1. Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interest.
Educators are responsible for fostering the emotional, esthetic, intellectual, physical, social and vocational development of students. They are responsible for the emotional and physical safety of students. Educators treat students with respect and dignity. Educators respect the diversity in their classrooms, schools and communities. Educators have a privileged position of power and trust. They respect confidentiality unless disclosure is required by law. Educators do not abuse or exploit students or minors for personal, sexual, ideological, material or other advantage.
The first evidence piece for this standard is comprised of a Thank You note from signed by most of the students and a Christmas card.
The last day of my practicum the students surprised me with a beautiful Thank You note and a Christmas card they had prepared. The cards we also accompanied by a student-incited “group hug”. This experience was very emotional and moving. I could not help shedding a few tears because to such a gesture made it clear that I had successfully developed a personal relationship with most, if not all, the students.
In relation to TRB 1, this experience has taught me the importance of creating a space in which students feel not only physically, but also emotionally safe, where they can be themselves without being judged or ridiculed. Until students feel they can trust the teacher will allow them to express themselves safely they will not be ready to learn because, as Groff explains in The Practitioner Guide (2012, p. 4), learning cannot happen when students experience negative emotions.
During my practicum in this class, I made a conscious effort to connect with all students, but even more so with those who were struggling. I focused on creating an environment in which they felt they could take risks safely. I was very pleased to see many of these students try hard, and when they did, I expressed to them how I proud I was of their efforts. This experience has shown me that without that personal student-teacher relationship, without having the knowledge that it is safe to try and fail and that the teacher will be there to support them, many students will not attempt to take risks, preventing them from growing, personally as well as academically. This evidence has shown me the importance of developing that relationship, of acknowledging diversity and accepting each and every student by who they are, making sure they understand deep in their hearts that the teacher is there to support them and not judge them and will ensure the classroom is a space in which everybody is accepted and valued.
As a result of this experience, I comprehend that as educators we must care for all students as individuals and respect them and their identity before learning can even take place. If we are not able to connect with our students, regardless of how strong our instructional skills are, students will likely not have a positive learning experience. Therefore, educators must strive to build strong connections with their students, creating a safe environment in which they can thrive and take risks.
This evidence piece shows that as a future educator I was able to successfully build connections with the students, that I created a classroom community in which they felt accepted and cared for. In doing this, I provided them with a positive environment in which learning could take place.
TRB 1 is a very important standard because no matter how hard we try to teach students they will not learn if they are experiencing negative emotions. Therefore, we must begin by creating a classroom that gives students a sense of community. The classroom community must be a safe environment that fosters positive feelings and welcomes students’ diverse identities, cultures and backgrounds.
For the reasons explained above, I consider this standard to be a pillar of the learning process, which is why I will endeavour to uphold it on an ongoing basis in my practice by attempting to remain aware of the many perspectives that my classroom may include and by trying to incorporate these perspectives in the students’ learning experience. TRB 1 is a reminder to all educators that when teaching, we must see the education process through the lenses of all of those involved in it, making sure our students’ best interest are at the centre of our practice.
This lesson was planned in response to a behavioural pattern I observed in many students during my second practicum at an independent Catholic school. When a student struggled in a particular subject, before starting an activity, they would tell me “But I am not good at math,” or “I am never going to be good at spelling.” I suspected this behaviour was a way of emotionally protecting themselves from possible upcoming failure. In other words, if they did not do well, they had already warned me before hand so I should not expect much nor be surprised. This attitude prevented them from investing themselves in the learning process. If students experience negative feelings such as lack of confidence learning cannot take place.
For many days I wondered what I could do to create an environment in which all students were comfortable making mistakes, taking risks and accepting that even though maybe they were not strong at the subject at hand, they did have other very valuable skills and strengths to contribute to the group. I wanted them to understand that in my classroom all students are special and valued. We all have a different set of skills and can contribute to the classroom in many ways. Then I remembered the parable of the talents from the Bible and I prepared a lesson based on this story.
By Jill Kemp and Richard Gunther. Creative Commons. Non-Commercial 4.0 International license.
According to this parable, a man who was going on a journey, called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents(*), to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The man who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and made five talents more. The man who had the two talents also made two talents more. But the servant who had received the one talent went and dug the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master returned and settled accounts with them. The master was very pleased with the servants who had increased their talents, but when third servant came and told the master that he was afraid and had hid the talent, the master was very upset because he had not put the talents to good use.
By Jill Kemp and Richard Gunther. Creative Commons. Non-Commercial 4.0 International license.
After watching the video of the story, we discussed what the servants had done with their talents and whether all three servants were equally important to the master even though they all had received a different amount of talents. The master understood his servant’s abilities and had entrusted them the right amount of talents. The students concluded it would not have been fair to burden any of them with more responsibility than they could manage. We also talked about different talents that the students had, focusing particularly on non-academic strengths, such as being inclusive, good listeners, patient, flexible. The objective was for all students to acknowledge to themselves the things they are good at and to share them with the class, so that everybody felt they had strengths. We also discussed the importance of developing and increasing our talents and how they could achieve this by putting them to good use (in the context of a Catholic school this is phrased as serving God - see activity sheet).
In relation to TRB 1, this experience has taught me the importance of creating a space in which students feel not only physically, but also emotionally safe, where they can be themselves without being judged or ridiculed. Until students feel they can trust the teacher and their peers they will not be ready to learn, take risks and make mistakes.
This experience has shown me that the teacher holds a privileged position of power and trust, which can be positively used to develop a personal relationship with each student and to foster acceptance between students so that everybody feels respected, supported and accepted. Unless the classroom feels like a safe place, most students will not attempt to take risks, which prevents them from growing, personally as well as academically. This evidence has shown me the importance of developing that relationship, of acknowledging diversity and accepting each and every student by who they are, making sure they understand deep in their hearts that the teacher is there to support them and not judge them and will ensure the classroom is a space in which everybody is accepted and valued.
As a result of this experience, I comprehend that as educators we must care for all students as individuals and respect them and their identity before learning can even take place. I have also learned how we must remain alert to students’ behaviour so we can identity and meet their true needs.
This evidence piece shows that as a future educator I was able to successfully identify the emotional needs of my classroom and address them by completing an activity specifically planned for this purpose. This activity fostered a feeling of community so students felt accepted and cared for. In doing this, I provided them with a positive environment in which learning could take place.
TRB 1 is a very important standard because no matter how hard we try to teach students they will not learn if they are experiencing negative emotions and lack of confidence in themselves. Therefore, we must begin by creating a classroom that gives students a sense of community and belonging. The classroom community must be a safe environment that fosters positive feelings and welcomes students’ diverse identities, cultures and backgrounds. Students must feel they all have valuable things to contribute to the group and that their classmates value those contributions. In this context, teachers must understand the position of power and trust they hold and how for this reason they must create the appropriate environment for a sense of community to develop and strive remain vigilant to students’ ever-changing physical and emotional needs.
For the reasons explained above, I consider this standard to be a pillar of the learning process, which is why I will endeavour to uphold it on an ongoing basis in my practice by attempting to remain aware of the many needs and perspectives that my classroom may include and by trying to incorporate these perspectives in the students’ learning experience. I will also attempt to foster a feeling of community by dedicating time to team-building activities at the beginning of the year to allow student to bond and build relationships among themselves. TRB 1 is a reminder to all educators that when teaching, we must see the education process through the lenses of all of those involved in it, making sure our students’ best interests are at the centre of our practice.
(*) The talents Jesus spoke of in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) represented the largest unit of currency in those days. A talent was worth a very large sum of money. Some scholars believe that the talents in Jesus' parables were equivalent to about 20 years of wages for an average worker. (https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-talent-700699)