9. Professionalism, Leadership, and Advocacy

I had the privilege of presenting at the Illinois Conference for Exceptional Children during the fall of 2020 with Professor Christine Scholma. Trinity awarded me a scholarship to conduct research with a professor in the field of special education. We researched professors' perspectives on teaching students with intellectual disabilities. Professor Scholma and I did a literature review of studies that had been done on this topic. We created a recorded Pechakucha presentation to submit to the conference committee. The next spring, we then created our own 5-question survey using a Likert scale and Microsoft Forms. After sending our survey out to faculty members of a college, we collected and analyzed our data to determine how comfortable professors might be about teaching students with intellectual disabilities in their college courses. I lated presented this at Trinity's Opus Day to my fellow classmates.

Knowledge indicator 9E says that a competent teacher "is cognizant of his or her emerging and developed leadership skills and the applicability of those skills within a variety of learning communities." I participated in a conference that was outside of the Trinity community as well as Trinity's own Opus celebration of student work. I have never done something like this before, so it was an opportunity for educational and leadership growth. I presented two different stages of my year-long research to two different audiences. Performance indicator 9J says that a competent teacher "maintains accurate records, manages data effectively, and protects the confidentiality of information pertaining to each student and family." Professor Scholma and I used Microsoft Forms technology to send out our survey and collect data. Responses to our survey were completely confidential. We were unable to see the individual responses of each professor, thus protecting their privacy.

From this experience I learned the importance of professionalism and presenting information to an audience that is outside of a classroom setting. It took a long time to format the presentation so that it could be as professional as possible. There are lots of rules to sending out surveys, collecting data, and protecting confidential information. Collecting data and presenting research in a professional manner is an important skill for a teacher to have because it shows that the teacher is knowledgeable in the area and gives the teacher credibility.

I was honored to be the president of Trinity's Future Teacher Association during my junior year at Trinity. The committee was tasked with creating professional development opportunities for education students at Trinity as well as creating and distributing Trinity education sweatshirts to the department. One of the professional development opportunities was a "Travel Week," where Trinity students met with three different schools from all over the world to talk about what teaching in a foreign country was like, specifically at that particular school. There were three nights of meeting a different school. The schools were from the countries of Colombia, Honduras, and Indonesia. Another PD opportunity was watching a documentary about Autism and love (romantic relationships including people with disabilities) and then speaking with a panel of educators about the feelings and longings that people with disabilities might have. Setting up these professional development opportunities took a lot of communication and collaboration. As a committee, we thought it was important to talk about the feelings of people with disabilities, because often they are overlooked. It is a common misconception that people with disabilities cannot fall in love or be in romantic relationships. We wanted to educate the Trinity community on this subject.

Knowledge Indicator 9E of the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards says that a competent teacher "is cognizant of his or her emerging and developed leadership skills and the applicability of those skills within a variety of learning communities." God gave me the gift of effective communication and organization and provided me with the opportunity to be the FTA's president. I used these gifts to promote and advocate for schools around the globe as well as the emotions and desires of people with disabilities. Performance Indicator 9O says that a competent teacher "participates in professional development, professional organizations, and learning communities, and engages in peer coaching and mentoring activities to enhance personal growth and development." Bringing together multiple communities (Trinity students, international schools, professors, and other leaders of education) for the purpose of professional development brought an opportunity for many of us to learn together and from each other. There are so many organizations and leaders in educations to learn from, and I was honored to be able to bring just a few of them to the attention of Trinity education students.

From this experience, I learned that being president of a club or committee is an important task. Your name is stamped onto everything the association does. If the FTA was going to promote something, schedule an event, or create a sweatshirt, I had to approve it and make sure that it was appropriate, necessary, and well written. I also learned that a president does not do things on her own. I had three other girls and a professor on my team. We depended on each other to design professional developments. I really enjoyed my time serving on FTA, and I hope that I am given opportunities to lead in the future.