standards (Costantino & De Lorenzo,
2009). Official professional development goals such as completing a Masters
degree, BTSA, and credential clearing which should lead to university credit,
certification, or other evidence of achievement
recognized in my place of employment or projected place of employment are
included.
Professional development goal number one for year one
involves the completion of my Masters degree with the specialization of U.S.
Education in a Global Context. This
Master’s degree has opened my eyes to the importance of studying the education
systems of other countries in order to learn from others and improve our
education culture in the United States.
This program has enabled me to collaborate with other educators in order
to trade ideas and will also allow me to have rich discussions with my
coworkers. This will enhance the
atmosphere of the education in my school, classroom, and community. In addition, I will be completing year one of
the BTSA program towards clearing my credential. Both programs did not focus on music but I,
in conjunction with the professors and advisors, was able to find ways to
explore the options in music class.
Professional development goal number two for year two
involves the clearing of my preliminary credential with the County Office of
Education in San Mateo. This opportunity
has allowed for collaboration with a mentor teacher in years one and two as
well as with other teachers and online class forums. Elements covered include classroom
management, exceptionalities, lesson planning, and observations. Each element allows not only for the
advancement of each skill but also an experienced mentor to help guide me
through times of difficulty.
Professional development goal number three for year three
includes refreshing my skills in music pedagogy classes. After finishing a Masters degree and clearing
my preliminary credential with the BTSA program, this allows time for brushing
up on skills that may have slipped over the time spent going back to
school. It is incredibly important for a
music teacher to be able to perform on each instrument in order to best help
their students. If a student gets
frustrated and doesn’t have proper guidance, the program may lose this student
to frustration when all the teacher needed was guidance on how to diagnose
issues for the student having difficulties.
The teacher can also better recruit student if they are more capable on
each instrument as well as having a better base of knowledge for improving the
overall sound of the group for enjoyment and competition.
Professional development goals number four and five for years
four and five is to attend, with a evidence of achievement recognized by my
school, the “50 Music Center Professional Development” workshops in Los Angeles
and NAfME conferences across the United States.
These are workshops and conferences that have professional development
catered to music teachers. It would
promote involvement in exciting outside professional development activities in
my school and inspire collaboration between teachers. This will strengthen the music department with
relevant information and bring together music professionals.
Timeline. What I would like
to accomplish in my career as a music educator projected approximately five
years into the future will be highlighted in the below table. There are many actions that must be achieved
in order to strengthen the foundation that is being laid for my music education
career. The professional development
activities (all listed below) include attending events and reviewing literature
and information that further my music education and standard teaching skills as
well as musicianship. The actions listed
are all included in order to strengthen the community network and musical
excellence of each student’s experience and my personal growth in the education
field. Domain F, which includes TPE’s 12 and 13, represents the development as a
professional educator. All elements
listed below have been specifically selected to improve the quality of my
teaching profession for the cause of excellent music education.
The professional development goals listed below highlight official professional
development milestones such as completing a Masters degree, BTSA, and
credential clearing, which should lead to university credit, certification, or
other evidence of achievement recognized in my place of employment or projected
place of employment.
Table 1. Timeline for Professional
Development Plan
Year
|
Professional Development Goals
|
Year 1-2: 2015
|
Ø Complete Master Degree in Education
Ø Complete BTSA year one
|
Year 2: 2016
|
Ø Complete BTSA to clear preliminary
credential
|
Year 3:
2017
|
Ø Refresh instrument experience with more
practice, private lessons, and university classes
|
Year 4:
2018
|
Ø Attend “50 Music Center” music teacher
professional development meeting in Los Angeles
|
Year 5:
2019
|
Ø Attend NAfME Conference
|
Presenting
Your Findings in Document Sharing To Your Learning Community
In order to receive feedback and input on my
professional development plan, the class it to share their information via
discussion boards in order to post their version of their developing
professional development plan. Another
method of touching base is to be in touch with the professor, talking to
students through email (both very helpful), and to discuss the coursework with
fellow teacher on-site during the school week.
Artifacts
(Examples and Evidence of Teaching) for Rationale and Reflective Self-
Analysis
of Domain 6 (F). Domain 6 (F) describes the development of a
professional educator. It describes the
importance of the teacher and teacher’s persona in the outcomes for the
education of the child. It is required
that the teacher has extensive experience in dealing with a variety of students
and offers equitable education with needed modifications and adaptations. The teacher is the center of the lesson and
is responsible for the positive outcomes that the students project.
Artifact number one is an observation from the third
of three cycles in the year one BTSA program.
Artifact one is important for Domain 6 because it relates to
professional development of the teacher.
Through many days a month with a mentor, I was able to exercise my prior
knowledge in combination with the knowledge gained from our weekly sessions
together. It is so often that teaching
becomes automatic and having an observation and comments helps bring to light
what either comes naturally and well or that might need improvement. The mentor makes many points that the
students are treated equitably and come from a variety of backgrounds.
Artifact number two is the Domain 6 part of my final
observation from Dr. Garo Mirigian of National University. Dr. Mirigian was able to incorporate many
classes worth of knowledge, including a spring concert with over a thousand
people, as the culmination of my student teaching for National University. The professional development gained during
student teaching outlined evidence that teaching through the university along
with testing such as the CSET and elements such as the TPAs- the outcome was
positive and a very helpful review.
The
third artifact that I have chosen is a review of supporting literature entitled
“Growing as a Professional Music
Educator” from the General Music today
Journal in 2012 by Philip Hesterman. This article is important, as
mentioned in the above literature review, it discusses the wide variety of
expected talents a music teacher must learn and continuously hone in order to
be an effective, charismatic, and committed music teacher. A music teacher wears many hats and they don’t
just involve elements that are related to music. A music teacher must be prepared to deal with
the same issues that other teachers handle on a regular basis as well as making
sure that the art that they are teaching is taught with passion and logic that
are connected to standards and a happy life.
Conclusions and Future Study
Professional
development is key continued successful and updated teaching. A clear and concise plan with the ability to
be flexible that outlines goals with deadlines makes for smoother sailing in a
likely time-pinched, stressful, but wonderful profession that develops not only
the students but the teacher into a more full member of society. With a strong plan, dedication, and passion,
professional development helps form a brighter future for all elements of
education.
References
Costantino,
P. & De Lorenzo, M. (2009). Developing a Professional Teaching
Portfolio: A
Guide for Success, Third Edition. Pearson Education.
Darling-Hammond,
Linda. (2009). The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment
to Equity Will
Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education Series). Teachers College
Press. Kindle Edition.
Hesterman,
P. K. (2012). Growing as a Professional Music Educator. General Music
Today, 25(3),
36-41. doi:10.1177/1048371311435274
Pellegrino,
K. (2011). Exploring the Benefits of Music-Making as Professional Development
for
Music Teachers. Arts Education Policy Review, 112(2),
79-
88.doi:10.1080/10632913.2011.546694
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