Final Project: Professional Development Plan

Katy DeBroux
April 24, 2011
Excerpt:

After reviewing INTASC Principles, I see an important need to improve in Principal 10,
Interpersonal Relationships. This principal, reads "The teacher fosters relationships with school
colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students learning and well
being" (INTASC Principles Website, 2004).
As a future educator, I believe it is my responsibility to create an abounding environment
for many young lives I will engage in. I realize that in addition to teaching academics, I am
teaching children. They are valuable human beings who belong to the community in whole.
Therefore, it is necessary that the school I serve is viewed as an organization that will support the
community by providing harmony, compassion, and citizenship.
Through my course study, my employment as a educational assistant and my position as
a mother with children in elementary school, I have learned that a sense of community is
essential. As a teacher I will be joined by many other professionals with similar standards united
in the desire to help students reach their full potential. Parents and families are significant
resources that will aid in my ability to understand their child as an individual.
According to the Director of the Centers for Families, Communities, Schools, and
Children's Learning at John Hopkins University, Joyce L. Epstein provides the following
information:
There are many reasons for developing school, family and community
partnerships. They can improve school programs and school climate, provide

family services and support, increase parents' skills and leadership, connect
families with others in the school and the community and help teachers with their
work. However, the main reason to create partnerships, is to help all youngsters to
succeed in school and in life. When families are involved, students here common
messages from home and school about the importance of attending school, staying
in school, and working hard as a student (Epstein, 1994).
Epstein claims there are six different types of involvement families and educators can be
a part of to develop a successful school climate. They are parenting, communicating,
volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community. Each
type although challenging must be met to have a successful program that will engage all families
(Epstein, Critical Issue: Creating the School Climate and Structures to Support Parent and
Family Involvement, 1995).
My role as a future educator is to recognize these six types of involvement and engage in
as many of them as possible. Some of these steps will be simple as I am already experienced
with them, while others may require more effort. For example, parenting involvement will be
comfortable because I am already a parent and have children enrolled in the elementary school.
However, collaborating with the community may be somewhat difficult since I prefer to remain
reserved.
To support the principal Interpersonal Relationships, there are many professional
development programs available for parent/teacher communication. For example, there are
teacher networks, online courses, and face-to-face workshops. One particular source of
information I found most interesting was the Harvard Family Research Project: Family
Involvement Network of Educators (FINE). This network has a free membership that offers

access to the latest information about family involvement. It includes teaching tools, training
materials, and current research. It also provides members the capability of exchanging ideas with
other professionals, researchers and parents. The FINE Newsletter has many articles such as,
The Challenge of Cross-Cultural Family-School Collaboration and Successful Family
Engagement in the Classroom: What Teachers need to know and be able to do to engage
families in raising student achievement. In addition, the network provides a number of webinars
on such topics (The Family Involvement Network of Educators, 2011).