Dispositions

I do not think dispositions are things that can necessarily be taught. They are things that occur within individuals at different times and ways. Dispositions can be affected by individuals, but it's not going to be taught through memorization. Then again, by forcing students to memorize will contribute to their disposition because they will have some sort of response to this procedure. Every child will be different, but they will all reflect different dispositions based on the given situation.

The reason we have so many people majoring in different areas are because of their individual uniqueness. I think that dispositions are reflective of this uniqueness found in each individual. Although we as teachers can try to follow the correct dispositions of teachers, until it is a true disposition and not just a suggestion of a disposition, we will not have what it takes. By this I mean that in our college classes, if our teachers inform us on the most effective teaching practices, but we don't whole-heartedly believe it, we will be doing ourselves and our students no favor.

On the other hand, I think that sometimes, if you want to believe something bad enough, it can be incorporated into who you are as a person. But this calls for a strong desire to occur and if you don't have the right disposition to have that desire to change, it's not going to happen. For instance, I know that I'll have trouble with my confidence in the classroom, but I know that I need to be confident with myself if I am to be the best teacher I can be. Therefore, with time and energy invested in becoming confident, I can change my disposition through what I learned. I do not think that everyone who learns that it's important to be confident can adapt that disposition. As I said before, you need the desire to change in order to do so. Unless something drastic happens to you as a person that reorganizes your whole dispositional demeanor.