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Professionalism

A teacher participates in and contributes to the teaching profession. The teacher

demonstrates their engagement in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to
continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions
on others (learners, families, and other professionals, and the learning community), and
adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner..

Professionalism is all about being the best educator we can be. “Professionalism refers to

displaying the best and most ethical ways for filling one’s duties in any given profession.”

(Charles, 2014, p.251). What exactly does this mean for a teacher? And what about for a

Montessori teacher? Do the ideas of professionalism change when the pedagogy becomes child

centered? According to Maria Montessori, "[The teacher] must acquire a moral alertness which

has not hitherto been demanded by any other system, and this is revealed in her tranquility,

patience, charity, and humility. Not words, but virtues, are her main qualifications." (Montessori,

1967, p.151). Both of these quotes talk about the importance of educators conducting themselves

in the most moral and fair way possible.

I don’t have just one artifact that shows my professionalism because I think that the act of

being “the fairest, most considerate, and most ethical” (Charles, 2014, p.29) teacher I can be is

about all the things that inform my teaching practice on a daily basis. It is about the self-

reflective work I do, about continuing to educate myself, not only through professional

development but through the use of observation in the classroom. It is also collaborating with

colleagues, families and students. All of these actions are things that help me to be the most I can

be as an educator.

The teacher’s first job is to know herself (Montessori, 1967). This advice that is over 50

years old, echoes similar themes coming out in anti-bias education for teachers who are

educating themselves in diversity.

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Being responsive to diverse students’ needs asks teachers to be mindful and present. That
requires reflection. Engaging in reflection helps culturally responsive teachers recognize
the beliefs, behaviors, and practices that get in the way of their ability to respond
constructively and positively to students… This means we each must do the “inside-out”
work required: developing the right mindset, engaging in self-reflection, checking our
implicit biases, practicing social-emotional awareness, and holding an inquiry stance
regarding the impact of our interactions on students. (Hammond, year, p.53)

The importance of self-discovery is key to teaching. In order to model proper classroom

behavior, we need to know what our own biases and triggers are. In order to model, as

Montessori said above, “tranquility, patience, charity, and humility,” we must know how to make

ourselves tranquil, patient and humble. I am currently in an online training around culturally

responsive teaching in the Montessori classroom. This class has asked us to focus the first couple

of weeks on our own identities.

I also keep a journal that I use during my classroom observations where I can write down

how a particular action of a child made me react and start to unpack why I reacted the way I did.

This act of self-reflection through journal writing is just one practice I use that help me to

become the best educator I can, “[T]eachers who engage in journal writing for a period of time (a

few months, a year, and more) do become better observers of their students and their practices.

They also become more reflective and grow in their ability to speak clearly and authoritatively

about their craft. The benefits are high.” (Perrone, 1991, p.87).

By taking time to observe my students during periods of free work, I am able to see what

is working and what is not. “Self-assessment is how effective teachers become even more

effective.” (Wong & Wong, 2018, p.290). Observation is a huge part of Montessori. Observation

is how teachers watch what their students are choosing for follow-up work, how well a lesson

has landed based on how a child is handling the materials in the classroom, and helps us to see

when children may need to be brought into a new lesson because they’re wandering.
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Montessori talks about the difficulty and importance of observing a child, especially

when they are hard at work and struggling to solve a problem that we would easily help with.

“[T]hat which we see the child doing with great effort, we can do easily. Therefore, we have the

impulse to do the thing ourselves instead of letting the child do it. We do it so much more

quickly and efficiently. When we see the child struggling so hard to do a thing which is so

difficult for him and would be easy for us, we have the impulse to help him.” (Montessori, 1921,

p.2).

A large part of professionalism in a child-centered pedagogy is letting the child grapple

with their own problems. This can be difficult for adults, because our good intentions want to

help the child. I have more than once had to physically press my lips together and force myself to

sit down when I see children having a dispute. More often than not, when I have been able to do

this in the classroom, the children can come to an agreement and sort it out between themselves.

Because observation is so important in the classroom, I also purchased a special scarf that

children will know is my observation scarf. The classroom expectation is that when I am

wearing that scarf, I am not available because I am observing the children and taking notes. By

watching the children’s work, I hope to learn more about them and their interests. Learning is

something that an educator never stops doing. To be a professional teacher is to be a professional

and lifelong learner.

All teachers in the state of Alaska are required to take a certain number of continuing

education credits over a 5-year period. I love to learn. To fulfill that requirement and more, I am

already planning on taking classes for a second masters’ and looking forward to taking extra

training opportunities.

“Dewey uses the notion of “students of teaching” as his way of describing empowered
teachers, people not dependent on decisions made externally but those far removed from
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the reality of a particular setting. To be a student of teaching and his term was to establish
and maintain a reflective capacity and to become articulate about one’s intentions.”
(Perrone, 1991, p.85)

I took an informal training this summer around organizing Montessori lessons and

curriculum which helped me to develop a Montessori specific lesson design template, which

combined the template we used in this Master of Teaching program and incorporates album work

and follow-up options. I am rereading many books from my program this summer and using

them to inform my scope and sequence I am developing. I know that there is a wealth of

knowledge and experience out there surrounding teaching and I just need to find it and

incorporate it into my practice.

And part of respecting the knowledge and experience that others have is being able to

collaborate with my colleagues. As a brand-new teacher, I know that part of my job will be to

lean on and learn from my co-workers. Our school usually does a book club once a year, and I

am excited to participate in that and learn from my co-teachers. “I want to affirm the benefits of

joint reading by groups of teachers, the opportunity for gaining fresh understandings of children,

teaching, and the world, as well as intellectual stimulation through shared inquiry.” (Perrone,

1991, p.93).

I will bring my excitement and passion to our PLC (professional learning communities)

meetings which I have had the joy of participating in for the last year. All of the grade level

teachers meet together (in our case the 1st – 3rd grade teachers). This was a great opportunity to

bounce ideas off each other, discuss our students’ needs, and organize cross-classroom activities.

It also allows us to discuss better ways to connect as a whole community, and with families and

students.

It takes work and effort to be effective. It takes time to go to conferences, read journals,
serve on committees, and interact with colleagues. It requires effort to be part of a
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learning team, give extra help to students who need it, and take classes to improve
personal skills and understanding. But rewards and satisfaction go to those who are
willing to invest in themselves for the benefit of others. There these are choices they
freely make to enhance their own lives. (Wong & Wong, 2018, p.291)

Right now, the professionalism part of my practice is coming easily. It is the summer and

I have plenty to time to bake cupcakes to fundraise for the lower-elementary to get a new reading

program, and reread the works of Hammond, Montessori, Spandel and Miller. Connecting with

my co-teachers to plan lessons that can be taught in person or can be taught distance using our

collaborative lower-elementary website feels easy with all this free time. But even with full-time

student teaching and taking 12 credits in the spring, I was still able to find time to plan fun and

exciting lessons, and work on material-making projects. I have faith that my passion and

enthusiasm, as well as my organizational and time management skills, will help me stay true to

myself as an educator and allow me to continue to improve and learn through self-reflection,

observation, and collaboration.

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References:

Charles, C. M.. (2014) Building classroom discipline. [Kindle Edition] Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain: Promoting authentic
engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Montessori, M. (1921) Suggestions and remarks upon observing children. London Training
Course Lecture 1921. Retrieved from https://montessoriguide.org/in-her-words-from-the-
london-course-1921

Montessori, M. (1967) The discovery of the child. New York, NY: Random House Publishing
Group.

Perrone, V. (1991) A letter to teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Wong, R. & H. (2018) The first days of school: How to be an effective teacher. Mountain View,
CA: Harry K. Wong Publications.