Teachers, Knowledge, Building Relationships: Invitation & Hospitality
Core Questions: In what ways do you see teachers honouring different ways of knowing and doing in the classroom? In what ways do teachers build a sense of community in the classroom? In what ways can teachers build hospitable and invitational educational environments and relationships with all students?
My field experience this week was great at Marion McVeety School. I got the opportunity to experience a grade 6/7 split class and a grade 2 classroom. In the school hallways and in the classrooms, I witnessed a strong sense of community. I was warmly welcomed to the school by Tannis Lowey-Chimilar, the principal, and I recognized she did this for every student she saw. She knew all students by name and had a relationship with each of them. In the grade 6/7 classroom the teacher demonstrated a community and relationships by her decorations, and through her activities. On her backboard in the room, she had a little poster for each student that had their name and images/words that describe themselves. I was looking at these posters and I was able to get to learn about the students after only an hour with them. I think this board would have made the students feel very welcomed and safe in a classroom that is often the teacher’s space to decorate rather than the students too. Next, the kids were working on character analysis and adjectives. To involve the students and to maintain a sense of community she wrote each child’s name on a sticky note and randomly handed them out. Each student wrote one positive adjective to describe the name they got. This involved the students with each other and taught them about adjectives. I think this built a community relationship because they got to guess who the adjective was about. The students got it right almost every time.
Marion McVeety school is very diverse and welcoming. At first glance of the school, you can tell it is welcoming because of the pride walkway leading to the front door, there is a wall that has flags from many many countries, a gender-neutral washroom, and the holidays celebrated at the school. While I was in the grade 2 classroom, I watched the kids get handed back an assignment that had to do with a recent holiday. The teacher explained that at McVeety they celebrate every holiday. Early in September in lecture we learned that it is important to recognize diversity and not ignore it, so all students are valued. I think this school is very good at this.
After being in the classroom I saw some great things to encourage community and an inviting school. I really enjoyed the board of the students’ posters to describe them. Often in my classrooms when I was in school there was no input by students for the decorations. Many of my teachers even had tape on the floor to outline the areas students can’t enter such as the front of the room and around the teachers’ desk. These classrooms always felt like the teacher’s space and not shared at all. Having the posters in the room allows students to feel welcomes and can help to build a relationship with each other. I think Marion McVeety school is the perfect example to help kids feel welcomed into an educational classroom.