“Educators contribute to the profession.”

A direct follow up to standard seven, standard eight calls teachers to be directly involved in leading the process laid out in standard seven. The exact meaning of “the profession” is open to some interpretation, as is what constitutes a contribution. In a way just showing up to work as a teacher is contributing to the profession, but if that was all it was then this standard wouldn’t exist. Contributing to the profession of teaching requires both an awareness of teaching as a skill and the act of sharing one’s understanding with others in the profession, deliberately and with a growth mindset.

As a new teacher I can’t claim some profound impact or research, but I can say that I am deliberately taking my experience as an electrician with me into the profession. I put together these stations to demonstrate the transfer of energy, mechanical losses, electricity generation and efficiency. It was a success in my ADST class and one fellow student commented that she has expanded her understanding of electricity and motors as a result of our interactions. I have learned from our interactions as well, and every project and presentation has been an exciting opportunity to expand my understanding of various fields and my options in the classroom.

I hope to make time for this in the future. It is certainly the case that I will not always have so much free time, and I won’t have anyone assigning these projects and setting aside this much time for everyone to share their ideas. Much has been made about the amount of pressure on teachers today and the amount of work involved, and validly so. I don’t expect the profession to be easy, and it will likely be overwhelming to start, but it is important to me that I have space to contribute new ideas to the profession, to lift the spirits of others, to encourage, to learn, and to grow.