Adam Martinez

Melissa Langan
Principles of Leadership: Personal Development Plan
July 17, !1"
Personally: # hope to $e a $etter father and hus$and% Professionally: # thin& # 'ant to $e a good
teacher, and # have not e(actly figured out 'hat a good teacher is%
Shadows of the Neanderthal illustrates the need to $e self)reflective, and the importance
of $eing on the loo&out for one*s $iases% +ithout $eing 'illing to e(amine our o'n lives, and
attempting to trace 'here our ideas come from, 'e can*t have much hope for $ecoming more
humane individuals% # thin& this notion of $eing self)reflective is analogous to the attempt at
identifying one*s mental models and using the ,ladder of inference- to analyze one*s $eliefs and
$ehaviors%
.specially as a teacher to $e, # thin& that it*s important to e(amine $eliefs and $iases in
order to avoid ma&ing assumptions $ased on one*s mental models% +hen # 'as in middle school,
at a school in /ines$urg, 0ermont 'here # 'as the only $ro'n person, # remem$er a su$stitute
teacher pointing to me and saying: ,1o you*re the class clo'n%- # might have $een acting a $it
silly, $ut # never considered myself a ,class clo'n%- 2eflecting on that occasion, # guess that this
man had mental models that pointed to'ard racist assumptions a$out $ro'n &ids $eing clo'ns%
1o, $ecause 'e inha$it our mental models, it*s difficult to challenge the 'ays in 'hich 'e
read3ma&e meaning of the 'orld, $ut it is a$solutely essential that 'e do if 'e are to teach and
care a$out students from diverse $ac&grounds% # thin& that it could $e helpful to have a daily
teacher 4ournal in 'hich one reflects on the school day% #f one did this in earnest # thin& it has the
potential to reveal $iases and 'ea&nesses in one*s pedagogy%
5nce pro$lems 'ith one*s practice are identified, one can attempt to change and ma&e
improvement% 6his is 'here the theory of change as presented in Switch could $e $eneficial% #t*s
difficult to descri$e ho' # 'ould implement the components of change that /eath and /eath
descri$e $ecause # don*t e(actly &no' yet, as # have not $een in the classroom, 'hat the
'ea&nesses in my practice are% 7ut # plan on going into my internship year 'ith a reflective
mindset% 8sing my rider*s s&ills to analyze 'hat # do and 'hat # see around me% My elephant
should $e on $oard as # have a strong commitment to culturally responsive pedagogy and social
4ustice% #t 'ill $e interesting to try and analyze the path, 'hich # thin&, as a teacher, is so 'ide)
ranging%