Outstanding Teachers: The Steps In Acquiring Them

Teachers are professional educators with the main task of educating, teaching, guiding, directing, training, evaluating, and evaluating students. So that it is expected to be able to produce graduates who are intelligent, qualified, competitive, noble and have noble character. The era of globalization requires high-quality teachers and is ready to compete, both at national, regional and international levels. The study aims to determine the criteria for outstanding teacher competitions in elementary schools by using a multi-site approach through schools that get national-level exceptional teachers in 2017 and 2018 in West Java, Banten and DKI Jakarta. Data collection techniques are carried out through interviews, documentation and observation, while data analysis techniques are used through data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing. The results of the study stated that the selection of outstanding elementary school teachers was intended to increase motivation, dedication, loyalty and professionalism of teachers who were expected to have a positive effect on improving performance and achievement. Criteria for selecting outstanding teachers consist of portfolio assessment, learning videos and teacher performance assessments, written tests consisting of teacher competencies and educational insights, scientific papers and scientific writing presentations. Competition in outstanding teacher competitions is so intense that it requires comprehensive collaboration between education stakeholders ranging from principals, supervisors, teacher working groups, education offices, educational quality assurance institutions, universities and commission X to the House of Representatives.

We Teach who We Are: Creativity in the Lives and Practices of Accomplished Teachers

Background/Context There is a strong sense in education that creativity should be nurtured in classroom settings, yet there is little understanding of how effective and creative teachers function. Existing research has recognized that successful/creative people in any discipline use creative avocations to enhance their professional thinking. Root-Bernstein demonstrated a strong connection between the professional and personal-life creativity of highly accomplished scientists, which has been applied to other disciplines. Until now, however, this phenomenon has not been applied to exemplary teachers. This study focuses on a broader picture of how exceptional teachers use creativity in the classroom. Purpose/Objective This study documents the ways in which successful, award-winning teachers function creatively in their classrooms. It investigates their beliefs about creativity in teaching—what “creativity” means, and how skilled teachers instantiate it in classroom practices. Finally, this research examined the teachers’ personal creativity (in terms of creative pursuits, hobbies, and habits of mind) and the practical ways this translates into teaching. Research Design A qualitative research design was used for in-depth interviews with highly accomplished teachers. Detailed interview data was gathered from eight recent National Teacher of the Year award winners/finalists, to investigate creative classroom practices and beliefs about creativity among exceptional teachers across varied teaching contexts. Qualitative coding of phenomenological research described important themes arising from the creative practices and beliefs of the participant teachers. Findings Findings reveal how excellent teachers actively cultivate a creative mindset. Results show how excellent teachers are highly creative in their personal and professional lives, and that they actively transfer creative tendencies from their outside avocations/interests into their teaching practices. This study describes common themes in creative teaching, including intellectual risk taking, real-world learning approaches, and cross-disciplinary teaching practices. Conclusions/Recommendations Current U.S. educational policy, with its emphasis on high-stakes testing and scripted, “teacher-proof” curricula, have impeded creativity in teaching and learning. Based on the findings of this study, suggestions for curricula include the incorporation of teachers’ unique personal creative interests in lessons, along with infusion of the arts and music across varied disciplinary content. Teacher education programs and professional development courses should include a focus on both real-world, cross-disciplinary lesson planning, while administrators and policymakers should support opportunities for teachers to take creative and/or intellectual risks in their work.

F1 in Schools: An Australian Perspective

The Australian Government and industry groups have been discussing the projected “skills shortage” for a number of years. This concern for the future is mirrored in many countries including the USA and the UK where the risk is not having sufficient skilled people to realise the projects being proposed. Growing tertiary qualified practicing engineers takes time and commitment but without the excitement of the possibility of such a career being seeded in the youth of the world, school leavers won’t be attracted to engineering in sufficient numbers. In response, one successful model for exciting school children about engineering and science careers is the international F1inSchools Technology Challenge which was created in the UK in 2002 and implemented in Australia in 2003. It is now run in over 300 Australian Schools and 33 countries. In the Australian context, the program is managed and promoted by the Reengineering Australia Foundation. It is supported and fostered through a range of regional hubs, individual schools and some exceptional teachers. Presented in this paper are some perspectives drawn particularly from the Australian experience with the program over 10 years — which by any measure has been outstanding. The F1inSchools model has been designed specifically through its association with Formula One racing to attract the intrinsic interests of students. It is based on the fundamentals of action learning. Role models and industry involvement are utilised as motivation modifiers in students from Years 5 to 12. While immersing children in project based learning, the program explicitly encourages them to engage with practicing mentors taking them on a journey outside their normal classroom experience. In this program, students have the opportunity to use the design and analysis tools that are implemented in high technology industries. Their experience is one of reaching into industry and creative exploration rather than industry reaching down to them to play in a constrained and artificial school based environment. Anecdotally F1inSchools has been very successful in positively influencing career choices. With the aim of objectively assessing the impact of the program, doctoral research has been completed. Some key findings from this work are summarized and reported in this paper. The children involved truly become excited as they utilise a vehicle for integration of learning outcomes across a range of educational disciplines with a creative design focus. This enthusiasm flows to reflective thought and informed action in their career choice. As a result of F1inSchools, students are electing to follow engineering pathways and they will shape tomorrow’s world.