Professional Judgment and Dispositions in Teacher Education
Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 25, Issue 1, January 2009, Pages 83-88
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)
The word “dispositions” has suddenly emerged in the lexicon of teacher educators in the United States of America, and around the globe as found in publications such as The International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations and the Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education. However, it is clear from the literature that educators are just beginning to grapple with the definitional and philosophical aspects of the construct. This work seeks to assist the field of teacher education, both in the United States and internationally in gaining a better understanding of “dispositions,” and, at the same time to offer working connections between professional judgment and dispositions. It also provides grounding for the construct as “habits of mind” that render professional conduct more intelligent.
Consequently, the author has worked to call to the attention of professional educators whether in the United States of America or internationally that
(a) any development of the concept of professional dispositions should attend to questions of purpose, and to the kind of means–ends connections as advocated by Dewey, 1944 J. Dewey, Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education, The Free Press, New York (1944).(Dewey, 1944) and (Dewey, 1960);
(b) there should be a link between professional judgment and professional dispositions;
(c) dispositions have a cognitive dimension, and as such there is a relation of dispositions as habits of mind, and intelligent professional conduct; and,
(d) dispositional conduct should be nurtured, and assessed in preparation programs so that candidates may transfer their dispositional conduct to professional settings.
References
Dewey, 1944 J. Dewey, Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education, The Free Press, New York (1944).
Dewey, 1960 J. Dewey, Theory of the moral life, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York (1960).