attitude

1. a relatively enduring and general evaluation of an object, person, group, issue, or concept on a dimension ranging from negative to positive. Attitudes provide summary evaluations of target objects and are often assumed to be derived from specific beliefs, emotions, and past behaviors associated with those objects.

American Psychological Association

Attitudes are perhaps the most personal dimension of learning. Where knowledge reflects what a learner knows, and skills reflect what a learner can do, attitudes reflect what a learner values and believes. Attitudes are not simply opinions or preferences; they are relatively stable dispositions that shape how a learner engages with content, with others, and with their vocation.

When we think about attitudes in a competency-based education model, the definition expands and deepens. Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) describe the affective dimension of learning as a continuum of internalization. In other words, attitude reflects the process by which a learner moves from simply receiving and responding to new ideas toward genuinely valuing them. An attitude, in this sense, is not merely held; it is developed over time through study, reflection, and experience. For those preparing to serve in our WELS public ministry, this developmental dimension is particularly significant. Attitudes toward faith, vocation, and the learners in their care are not incidental to their preparation. Indeed, they are central to it. Competency-based education is well-suited to address attitudes precisely because it creates space to assess not just what learners know and can do, but who they are becoming as Christian educators.

Student Outcomes Focusing on Attitudes

Each course in our program has a range of outcomes that assess knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors. The following two statements are examples of attitudes-focused outcomes:

The learner will express comfort in knowing how God uses suffering for the good of his people.

The learner will reflect on attitudes toward education, students, parents, management, and discipline.

Note that each of these outcomes focuses not on the professor’s attitudes, but instead encourages the learner to consider their attitudes. It is important that our outcomes are centered on the learner, because the program is designed to evaluate and record learners’ achievements, not the faculty who teach the courses.

Assessment Strategies

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to assessment. There are, indeed, many ways to engage learners with assessments of their attitudes. Our instructional designer and subject-matter expert work together to craft reflective, authentic assessments for attitude outcomes that encourage learners to connect course materials, their identities as Christian educators, and the real or imagined classrooms where they serve.

For example, the outcome that asks learners to reflect on attitudes toward education, students, parents, management, and discipline is evaluated, in part, through the development of a classroom environment plan. Learners are asked to create a document and include the following items.

My Class

Plan with your preferred age group in mind. Write a description of the school, classroom, and students. You can base your schedule, grade level, daily subjects, and student population on a classroom experience you have had as a student or as a pre-service teacher (EFE, clinical, student teaching).

The culture I want to set is…

Choose three values you want emphasized in your classroom (Hard work, patience, joy, inclusion, etc.). Include a concise definition that you will use to teach each attitude to your students, and explain why these attitudes or values are important for you and your students.

This culture will be seen in the following activities in my room…

Beneath your value definition, list three practices or activities that you will use to teach and reinforce each of your key attitudes.

Value One – Definition and rationale

Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3

Value Two – Definition and rationale

Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3

Value Three – Definition and rationale

Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3

I chose my room and seating arrangement because…

Include a drawing or digital depiction of your room arrangement, including seating, direction of the room (where is the focal point of direct instruction?), and other furniture.

Write a rationale explaining why you chose this setup (plan seating for 18-24 students).

Community and Connections

Describe three activities or practices you will use early in the school year (within the first month of school) to build a classroom community and support students to learn about each other and build trust.

Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3

The Classroom Environment Plan does not ask learners to share what they know about different approaches to classroom management. Nor does it ask learners to apply those classroom management strategies to specific case studies or scenarios. Instead, learners are encouraged and supported in establishing how different classroom management approaches align with their attitudes as Christian educators to create a plan they could use in their own classroom.