RUNNING HEAD: COMMITMENT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY

Commitment to the School Community

Whitney Lang

National University
COMMITMENT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 2

Commitment to the School Community

Professional Responsibility Standards are an imperative part of growing as an educator.

The five standards in Domain F are commitment to the school community, reflection on

professional growth and practice, professional obligations, family engagement, and student

perception. All of these are essential in improving yourself professionally. I have chosen to focus

upon commitment to the school community. Personally, I am strong in all other areas. I would

really like to focus on improving my relationships with colleagues by supporting them through

the use of professional learning communities and eventually through teaching every student in

the school by being a physically education teacher.

Throughout the research for this literature review I found an interesting and informative

article on professional learning communities. This article focuses on “the big ideas that represent

the core principles of professional learning communities” (DuFour, 2004). The first “big idea” is

ensuring that students can learn. There are three essential questions posed in this section:

“- What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has
learned it? How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?”
(DuFour, 2004)

This article stresses the importance of the answer to the third question. It helps to separate true

learning communities from traditional schools. In a true learning community there is a protocol

for what will be done for students falling behind. Typically, response to struggling students is

timely, based on intervention, and directive. It is imperative that students receive proper

intervention and monitoring to ensure progress is made or appropriate services can be given to

the student.

The second “big idea” is creating a culture of collaboration. It is vital that educators

realize that they must work together to improve their school atmosphere and work together to
COMMITMENT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 3

achieve their goals. Once I am a physical education teacher I hope to help support and work with

teachers to determine ways in which I can help and support struggling students. One area that the

article addresses is the use of collaborating for school improvement. Another crucial key to

success is removing barriers from the school. “Schools must stop pretending that merely

presenting teachers with state standards or district curriculum guides will guarantee that all

students have access to a common curriculum” (DuFour, 2004). Just having the curriculum does

not ensure that it is being taught and implemented in a meaningful way. Leaders within the

school must ensure that curriculum is being implemented appropriately and that a positive school

climate is built. It is critical that every person in the school is actively creating a positive culture

and doing their part to make the school a better place.

The third and final “big idea” addressed in this article is a focus on results. It is important

that every teacher has a stake in the process and is making commitments to improve their

instruction and ensure that all students are learning. This must start with grade level teams but

needs to expand to specialists as well. Once teams begin to work together instead of in isolation

the transformation that happens can be incredible. For me as an educator, I have always had

strong beliefs in professional learning communities. I will do my best to continue to have an

open mind and commit myself to improvement each day.

COMMITMENT TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY 4

References
DuFour, R. (2004, May). What Is a Professional Learning Community? Schools as Learning

Communities , pp. 6-11.