Section 6: Getting an IDT Position and Succeeding in It

Currently, I am a Career and Technical Education Coordinator with our district. I have been in this position for the past three years. As part of my duties, I work with departmental teachers and district administrators assisting them with all their CTE needs. From filling requests for textbooks or supplies; to assisting with developing training for departmental professional development; to making weekly teacher observations to determine our teachers’ instructional needs and subsequently helping our teachers to strengthen their lessons to better impact learning based on our district's design for learning, Common Instructional Framework; to assisting secondary-level master schedulers map our teachers’ schedules for the following school year; to coordinating summer programs for middle- or secondary-level students; to attending Parent's Night's meetings to display information about our CTE programs and answer questions (since all incoming Freshmen need to declare a path of study during pre-registration for 9th grade); hardly a working day goes by that I don’t interact with people in multiple ways. Previous to my current position, as a member of the Career & Technical Education Department of our district I taught Business Education for high school and dual enrollment credit for four years. Education is my second career. I began my working career in my 20’s in the legal field as a legal and executive assistant/office manager and held this position for over 15 years.

 More Than One Path

I am currently enrolled in the Educational Technology-Leadership master’s program. Making 21^st century skills available to our students is topping the priority to-do list in our district. Being a digital immigrant learner, I feel an obligation to acquire these skills myself, or sharpen those skills I might already possess that are included among the 21st century skills, so that I may pass them along to the teachers I serve. And I am hoping that with this new or added knowledge, our teachers, in turn, will be able to better prepare our students to meet the demands of the 21^st century. A tall endeavor, I know, but one that will be fulfilling and gratifying should our CTE students graduate from high school with a working understanding of the 21st century skills. I hope to complete this master’s program next fall. I do not anticipate changing jobs or receive a promotion anytime soon, but I might begin a Principal’s Preparation program with our local regional education service center in hopes of earning a mid-management or principal’s certificate. At present I am very satisfied with my position. I enjoy working with the majority of teachers in our department and administrators who share the same or similar goals as I do. 

Using the WorkMatrix as a guide, as found in Reiser & Dempsey (2007), I concluded that the economic sector I would like to work in continues to be education, mainly secondary, but in a more leadership capacity. I am looking to fulfill a goal of becoming an assistant principal who, among other duties, oversees their campus teachers in career and technical education. Features of my work would include: 1) possibly relocating to the San Antonio-Austin area in the next three-five years where I see the potential for the availability of more leadership roles in education, being that there are multiple districts in each of these areas; 2) possibly higher promotional opportunities as a result of the multitude of districts and larger school populations; 3) the potential for higher income the more I travel north outside of our area, even though I figure that this will be offset by the slightly higher standard of living in those areas. As to type of work, I could very well situate myself in a first- or second-level service due to my experience, knowledge and skills, if I couldn’t become employed in a fourth-level service, which would be my preference after successful completion of my goal of becoming an assistant principal.

The knowledge and skills I learn in my present job will help form my background knowledge, that is, of what it entails to be an administrator at the level of an assistant  principal, when I enter the Principal’s Preparation program in the near future. It has been a dream of mine to work as part of a team helping secondary level students succeed in their endeavors, helping to shape their minds for the future, and motivating the at-risk students to attend school and earn an education. There is much more involved in a student's education, but, at best this is a beginning of my direct involvement as an administrator in a student's life. In my current position I am considered to be a part of the team of Central Office administrators. I already perform administrative duties at my level. I also am privy to data and other sensitive information that help to guide many district and departmental decisions that are made frequently and affect all aspects of education in our district. The additional knowledge and skills I Iearn in the Principal’s Preparation program, together with my skillset learned so far, will help to better prepare and qualify me for this position. This program at our local regional education service center takes 18 months to complete. As I near completion of the program, I will become eligible to take the Mid-Management or Principal’s certification exam in hopes of earning the certification.

I already am a member of various professional organizations, and these include Association for Career & Technical Education, Career and Technology Association of Texas, and South Texas Career & Technology Association. As part of my membership benefits, I attend occasional networking meetings and annual professional development conferences offered through these organizations. I look forward to attending these gatherings and learning from professionals who share the same interests and goals as I do as well as becoming informed of the potential education laws making their way into the halls of the Capitol. I also look forward to meeting and catching up with acquaintances working in education who I've met over the years. A few other organizations I am becoming interested in seeking are International Society for Technology in Education, International Technology Education Association and Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. The first three professional organizations provide me with continued learning in my field of career and technical education. The latter three professional organizations will provide me with opportunities for learning and advancement in improving teaching and staying up-to-date with emerging technologies for implementing in digital-age learning environments, which will further help me become familiar with, learn, or hone 21st century skills that I may impart to our teachers.

The Importance of Networking Through Professional Organizations 

Source: 

Reiser, R.A., & Dempsey, J.V. (1992). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. In H.D. Stolovitch (Ed.), The Development and Evolution of Human Performance Improvement (pp. 134-146). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.