Dhagat 1

Sandeep Dhagat
Professor Suk
EDUC 230-01 Education Field Experience
Fall 2017
Rationale Statement-Standard #9

Standard Nine: Professional Learning

The teacher engages in ongoing individual and collaborative professional learning designed to
impact practice in ways that lead to improved learning for each student, using evidence of student
achievement, action research and best practice to expand a repertoire of skills, strategies,
materials, assessments and ideas to increase student learning. (NJ Professional Standards for
Teachers, 2014, p. 12).

Artifact: Current Event Summary and Reaction

Date of Completion: December 7th, 2016 (Fall 2016)
Course Completed in: EDUC-212 Foundations of Education

Rationale Statement:
In order to educate ourselves and our peers about current events in education, this artifact
required each student to find a recent news article connected to education, summarize its content, reflect
upon its value to our professional future, and lead a classroom discussion about it. The discussion I lead
included a video clip followed by a few open-ended questions. The summary and reflection of the current
event article relates to the critical disposition of a teacher. This artifact demonstrates how I see myself as
a learner, continuously seeking opportunities to draw upon current education policy and research as
sources of analysis and reflection to improve practice. (NJ Professional Standards for Teachers 9.iii.3,
2014, p. 14). Former Educational Secretary John King reflects on the state of civics education in America,
including recent studies of content knowledge (e.g. NAEP scores in History), to argue for a better approach
that stresses opportunities to do democracy. The artifact allowed me to reflect in-words how civics
education should be integrated into every subject area, including science and math, as well as potential
challenges to implementing Secretary Kings vision for civics education.
The details of Secretary Kings speech initially piqued my interest because of my involvement in
our high schools political participation club. After reading the article I immediately evaluated whether
our club practices, goals, and activities promoted Secretary Kings ideas. And although everyone in our
small club understood perfectly well the arguments and facts laid out by the Secretary, it was true that
we were still stuck in an older citizenship model that conceived of political participation as voting, writing
to public officials, and campaigning. Things we did voter registration drives, public policy polling, and
BOE candidate debates did not necessarily reflect Secretary Kings ideas of civic activism. His words were
a teachable moment for myself because it altered my perception of what constitutes a good civics
education curriculum. Low NAEP scores should not be the primary concern of school districts or educators,
because high NAEP scores in history or civics do not necessarily indicate future citizens know what to do
with that information. The affluent school district I lived in would probably do excellent on the NAEP
relative to national scores, but almost everyone would be considered politically unengaged by any
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standard. This reflects the model and objectives of the curriculum rather than any inherent deficiencies
in the student body, which is exactly what Secretary King was alluding to.
I would use this artifact and the article it relates to in my professional future to explain to students
why I actively include aspects of civic education in my science lessons, lectures, and assignments. Being
able to provide a rationale for students of why you do the things you do is important to creating a
classroom environment where there is mutual respect between teacher and student. Also, it serves as a
great reminder that science teachers are not just science teachers isolated from other curriculums and
subjects. Our job as Secretary King explained is to make abstract concepts relevant and meaningful by
bringing it into peoples daily lives. Science through ecology, environmental science, and bioethics can
provide a great forum for helping students do democracy through community projects, debates, and
school awareness campaigns. Thus, this artifact would be part of my collection of documents relating to
my educational philosophy and practice.

Reference

Professional Development in New Jersey. (2014, August 4). Retrieved from New Jersey State Department
of Education:
http://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/teacherstandardscrosswalk.pdf