Ofelia Alvarez Claudia Guerrero Thelma Luna “When the crunch comes, people cling to those they know they can trust—those who are not detached, but involved.” -Admiral James Stockdale

 Core Belief #11: “The master teacher has concern for the whole student, whole teacher, whole district, whole community, and whole of the profession.”  This belief has to do with the teacher’s ability to desire to think beyond the idea of students as simply “knowledge acquirers,” as measured by standardized tests.  This belief speaks to the teacher’s ability and desire to think beyond the needs of his or her classroom to the needs of the entire school.

 Review Figure 14-1: Alignment Survey Responses with core Belief #11….  The data supports the fact that highly effective teachers have concern for the whole student, school, district, community and profession appears to be much weaker than some other core beliefs.  The low ranking of these characteristics is revealing, pointing to a variable between Domain II: Skilled based teacher and a Domain III, IV, V teacher.  These teachers are highly skill-based, plus they have further developed a set of skills that set them apart. These teachers see the bigger picture and act in ways that contribute to it.

 Becoming a master teacher is not a destination, it evolves.  The beginning teacher should focus on becoming highly effective with students before he or she engages too much in the whole school, district, community, and whole profession activities.  The beginning teacher should not form attitudes and beliefs that would keep from holistic thinking. With such things as a teacher talking against special experiences for students because they take away from classroom instructional time, becomes a critic of the administration, or complains about “lack”: lack of pay, respect, parental support or of discipline.

 “Teaching is not an ‘easy’ profession, not for the faint-hearted. There is a commitment required that is selfless and oriented toward the ‘greater good.’ We need to regain a ‘trust’ in the education system and those in it.”

 We need to know what the children are taught-and when and how students are taught. And, teachers need to know both the classroom and extracurricular activities available to the students.  Elementary teacher don’t know what the secondary curriculum contains and vice-versa.  The master teacher knows that all teachers are charged with nurturing, teaching, and developing the whole child. They have the responsibility of picking the students up wherever they are academically, and preparing them for living in the present as well as the future.

 This means that they know what is taught and why. It means knowing policies, requirements, and practices.  They have a working knowledge of the school, when asked they will give intelligent answers.  Knowing about the curriculum, schools, and district takes time. It takes professional interest and motivation.  A new climate will begin to form if all educators know about their school and district.

 Master teachers know they are all part of the whole school and district.  Effectiveness and satisfaction are greater by what they know of the whole.  Master teachers are well aware that the image both they ant the public have of their competency is dependent upon their ability to answer questions form “When do children begin writing cursive?” to “How much math is required for graduation?”