Last March, Shannon Williams attended ASCD's Annual Conference to meet and talk with educators who share her professional interests. A graduate student in the initial certification program at Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Williams has already discovered the importance of sharing ideas with others passionate about eduction. "Sometimes when you get excited about something, you don't find others around you who feel the same," she explains. "But as you meet educators from other states and regions who are as excited as you, it feeds your own enthusiasm."
Williams' exposure to professional development, which began when she helped establish Aquinas College ASCD, has helped her see a "professional pathway" after college and has allowed her to glimpse life as a teacher. Williams compares her experience to playing dominoes, in the way that "one thing leads to another." While attending a Michigan ASCD conference last year as a student chapter member, she met people who suggested other professional development workshops and conferences for her to attend and recommended that she student teach with the woman who is now supervising her student teaching assignment.
Learning to Be Leaders
The importance of encouraging a professional attitude in teachers at the beginning of their careers cannot be overestimated, says Dorothy Craig, faculty advisor of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) ASCD (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and an assistant professor of education. Craig recalls seeing, throughout her career as a teacher and curriculum coordinator, "really good teachers who became mediocre because they didn't pursue professional development opportunities."
ASCD student chapters "instill in students the importance of keeping up with professional development throughout their careers," asserts Craig. The best way to reinforce this idea and to provide meaningful leadership opportunities to students, she continues, is to make them responsible for their own professional development during the early stages of their careers. MTSU ASCD members oversee all aspects of the chapter's activities, including surveying members on topics of interest, choosing several topics each semester for workshops, contacting speakers, organizing events, and governing the chapter.
In fact, student leadership has been the hallmark of ASCD's student chapter program since students at Hope College (Holland, Mich.) decided to start an unofficial ASCD chapter in 1993 to give students a forum for exploring education issues outside of the classroom. Based on their experience, ASCD instituted its student chapter program two years later. The program now boasts 27 chapters in the United States and Barbados.
Developing Professionals
Most student chapters sponsor workshops on topics ranging from interviewing techniques to year-round schools, from serving gifted students in the regular classroom to using portfolios. Education classes cover only the surface of many of these issues, says Craig. Workshops allow students to hear from and "speak to professionals who are implementing what they are learning about."
"Students need to be knowledgeable and look beyond the realm of their discipline or grade they teach" to be able to confront issues in the classroom and make connections, adds Katy Lux, a professor of education and faculty advisor for Aquinas College ASCD. ASCD's Annual Conference is one forum where student chapters can meet to learn about education issues and connect with educators and each other. In March 1997, faculty advisors and student chapters met for the first time to discuss chapter programming and governance ideas.
Practicing educators, in addition to students, have realized that they have a stake in establishing professional relationships with education students. Michigan ASCD believes it must "nurture and mentor students because they are the future of education in the state and the future of the affiliate," says Larry Johnson, an elementary school principal and board member of Michigan ASCD.
Educators in ASCD and Michigan ASCD have a responsibility to prepare their future colleagues, says Johnson, including providing them with the information and opportunities that could help them find jobs after graduation. As a building administrator, Johnson is able to share his knowledge with students about skills they need to be competitive on the job market.
In addition to advice about how to further their careers, student chapter members gain the feeling that they are part of a larger professional community, says Tim Rafferty, faculty advisor of Wright State University ASCD (Dayton, Ohio) and a professor of education. "Being in a professional organization broadens people and helps them see beyond their daily routines," he explains.
Most members of Wright State University ASCD are graduate students who are full-time teachers, although the chapter intends to recruit undergraduates this school year. Rafferty believes that being a member of a professional organization is especially important for teachers, who can feel isolated from the profession while in their classrooms.
By attending workshops and networking with other educators and students, teachers can grow professionally, affirms Rafferty. "The way we envision ourselves as people affects the way we act and who we become," he says. "By accepting our destiny as professionals, we work harder at being good teachers."
The Benefits
The Benefits
ASCD Student Chapters receive:
A discount on ASCD Student Memberships
A Chapter Library of ASCD Publications
Catalyst: The ASCD Student Chapter Newsletter
Access to special activities at the ASCD Annual Conference
A reproducible ASCD Student Chapter Logo
Faculty advisors receive:
Free registration to the ASCD Annual Conference
Free renewal of an ASCD comprehensive membership
A discount on ASCD products
Interested? Request a Student Chapter Start-Up Kit. Call 1-800-933-2723 or send an e-mail message to chapters@ascd.org. A list of current chapters can be found on ASCD's Web page at http://www.ascd.org