Theoretical+Anchor+Texts

**__ Sockett (2009) __**
** “Character, Rules and Relations” **

 Hugh Sockett characterizes "Education" as a moral matter, not merely technical. He asserts that Teacher Education colleges must develop a philosophical perspective if dispositions are going to be less opaque. There is much talk about standards, but no consensus of definition, and even where there is a definition, there is often not a rationale.

He acknowledges that education as “moral” is problematic for many. Because there tends to be what he refers to as a national fear over the word "moral", the word is often neutralized and translated into social education, character education, or values education.

It is enlightening that he points out that teacher education students already have morals, principles, dispositions, and religious beliefs. He asserts that they are not blank slates; therefore to approach the task of teaching interns as a task of conversion, or indoctrination, would be foolish. "The mission is not merely finding out the individual's moral sensitivities and commitments but educating by exploring the value inherent in them" (Wilson, 1968 as cited in Sockett, p. 11). Our job is to help them develop their moral perspective. He states, "It is to find out where the student is and develop an educational stance about professionalism somewhere between declarative moralizing at one end and disarming neutrality at the other" (p. 11) The following quote captures the essence: The purpose of his essay is to establish a philosophical rationale for dispositions, and to show how the philosophy through which one arrives at the disposition makes a difference. He encourages those involved with the language of dispositions to take this approach. as well.
 * "The relationship of ethics to practice is not an addition, but a transformation. A student who begins to understand himself or herself in the light of dispositions of character is not acquiring a new bag of virtues but is transforming his or her stance to encompass what teaching is and who he or she is" (21)

Below is a breakdown of the three philosophical approaches that he discusses at length:

**Three Approaches:**

1. **Ethics of Character**: **//disposition of character//**  (Aristotle, Plato & Dewey, Norton)
 * "Human beings are...invested innately with potential" (13)
 * Education and self-knowledge results in personal fulfillment.
 * You are responsible for who you become not through rules, but through self-discovery.
 * You are responsible for yourself, but always in relation to others. Your self-development will affect others.
 * Everyone has the potential to do this (not elitist, but rather democratic)
 * "connection of meaningful work and meaningful living" (p. 13)
 * We are always a moral work in progress
 * **Primary dispositions:** wisdom, courage, temperance & justice self-knowledge & integrity
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Developed through self-knowledge & self-discovery, and articulating your values

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">2. **Ethics of Rules: //disposition of intellect//** <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> (Kant, Mill, Rawl)
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Rules as moral vs. legal duties
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Rules can be viewed as commitments to others as well
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">built on principles of social organization (social contract)
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">"rule of law demands that individuals need to know what a rule is, how to follow a rule, how to make judgements about the introduction of new rules, and how to apply the old ones" (14)
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Cognitive responsibility: Tensions can arise, and judgements must be made
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Primary dispositions: wisdom, consistency w/rules, fairness & impartiality w/justice, open-mindedness
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Developed through stages: from obedience to conscience development [from acting "right" for approval to caring for the welfare of others]

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">3. **Ethics of Relationships: //disposition of care//** <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> (Gilligan, Noddings, Belenky et al, & Feminist literature)


 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Ability to think of moral issues & dilemmas in terms of relationships
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Caring as motivation
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Being receptive to "the other", related, and responsive
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Primary dispositions: receptivity, relatedness, responsiveness in context of trust
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Developed through connectedness & relationships, listening, cooperating, constructing



<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; line-height: 19px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**__ Thornton (2006) __**

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">// "Dispositions in Action" //

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Rationale for their study:** <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> Because research has shown that there is a relationship between teacher quality & student learning, she sought to discover what //type// of teacher quality contributed to student learning: did content knowledge as quality? did pedagogical expertise? or is there another form of quality, such as "dispositional intelligence" (p. 56)?
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dispositions are mentioned in NCATE, INTASC & NBPTS standards, but are absent from discourse on Teacher Quality (TQ)
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Absent from TE
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Teacher as content expert & teacher as pedagogical expert lead to "skills approach" to teaching
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"leads to a technical "how to" version of knowledge that perpetuates the belief that competence through professional knowledge and skills is sufficient for producing teacher excellence" (p. 52)

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Research Question:** Given the best-case scenario where quality teachers are empowered to employ best-practices, what can we learn about teacher dispositions? Given a common curriculum, assessments, teaching strategies, & teaching teams, would differences in the learning experiences of the middle school students occur? Were any differences attributable to teacher dispositions? In what ways can these dispositions be identified and evidenced?

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Theoretical Base**
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Review of literature draws from philosophy & psychology
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">emotional, experiential & reflective intelligence: how dispositions influence thinking & judgement
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Defining dispositions-confounding terminology: tendencies, values, habits of mind, attitudes, behaviors
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Several models or frameworks have emerged based on the language of the standards:
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">**Candidate behaviors:** checklists, rating scales, rubrics.
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Limitation: confuse pedagogical practices & teaching behaviors with dispositions
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">**Professional behaviors**: attendance, work ethic, preparation, punctuality, dress.
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Limitation: capture the bare minimum.
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">**Self-Reflections:** capture candidate's self-perceptions in relation to others, involve reflective journaling that provide insight & capture transformational moments.
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Limitation: "depends on candidate's self-reporting & ability to express metacognitive understanding in writing"
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">**Ethics & Equity:** fostering positive dispositions toward diversity, addressing world views and match or mismatch between teachers' and students' backgrounds & experiences.
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">__**Dispositions in Action:**__ "move beyond reflection, self-assessment and perceptions to examine how dispositions are manifested within the classroom and how they impact pedagogy and ultimately the learning process" (p. 56)

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**The Study:** To answer their, they gathered the best teachers in a urban middle school to conduct a summer academy in a three year study. “Best teacher” was determined by self selection and principal recommendation. The teachers were highly qualified in terms of experience in years teaching and degrees earned. The summer academy gave those teachers the space to create their own curriculum without any of the typical constraints of the school year. They shared a common vision, common pedagogy, common approach, and the same students.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Findings:** <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Even though teachers shared a common vision and mission, there were variations in dispositions observed. The table of "responsive" and "technical" dispositions in the ares of assessment, instruction, and management (p. 63) is a synopsis of the range of dispositions observed through qualitative measures. No pre-determined dispositions were selected in order to maintain ecological validity based on the context. The data was triangulated for validity: field notes and observations taken by interns were cross-checked with teacher feedback and student feedback.

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">**Implications:**
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dispositions make a difference in teachers and teaching
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dispositions can be evidenced and documented in action through classroom discourse & observation
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dispositions are grounded in practice, not determined a priori
 * <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Thornton suggests more research on how dispositions are enacted in practice
 * One critical question: can dispositions be taught? (They believe, as Dewey suggests, that they can be taught & cultivated)

**__Additional Theoretical Texts on Professional Dispositions__:**

Borko, H., Liston, D., & Whitcomb, J. A. (2007). Apples and Fishes: The Debate Over Dispositions in Teacher Education. //Journal of Teacher Education//, //58//(5), 359-364. doi:10.1177/0022487107309977 Damon, W. (2007). Dispositions and Teacher Assessment: The Need for a More Rigorous Definition. //Journal of Teacher Education//, //58//(5), 365-369. doi:10.1177/0022487107308732 Dottin, E. S. (2009). Professional judgment and dispositions in teacher education. //Teaching and teacher education//, //25//(1), 83–88. Nieto, S. (2003). Challenging Current Notions of “Highly Qualified Teachers” through Work in a Teachers’ Inquiry Group. //Journal of Teacher Education//, //54//(5), 386-398. doi:10.1177/0022487103257394 Schussler, D. L., Stooksberry, L. M., & Bercaw, L. A. (2010). Understanding Teacher Candidate Dispositions: Reflecting to Build Self-Awareness. //Journal of Teacher Education//, //61//(4), 350-363. doi:10.1177/0022487110371377