Reflections

I find myself almost at the end of my Bachelor of Education degree program and while I certainly don’t know everything, I now know a few more things about myself and who I am now as an educator.

With regards to cultivating communities of inquiry and taking on the role of “teacher as researcher”, I found that this was a natural fit for me. I understand that in order to be an effective and engaging educator it is important for me to know and understand my students. I feel that any time I enter into a school community I am surveying and collecting data to be able to tailor my approach in ways that students will gravitate towards. Beyond that, I am interested in finding ways to better my practice and, through the research I completed in practicum this year, I found ways to do that. I will continue to bring this ideological framework of becoming an “adaptive expert” with me into my career as an educator.

In reflecting upon my practice as an educator over the last two years I can certainly see the growth I have been able to show. A large part of this growth has been developing an understanding that I bring a wealth of experience and wisdom gleaned from other areas and times in my life into my personal pedagogy. There are reasons why I am committed to inclusive practices and creating equitable spaces for, not only all students, but all people within school walls. Success in the classroom begins the moment those students enter into the school building and creating inclusive communities is critical (Equity, 2014). As such the personal philosophy of teaching that I have developed thus far is:

My teaching philosophy is living and breathing and continues to grow. At this time, I am deeply committed to cultivating safe spaces in which students not only feel that they belong but in which their autonomy, agency, and dignity is respected. I believe that modeling behaviour is one of the most powerful tools that educators can use to show students ways of coping with difficult emotions, conversations, and conflicts. I hope to engage in a trauma-informed practice in which I centre empathy and value vulnerability so that when students leave at the end of the day they do so feeling respected and validated. My philosophy is hinged on the premise that I embody what I espouse and I choose to do so with courage and wholeheartedness.

I think that for a truly inclusive environment there are core values that I should be embodying as an educator and role model within the classroom. I am committed to seeing assessment not as an arbitrary requirement of my own accountability but as an important piece of education that serves to enhance the learning process. I want to create spaces where students feel that they have a say in how their work is assessed so that they feel a sense of ownership over their work and development as learners. I am committed to finding new and creative ways to differentiate my instruction that holds the dignity of the student above all else. I understand the importance of, again, knowing who students are, their abilities and where there is room for growth along with that which they bring in with them to the classroom that may impact how they learn on any given day (Learning for All, 2013).

I understand now, more than ever, that my approach to teaching curriculum, teaching 21st Century skills, student mental health, and my own mental health is entirely holistic. I see classrooms and those who inhabit them to be part of a living space that is impacted by each individual player. I intend on building daily morning check-ins with my students where they are free to discuss how they are feeling about school or any number of other things that may be impacting them and their learning at that time. Supporting Minds speaks to promoting positive mental health at school (Supporting Minds, 2013) and this is something that I think we must discuss with students but we also must model what that looks like for them. Throughout my practicum, this was not necessarily something I saw very often. As our society is one which praises and rewards being “overworked” many educators would avoid taking days off for illness or personal reasons, often coming into school when they would have been better off at home for some time. While I understand the immense and admirable commitment to their students, it is important for educators to understand when they need to take care of themselves too. I know that my own mental health is an important component of the ambience of the classroom and as such I have developed several ways of checking in with myself and coping with day to day stressors of being a classroom teacher including spending time with my dogs and outdoors.

Further, I believe that being a part of a school community, as a teacher, is an important piece of mental wellbeing at work. Teachers need to be able to rely on each other and take responsibility for the energy that they bring into the school. It is of utmost importance that there is a collective understanding amongst all staff that supporting one another is a best practice. This can look like holding each other accountable, sitting with someone and listening when they are having a difficult day, or covering during prep time for a staff member who needs it for whatever reason.

I hope to continue finding ways to integrate technology into my teaching practice in ways that facilitate meaning-making with purpose and audience in mind. I was fortunate to be able to take an elective class this semester all about integrating technologies within the classroom and it was a wonderful introduction to all the ways that students can utilize new tech for a purpose. By using technologies that allow for students to engage in cross-curricular activities inherently pushes students to work collaboratively and reflectively (Coiro, 2019). A goal of mine is to further my knowledge on this subject (which feels especially timely given the at-home learning situation we’re in now) and I will start by becoming a Google Classroom Certified educator. Further, I’m intending on educating myself more in the Maker Ed movement and finding ways to include a makerspace culture in my practice and link creative expression and critical thinking (Hughes, 2017).

From my time in my practicum classroom this past year (and last year) I was afforded the opportunity to work and learn alongside amazing educators. I saw what true empathy looks like in the face of balancing responsibilities. I was able to see, first hand, how knowing the community of people that surrounds and supports our students can have a direct and beneficial impact on being an educator within that community. I hope to embody these soft skills in my practice in order to support students in feeling safer and more confident at school. In many of our professional learning workshops there was a true emphasis on finding ways to support students who were struggling with a variety of difficult and potentially traumatic situations including bullying, homelessness, abuse, hunger, and many others. I know that there are going to be students of mine in the future that are struggling with one or multiple issues that may impact what they need on any given school day. I hope to continue my professional learning in how to better practice a trauma-informed approach so that I can adequately meet the needs of these students. I know that, going forward, I will struggle in continuing to discover who I am as a self-reliant educator but I also know that, through this struggle, I will continue to learn, grow, and adapt.

Works Cited

• Coiro, J., Dobler, E., & Pelekis, K. (2019). From curiosity to deep learning: personal digital inquiry in grades K-5. Portsmouth, NH: Stenhouse Publishers.

• Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools: Guidelines for Policy Development and Implementation, (2014). Ministry of Education, Ontario.

• Hughes, J. (2017, April). Meaningful Making. Retrieved March 10, 2020, from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/meaningful_making.html

• Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12, (2013). Ministry of Education, Ontario.

• Supporting Minds: An Educator's Guide to Promoting Student's Mental Health and Well-Being, (2013). Ministry of Education, Ontario.