Checklist - anchor
Application/Examples - anchor
Note. Printed with permission from National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, (Career and Technical Education Standards, 1997),www.nbpts.org. All rights reserved.
Checklist
Creating a productive learning environment
___a. Knowledge of students
___b. Knowledge of subject matter
___c. Learning environment
___d. Diversity Advancing student learning
___e. Advancing knowledge of vocational subject matter
___f. Assessment
Transition to work and adult roles
___g. Workplace readiness
___h. Managing and balancing multiple life roles
___i. Social development
Professional development and outreach
___j. Reflective practice
___k. Collaborative partnerships
___l. Contributions to the education profession
___m. Family and community partnerships
Applications/Examples
Creating a productive learning environment
___a. Knowledge of students
Teachers are dedicated to all students.
They personalize their instruction and apply knowledge of human development to best understand and meet their students' needs.
Whether instruction is individualized, organized around teams, or focused on the class as a whole, teachers are ready to engage each student personally in work.
Teachers are aware of their students' career interests and opportunities.
Teachers hold high expectations for their students.
Teachers use a systematic assessment process for understanding student needs.
They are also alert to the particular needs of individual students and the changing nature of the labor market and workplace.
___b. Knowledge of subject matter
Teachers command a core body of general vocational knowledge about the world of work in general and the skills and processes that cut across industries, industry-specific knowledge, and a base of general academic knowledge.
They draw on this knowledge to establish curricular goals, design instruction, facilitate student learning and assess student progress.
Teachers display employability skills such as interpersonal skills, critical thinking abilities, basic communication and mathematical skills, and familiarity with the latest technology.
In addition, teachers have general industry knowledge (the process of acquiring a craft, the bases of different industries, the process of exploring a career and planning for the future, and the basic purposes, skills, and issues central to different careers).
Also, teachers have a basic understanding of the range of fields, occupations, or occupational clusters that make up career technical education and are able to introduce students to them.
Teachers know about specific program structures and key legislation germane to vocational classrooms.
Teachers integrate vocational content with other disciplines.
Teachers not only have to understand these disciplines, they also must know how to select from among the concepts and skills that comprise these disciplines those that will allow them to create powerful learning experiences for students.
Teachers have command of industry-specific knowledge that can be divided into in-depth knowledge of particular aspects of the industry (new developments, findings and technology, planning, management, finance, technical and production skills, related labor, community, health, safety and environment issues) and a breadth of knowledge that cuts across all aspects of an industry.
___c. Learning environment
Teachers efficiently manage their classrooms and create an environment that fosters democratic values, risk taking, and a love of learning.
In this environment students develop knowledge, skills, and confidence through contextualized learning activities, independent and collaborative laboratory work, and simulated workplace experiences.
Teachers cultivate student interests, value the unique perspectives each brings to class, and encourage students to devise and solve problems both individually and collectively.
Students are encouraged to work cooperatively and collaboratively, taking on more responsibility as they gain new knowledge and skills.
Teachers create an environment that values fairness, recognizes and rewards quality work, and offers constructive criticism that directs students toward growth and improvement of skills.
Expectations of classroom policy are clearly communicated and teachers promote the open sharing of ideas and initiative taking.
Positive, constructive behavior is continually validated.
Teachers carefully blend attention to individual needs with a focus on the goals of the entire class.
Teachers make students well aware of safety regulations and laws both in school and at work sites.
Teachers are particularly interested in promoting the values of fairness, tolerance, and community by valuing student comments and concerns, involving students in the negotiation of classroom rules, routines, and behaviors.
They encourage love of learning, invention, and risk taking by creating flexible assignments that foster student creativity and problem solving.
___d. Diversity
Teachers create an environment where equal treatment, fairness, and respect for diversity is modeled, taught, and practiced by all.
Teachers take steps to ensure quality vocational learning opportunities for all students.
Teachers create environments where equity, fairness, and diversity are modeled, taught, and practiced.
They conscientiously demonstrate in their own behaviors the kind of treatment they expect from their students and others.
Teachers know that a diversity of backgrounds often means a diversity of skills and they provide opportunities for students to work to their own strengths as well as learn from those whose strengths are different.
Teachers prepare students for the diversity of the workplace by exposing them to individuals and cultures that might be new to them, and they provide opportunities in their ongoing program for such exposure.
Teachers help students understand legislation and policies that are related to fairness and equity.
Advancing student learning
___e. Advancing knowledge of vocational subject matter
Teachers foster experiential, conceptual, and performance-based student learning of vocational subject matter and create important, engaging activities for students that draw upon an extensive repertoire of methods, strategies, and resources.
Their practice is also marked by the ability to integrate vocational and academic disciplines productively.
Teachers design instruction to engage students in gaining command of important ideas, concepts, theories, facts, and skills as opposed to rote memorization of discrete facts and procedures.
Teachers create engaging learning activities that enhance student mastery of knowledge-- key issues, concepts, competencies, and skills necessary for work in a specific industry and for employment in general.
Teachers may create projects or activities (like school-based enterprises) that naturally require students to draw on knowledge and skills of many disciplines.
Classroom environments characterized by discovery and invention introduce the notion of uncertainty and provide opportunities for students to test unfamiliar waters and think independently in the absence of strict directives.
Teachers carefully diagnose current student skill levels in the work process, help and support students when necessary, and gradually remove support structures as students learn to manage on their own.
Teachers use a variety of materials and resources to meet specified criteria and standards for quality (written examples, electronic media, current and historical samples from the workplace).
___f. Assessment
Teachers utilize a variety of assessment methods to obtain useful information about student learning and development, to assist students in reflecting on their own progress, and to refine their teaching (portfolios, videotapes, demonstrations, exhibitions and work-based assessments).
Teachers help students understand and assess their own progress (collection of work samples in portfolios, resumes, and weekly journal entries, etc.).
Teachers view assessment as an opportunity for feedback.
Transition to work and adult roles
___g. Workplace readiness
Teachers develop student career decision-making and employability skills by creating opportunities for students to gain understanding of workplace cultures and expectations.
Experiences in simulated or real workplace environments are significant for their role in providing perspective for students' career decision making.
Teachers create class laboratory activities and processes to illustrate certain aspects of work associated with particular career choices and take time to guide students in decision making toward promising paths in their field of interest.
Teachers design classroom activities that help students develop a strong work and personal ethic.
They teach students how to work effectively with co-workers and clients from different backgrounds and ability levels.
Teachers also create opportunities for students to develop the ability to teach others new skills, to satisfy customer or client expectations, and to work with their peers to settle disputes born of honest differences of the sort that might emerge in the workplace.
Central to development of skill and knowledge in the workplace is the creation of simulations of workplace settings, or placement in these environments so students may experience the culture and expectations firsthand.
___h. Managing and balancing multiple life roles
Teachers develop in students an understanding of the competing demands and responsibilities that are part of the world of work and guide students as they begin to balance those roles in their own lives.
Teachers include in the curriculum discussion of issues related to the proper functioning as an adult.
They also teach students to recognize that balance is necessary when their chosen roles conflict with their work responsibilities.
Teachers help students recognize the importance of understanding the cultural and social norms of the workplace and adapting their language and behavior to what is most appropriate for a given situation.
Teachers focus on understanding personal economics, managing daily life, and on preparing for community involvement.
___i. Social development
Teachers develop in students self-awareness and confidence, character, leadership, and sound personal, social, and civic values and ethics.
Teachers observe, cultivate, and assess the social development of their students, noting their classroom comfort, relationships with friends, sense of belonging, character, integrity, and concern for others.
Teachers encourage and direct students in learning how to communicate ideas and feelings more effectively in ways that create self-respect and convey respect for others.
Teachers develop students' initiative and teamwork skills (service organizations, community participation, political action, honor societies, and school organizations).
Teachers encourage the development of sound social, personal, and civic ethics by providing them with opportunities for joint decision making through participation in the leadership and governance of the classroom.
Teachers design assignments that allow students to apply their knowledge to diverse events, themes, topics, and situations that lead students to confront academic and civic dilemmas simultaneously.
Professional development and outreach
___j. Reflective practice
Teachers regularly analyze, evaluate, and strengthen the effectiveness and quality of their practice through life-long learning.
Teachers evaluate results and seek input systematically from a variety of sources.
They reflect on their own point of view, cultural background, biases, values, and personal experiences and their effects on practice.
Teachers continually refine practice through study and self-examination.
___k. Collaborative partnerships
Teachers work with colleagues, the community, business and industry, and postsecondary institutions to extend and enrich the learning opportunities available to students and to ease school-to-work transitions.
___l. Contributions to the education profession
Teachers work with colleagues and the larger community both to improve schools and to advance knowledge and practice in the field.
___m. Family and community partnerships
Teachers work with families and communities to achieve common goals for the education of all students.
Teachers gain insight into students through partnerships with families.
Teachers cultivate families' interests in supporting their children's education.