Supporting Novice Teachers’ Competency and Commitment to School, Family, Community Engagement

• In Event: Educators Working Toward Equitable, Collaborative Engagement With Historically Marginalized Families: Developing Competence, Commitment, and Skill

Abstract

Objective
This paper proposes a model to support teacher’s professional vibrancy and maintain their competency and commitment to school, family, and community partnerships initiatives that support the holistic experience of culturally and linguistically diverse P-12 students.
Theoretical Framework
Teachers who work in schools in urban areas and/or with a large percentage of children from historically marginalized backgrounds who reside in low-income neighborhoods often experience burnout and/or secondary trauma (Christian-Brandt, Santacrose, & Barnett, 2020; Madigan & Kim, 2021). Therefore, it is critical that teachers be offered a support structure to help them minimize this stress directly and/or the secondary stress they experience as they support their students and their families and to engage in a variety of school, family, community partnerships (Abel, 2019; Christian-Brandt, Santacrose, & Barnett, 2020; Epstein & Sheldon, 2022). The professional vibrancy model (Abel, 2019) contains three elements: (a) critical self-reflection, (b) personalized self-care, and (c) celebratory moments. Critical self-reflection requires being honest and asking the tough questions about what we do and how we do it, and why we do it, along with the consequences on others and ourselves as teachers. Personalized self-care requires evaluating what rejuvenates or drains energy so we can establish and maintain structures in our lives that increase the presence of the affirming activities and minimize the presence of others. Celebratory moments refers to both current celebrations of success, small or large, and the remembrance of past successes when things do not work out as desired. These components are used by teacher educators and teachers alike to help manage their professional vibrancy and maintain their competency and commitment to school, family, community partnerships.
Significance of This Work
Teacher burnout and secondary trauma are real issues impacting teachers leaving the profession. While structural issues need to be addressed, teachers and teacher educators also need to assume responsibility for our professional vibrancy and maintaining our competency and commitment to school, family, community partnerships.

Author

• Yolanda Abel, Johns Hopkins University