As part of the process of applying to the Master’s Degree Program in the School of Education at Cal State San Marcos (CSUSM), I was recently asked to provide a self-assessment of my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher.

The six categories of scrutiny included the following Professional Dispositions:

1. Social Justice and Equity: Candidates appreciate the languages, communities, and experiences learners bring to the classroom. Candidates advocate for and support marginalized communities and individuals.

2. Collaboration: Candidates practice the skills of collaboration in their professional interactions with students, colleagues, parents/guardians/caregivers and those in the wider community.

3. Critical Thinking: Candidates analyze various professional contexts, resulting in more informed decision-making about professional practice.

4. Professional Ethics: Candidates make and act on well-reasoned, principled judgments.

5. Reflective Teaching and Learning: Candidates critically review their professional practice and the impact it has on student success.

6. Life-Long Learning: Candidates recognize the need for and are committed to actively seeking new knowledge, skills and experiences.

According to the CSUSM School of Education website, “Candidates increasingly reflect these dispositions in their work with students, families, and communities.” I had to rate myself on a scale of 1-3, 1 being weak and 3 being strong, on all of the Professional Dispositions.  My first instinct was to say that, of course, I’m a 3 in every area. After some reflection, however, I realized that I am nowhere near perfect, as an educator or otherwise.  I have plenty of room for growth and improvement and look forward to continuing my Master’s in Education in the spring if I am accepted to the program.

Self-assessment on a scale of 1-3:

1. Social Justice and Equity ………… 3
2. Collaboration ……….……….………. 3
3. Critical Thinking ……….……………. 2
4. Professional Ethics ……….………… 3
5. Reflective Teaching and Learning…2
6. Life-Long Learning ……….………… 2

The Master’s in Education program also required me to write a paragraph about the Disposition in which I most excel and the one that I would consider an area for improvement.

Dispositional area that I consider to be my strength:

Collaboration has been a key strength in my professional practice. My current position as an English teacher in the Personal Learning Academy (PLA) at Vista High School has enabled me to enhance and develop my collaboration with students, colleagues, parents and guardians, administrators and the community.   As a founding member of the PLA, I have worked closely with my colleagues as an interdisciplinary team of educators to develop an innovative program that implements personal and project-based learning.  My students have benefited immensely from opportunities to collaborate, develop 21st Century skills and ultimately become global change agents in our program.  We have developed a program for high school juniors and seniors to work collaboratively to solve real-world problems through an inquiry-based model.  We continually reach out to parents and community member for their involvement and support in our endeavors.  We have invited parents as chaperones on field trips, guest speakers and participants in the classroom.  Most notably, I was a member of a grant writing and performance task team made up of PLA teachers, students, community members and administrators that worked collaboratively to secure a $10 million award from the XQ Foundation for our school. I recently chaperoned two of my students to Washington D.C. to speak with the Secretary of Education, about their experience in our program and their increased student agency in their education due to the collaborative model that we have implemented.  My student, colleagues and I have experienced, firsthand, the value of working together for a common goal in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration.

Dispositional area in which I could most improve:

One area of my professional practice that could be improved is that of Reflective Teaching and Learning.  I would like to continue to hone my craft and review my practice and its impact on my students’ learning.  As an experienced teacher, I have continually sought to improve my craft through professional development and self-evaluation; however, I have felt, at times, that the official evaluation process has been somewhat cursory and superficial.  While I am comfortable sharing strategies and best practices with my peers, I have not had the opportunity for assessment through peer observation and academic coaching.  I believe that I could benefit from an unbiased evaluation and suggestions for improvement.  In past practice, I had opportunities to work in Professional Learning Communities with subject-alike colleagues to develop and implement common assessments, analyze student outcome data, share best practice and adjust instruction to improve student success.  Currently, my practice does not include this continual self and peer assessment of outcomes.  I teach for competency and mastery of the Common Core Standards and facilitate continual student revision and reassessment; however, the addition of peer observations, coaching and sharing of best practices would serve to enhance my practice and ultimately improve student achievement.

Final Reflection

The reflection process has great value.  Through this application process, I have been asked to write my thoughts on why I am pursuing my master’s degree in education and to assess my strengths and weaknesses.  Although this quick evaluation and two short paragraphs have barely scratched the surface of  who I am as an educator, I hope to grow through my graduate studies.  In truth, I am a little fearful that I will not be able to jump through all of the required hoops while I simultaneously embark on the next year of transformation at my school.  I am again reminded that I am not perfect and will simply do the best that I can to continually improve as an individual, an educator, and an active member of my learning community.