Professional Learning

Interconnectedness of Knowledge, Schooling and Society:  My first field experience observations.

5 Key Points:

Teachers and Teaching

When it comes to teaching it is a team effort to give children the best education possible. Help each other out, let each other know what works best with students displaying challenging behaviour, set an example, support one another and speak highly of one another. Welcome everyone and treat everyone fairly.

Ethical Relationality

It is the responsibility of teachers to walk out justice and fairness for all students in their classrooms. Get to know your students, have relationships with them, and allow everyone to participate!

Global Politics of Education

Recognize the opportunity to learn from added cultural backgrounds in the classroom. Instead of seeing Immigration policies established by government as a negative, use it to enhance your understanding of the world and its people.

Learners and Learning

Learning is not specifically designated to one people group. Learning is for everyone regardless of who you are or where you come from. Some students need accomodations, work as a bridge to provide them with a fair education and learning environment.

Indigenization, Colonization & Decolonization

Recognize the affects of school systems in Canada and the harm they have placed on indigenous peoples. Be an advocate for Indigenous success, acknowledge the hurts of the past and present. Commit to being an ally ensuring Indigenous knowledge is preserved, honoured and acknowledged.

 

Expanded Reflection:

I haven’t been in an elementary school setting since I graduated elementary school in 2012. There are some things that seemed to stay the same and some that has changed. One thing that has definitely shifted is being a teacher candidate and observing other teachers where as I was just a student the last time I walked out those doors. Getting to observe other teachers and how the school functions I was able to apply different themes from course content. Our syllabus has 5 different content outlines that I was able to witness and gather conclusions from the field experience.

The first content piece that was outlined was teachers and teaching. I noticed from the field experience just how teaching is a team effort. The principal had a role, vice principal had a role, the teachers had a role, and the educational assistants had a role. The roles of everyone plays into the overall success of the students and their well-being. One thing I mentioned in my notes was how the teachers at the school I was placed at came together to help each other out after one of the educational assistants lost their partner in a tragedy. The principal explained how every teacher had each others backs to help this person out and ensure their work priorities were taken care of. I thought highly of the school for going the extra mile to help their fellow colleague through a challenging time. Other notes from this experience was how everyone used words to honour each other and uplift each other when they were talking about each other- they found good in each other. Lastly, I noticed how if one teacher was dealing with behavioural issues they felt comfortable talking with their colleagues about it and coming up with a solution together. It was nice to see the teachers having each others backs in the best interest of their students.

The second content piece was Ethical relationality. For this content piece I made a note on how the principal got to know their students by having a relationship with them. There was one student in particular that had a history of behavioural issues in the classroom. The student was having a challenging morning when we were observing with disrupting the class. I thought the principal handled it well by not coming down hard on the student for having a hard day but taking the time to understand the students situation and be there for him. He had him eat lunch with him and just spend time with him because he was having a hard time in class. It did not seem like it was a punishment but rather more restorative because the principal was extending an invitation to relationship with him. Other notes I had was allowing everyone to participate. It was a larger elementary school with over 400 students. When students get older they have the opportunity to play volleyball against other schools in Regina. Since it was such a large elementary school they created an extra team so that everyone would be able to participate.

The third content piece was global politics of education. For this content piece I made note of how the school I observed at was primarily immigrant students. Although there was some negativity around immigration policies in the school and how it is a challenging feat to educate people from many different countries and backgrounds, I thought it could be seen as a great learning opportunity to stretch my understanding to get to know students from different backgrounds. I think that it is a complex issue but getting to learn and understand different cultures without having to travel around the world seems good to me. Another note I made from this experience was from a grade 6 math class and how their was math material in languages other than English. I thought this was a very inclusive thing and will be something I would want to have in my future classroom.

The fourth learning piece was learners and learning. For this content piece I made note of the different accommodations made for all learners. There was a couple different notes I made for this category with the first being the implementation of a thinking classroom. The thinking classroom was a room that had whiteboards on all four walls that students did their work on. I thought that it was a great idea in the sense that students got to get out of their desks to interact with different course material, along with making it easy to work with each other. I thought that this idea removed the placement of power in the classroom. Another note I made was the addition of an ESL teacher and classroom in the school. Overall learning is for everyone; schools and teachers need to make necessary accommodations that are equitable for all students.

The last learning piece was Indigenization, Colonization & Decolonization. For this content piece I made note of something that I was amazed by. I observed a substitute teacher who was not left a lesson plan use their previous knowledge knowing what the assignment was and improvise for the students. This teacher used their indigenous identity, culture, traditions and ceremonies to find common ground with students in a Catholic school. I thought this was powerful, and courageous by the substitute teacher to teach the students about his culture, worldview and ceremonies in a way that they would understand that also connected to the assignment they were doing on culture. It gave me an accurate picture of what Indigenization and decolonization looks like. Other notes I made from this experience was the Treaty 4 land acknowledgment done by different grades every day of the week.

I appreciated the opportunity to be at the field placement I was at for the purpose of seeing what life like a teacher is like. I believe I witnessed the interconnectedness of knowledge school, and society through seeing teaching as a team effort, teacher student relationships, inclusivity of all learning backgrounds, everyone deserves the opportunity to learn, and accepting Indigenous world views and ways of knowing. This field placement enhanced my understanding of course material and made me excited about my profession.