Using your own educational experiences to date, how did you see teachers honouring different ways of knowing and doing in the classroom? In what ways did teachers build a sense of community in the classroom?

From my experience teachers offered as many ways they could for the invitation of different ways of knowing and doing into the classroom. One very popular thing was a class potluck. One of my teachers always said that food brings people together and by having a potluck we were becoming more of a community rather than just a class with a teacher and students. These potlucks were quite regular and I can honestly say this class was one of my most memorable because the class dynamic we would have during these times was unforgettable, and that was all brought upon by the teacher. Another thing that brought us together as a school community was the creation of the all-inclusive LGBTQ+ group. I went to a catholic school and being familiar with the catholic faith you would know a group like this is frowned upon but we created it anyway and we found it was a really good thing for our school community. This group’s goal was to make people feel like they had a place where they belonged. I really feel the creation of this group made Vanier a better place because of what it promoted: inclusivity and acceptance.

In what ways can teachers build hospitable and invitational educational environments and relationships with all students?

There are many ways teachers can build a hospitable and invitational educational environment. One thing that is huge is having conversations with your students. I always felt appreciated and heard when my teachers would have conversations with me, asked me how I was doing, what I was up to, and they were genuinely interested in the answer. Talking is important and listening is even more important. I feel that my school experience would have been better if more teachers would have taken an interest in their students. I understand that sometimes this can be challenging with the number of students they would have and all the different personality types but some do not even try and that made their classes a little less engaging because I had no relationship with the teacher and therefore had trouble asking for help and struggled.