Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.
When I think about supporting students, the first thing to comes to mind is the kid who is sitting in the hall. We all know that one kid has been out of their seat a million times, at least one peer has snapped at them, and they are loving getting your feathers ruffled. Now when I am considering this kid, I am thinking, what have I done to make this classroom that student-safe space? Why are students unable to learn in this communal environment? Have I as the educator considered this student’s needs, and met that student where they are at? When I sit back to answer those questions at that moment, often there is at least one no. I believe that standard 1 is speaking to these students. It feels easy to teach if you are only looking at the ‘well behaved or ‘actively engaged’ students. They don’t need teacher support to be invested in the work, but the quiet student stuck in a book from the library, or the loud student being asked to sit down for the hundredth time does.
Before the education program, I was able to work as a youth care worker in a community placement. I met youth who for the most part never fit into the classroom. They had no interest in going back to school. The concept of post-secondary education is laughable, and in all honesty, they were not invested in living. I found that trying to find the things they cared about was a challenge because I couldn’t relate to how they were living. I was struggling and felt like I would never get the kids anywhere. My coworker and now a great friend gave me advice that has changed my practice forever. She told me to stop acting like I was going to be the one who made them a success story. As much as I want them to have a specific type of life, it isn’t always the right fit. As a person in the social service sector, I feel like I see a lot of people attempting to mirror themselves onto the clientele. I can see how that is done within the educational field as well. I would love to be the stairs that lead learners to a better future, but in reality, I am just the handrail that they can reach for when needed. Their steps will still function without me, but things may be a little bit more difficult.
When I decided to get into education, I chose to apply to the school district and was lucky enough to get into the district as an IEW. I already had this epiphany that I could never be the reason that students were a ‘success’ but I also knew that sometimes students would need support and that often looked like meeting them where they were in that day. I had the opportunity to build connections with families and learned that some students just hated being constricted to the classroom. This made me want to get as many learners to the land as possible. We did time at the trapline, worked at being outside for as many subjects as possible, and sometimes I would just take students on a lap around the school just to feel the fresh air in our lungs. Many classrooms do not meet students where they are at and that is mostly because they are not trained to do that.
I continued to look for this type of relationship throughout my time in the education program. During my 3-week practicum, I was honoured to be placed with a teacher who allowed the students to guide their education. Many had extensive hurdles to get through in day-to-day life, but their ability to advocate for themselves and tell me exactly what they needed was stunning. I had a very different experience in my 4-week practicum. The students had a great relationship with the classroom community, but they were unable to advocate when they felt they needed something different. The students all worked in a very traditional fashion, and they often were asked to leave the room if unable to contain themselves. I found that academics was the point of issue for students due to having a strong social-emotional connection with the community around them.
As I continue to learn about my learning style, I want to develop more strategies for engaging and supporting students. I feel that more work around allowing students to take ownership over assessment would be not only interesting but also develop stronger critical thinking skills in learners. I know that there is a lot of tension around having students feel good about themselves and identifying as a winner always, but part of the ownership of self comes from being able to identify and accept our failures. This allows learners to grow and take the reigns in learning earlier on.