Gianna Sicola

Professor Suk

EDUC 230-02 Education Field Experience

Fall 2021

Rationale Statement-Standard #10

Standard 10 Leadership and Collaboration

The teacher seeks appropriate leadership roles and opportunities to take responsibility for student

learning, to collaborate with learners, families, colleagues, other school professionals, and community

members to ensure learner growth, and to advance the profession (New Jersey Professional Standards

for Teachers Alignment with InTASC, 2014, p. 13).

Artifact: Observation Discussion – The Power of Networking in the Teaching Profession

Date of Completion: December 2021

Course Completed in: EDUC 230-02 Education Field Experience

Rationale Statement:

This artifact is an observation during my virtual education field placement. The artifact was a

discussion response to a set of questions regarding an interview with Melissa Morris, a music educator

and advocate/supporter of the education profession. This artifact relates to standard 10.iii.5 “the

teacher takes responsibility for contributing to and advancing the profession” (New Jersey Professional

Standards for Teachers Alignment with InTASC, 2014, p. 14). In this artifact it is shown that Morris is a
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professional involved with advocating for further professional change and development for educators.

She holds an executive position in the National Coalition for Safe Schools, which has a mission to

redefine how schools handle and deal with school violence.

For the creation of this artifact, in addition to watching the interview video, I had also had to

look at an article featured on Melissa and browse through organizations pages that Melissa supported

and worked with. I was able to see how heavily involved Melissa was not only with the places she

worked, but with organizations and groups of people worldwide. Because she is such an involved

individual, I was really impressed with how much she had accomplished, especially since when she

started her high education, or college career, education was not her path. This got me wondering how

someone who didn’t intend to pursue education was able to become such a strong voice in the field of

education itself, but specifically in the field of music education. I was able to learn from Melissa that

being an educator doesn’t just mean you’re someone who is responsible for teaching young individuals,

but you are responsible for providing students with environments where change can be implemented

and encouraged.

This observation is particularly beneficial to me in the future because I can see the importance

of being involved in change movements; this can allow me to join movements and support causes that

advocate for more in the field of education. I can also use this artifact in the future because it can help

me further establish a professional network that can help me when I enter the field as a certified

professional.
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References

New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers alignment with InTASC. (2014, May 5). The

Official Web Site for The State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from

https://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/requirements/standards/docs/ProfStandardsfor

TeachersAlignmentwithInTASC.pdf