Before leaving for Christmas Break this year, I needed to submit my Reflection and Professional Development Plan to our Faculty Development Board. That submission is below.

2016 Reflection and Professional Development Plan by Eric E Castro

A few additional thoughts came to mind during the process of drafting the document. First, in regards to the Reflection section, I tried to keep it brief, for the sake of those reading the document. Both my wife and Carole Nickolai suggested that I be more complete, however. I abbreviated that section, not just to save the committee a few minutes worth of reading, but because I am so public about what I do, I figure if anyone wants to know what I’ve been doing for the past five years, it’s just a Google search away.[1] Further, it’s a personal struggle with self-promotion. Part of me thinks that if you don’t know who I am or what I’m about, you just haven’t been paying attention, and you don’t deserve to know. You can see the unhealthy mix of ego there, and how that’s self-defeating. My way around this tension was to simply submit the above Reflection and Professional Development Plan as well as my CV, linked in the first footnote.

Second, I have really struggled to – for lack of a better word – care about this round of “tenure” for two distinct reasons: it’s not tenure, and the real goal of the process is one that I engage with regularly. Let’s start by looking at what “tenure” is:

At up to six-year intervals, tenured and tenure-eligible faculty submit to the Faculty Development Board a written reflection that addresses a faculty member’s progress in achieving goals set forth in previous professional growth plans, as well as a new plan for ongoing professional growth in academic, co-curricular, and spiritual formation dimensions of school life. Tenure at St. Ignatius is not available to faculty until the sixth year, is renewable, and is granted by the Principal for a maximum of six years. At his discretion, the Principal also invites directors of programs and other staff (those holding non-tenure positions) to participate in the Professional Growth and Review Process.

Tenure is generally accepted to be a once in a lifetime per institution thing.[2] Not a guarantee of employment, but a guarantee to process. Ours is not tenure, and it galls me to see it and hear it called that. Frankly, “tenure” is unnecessary at our school because of protections applied elsewhere.[3] The other benefit of “tenure” is that if one doesn’t use all ten of one’s sick days in a year, some portion roll over to the next. That strikes me as a manufactured benefit.

The second reason that I haven’t been able to muster much excitement about the “tenure” process this time is that I so regularly engage in a reflection process. To wit, this blog/ this very post! Being required to do a reflection every six years is regressionary. To be as honest as possible, I’m not sure if I’m bothered more by the fact that I’m essentially being asked to do less or that others aren’t being asked to do more.

In any case – as of 2:46 pm, Mon, Dec 14, 2014 – my Reflection and Professional Growth Plan is written and submitted.