Create a Professional Image
Based upon the findings of surveys
such as the Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, Gallup Polls of the
Public's Attitude Toward the Public Schools and studies on school/community relations,
we know that:
schools are more highly rated by
those who know them best,
parents and teachers think more parental
involvement will improve education, and
students and newpapers are the top
sources of information about what's going on in school.
Your behavior and your interaction
with all the groups that make up the school community will not only define your
image, but also impact on the image of the profession as a whole.
The ideas that follow are time-tested
positive image makers. As you read, let them sift through your own personality and
knowledge about your own community. Choose those that will work for you or adapt
the ideas for your own setting. In addition to these individual projects, do get
involved in the community action programs your local association initiates.
From the beginning, let parents know
you believe a working partnership with them is best for students.
Send messages home about what they
can do to support learning.
See what happens when you assign
an essay or paragraph on the topic, "The best thing about my school is. . ." After
using samples of class entries in the classroom and discussing them for form and
content, submit three or four of the most interesting ones to the local newspaper,
expressing pride in these students' perception of their role as learners.
Carry your work around with you in
a folder or a briefcase, almost everywhere you go - to the laundromat, to the barbershop,
to the doctor's office. You may need every available moment to get your work done
- but think of it as yet another chance to let the public know how much you enjoy
it.
In early November, send home a list
of good books for parents to consider for holiday giving. List a few academic books,
but include mostly books that are interesting or entertaining, and at the same time
of literary or academic merit. Also, if you can find one extra hour at the beginning
of the school year, divide all your students' names into nine or ten lists according
to the month of their birthdays. Then send home a book gift list the month before
each student's birthday, making the distribution a first-of-the-month activity.
In June, distribute book lists for those with birthdays in July, August, and September.
Invent ways to give students practical
experience with writing. Teach your students to write letters to members of the
community, and then actually send them. The letters may relate specifics of a classroom
project that ties into a community organization activity or state an opinion about
how young people might be persuaded to participate more fully in community affairs.
The best lessons to be learned by students from such letter-writing are those of
stating a suggestion tactfully and gracefully, writing with a positive tone, and
making a point clearly and concisely.
Send home requests for a parent or
grandparent to write down (in a space provided on the request sheet) a few words
relating to a strong memory or an anecdote from their own lives in reference to
the topic being studied in class.
Always refer with pride to the fact
you are a teacher, school secretary, classroom aide... Mention frustrations freely,
but temper the discussions by relating how you are trying to have something done
about such problems as discipline or uncontrolled, excessive absences from classes.
Rather than sounding "gripey" or refusing to discuss your frustrations, let people
know that as a professional, you are worried, but that you haven't given up trying
to reach solutions and gain cooperation.