Category: ECS 303
My teaching philosophies are a growing plant that’s being cared for and watered by everyone around me
My educational philosophy centres on the idea of growth. I believe a central goal of education is to encourage students to constantly develop and grow in all areas of life, and to provide them with the tools to do so. For this reason, I take a learning orientation to my teaching.
“[A] learning orientation is one in which the student’s goal is to improve—to gain mastery over the subject or skill at hand. With a learning orientation, students would freely admit uncertainty in order to gain advice and counsel. Feedback would be welcomed as a way of ascertaining where and how to improve” (Konopasek et al., 2016).
Growth also involves continual work towards anti-oppressive education. As an educator, I recognize all the things I do not know and acknowledge the work I need to do. I also acknowledge that teaching is a political act and I must help students to become anti-oppressive learners by challenging norms and systemic inequities. This involves knowing and listening to students and supporting their identities.
“Through all lessons and subjects, our students’ lives and the politics surrounding their identities are always present” (Vaught, 2017, p. 5).
Education should be collaborative in all aspects. Any differentiation, intervention, or accommodations should be created with the student, so it can truly be for the student. This also extends to restorative justice. Restorative justice is vital to enable individual growth, as well as dismantling systems of oppression and inequality perpetuated by the education system.
“Students and teachers work together to develop classroom interventions, accommodations, and modifications that enable students to fully participate socially and function academically” (Luzius-Vanin & Butler, 2019, p. 103).
My educational philosophy is influenced by the life I have lived and my relation to the world around me. As a Treaty Person from Treaty 6, I recognize my treaty responsibilities and my role as a teacher in sharing Treaty Education with students. I acknowledge the harms the education system perpetuates against Indigenous peoples and work to decolonize education; as a math teacher, I commit to moving beyond Indigenizing math and towards bringing authentic Indigenous math and knowledge into the classroom.