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Personal Statements

My initial thoughts as a shiny new Teacher Candidate:
September 3, 2019

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What is teaching?

- mentoring

- sharing info and experiences

- guiding

- preparing

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What is learning?

- do new things

- struggle/grow

- experience

- memorize and integrate knowledge

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Why do you want to be a teacher?

- help

- share with others

- be employed

- use and share experience in enjoyable subjects

- share interest/passion for subjects

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Thoughts after a little experience:
January 6, 2020

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What is your understanding of the role of education in society?
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As a pre-service teaching candidate, I’m striving to use current technology and pedagogy research to inform my instructional practices.  Educators should strive to empower all learners to feel capable and included.  Education is an important way of empowering students to be active and productive members of society.  As teachers we need to understand each student’s unique learning needs and help them develop the tools they need to succeed.  Students need develop 21st century competencies to be prepared to live and work in a rapidly changing society.  This means helping students become growth-oriented learners with the tools and confidence they need for the next stages of their lives.

 
Why do you want to be a teacher (framed within the context of your understanding of the role of education in society)?
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I want to be a teacher because it’s fun.  Being in a classroom is challenging, sometimes frustrating, stressful, chaotic and fun.  It is a unique opportunity to connect with a group of young learners on a daily basis and grow with them throughout a year.  It is also a chance to leave a lasting impression on them. 

 

•How will you contribute to an educational community that embodies your vision of education's role in society?

 

Educators should empower all learners to feel capable and included.  This means developing a relationship with each student to understand their unique learning needs and situation and finding a way to help them succeed.  I want to find ways to connect with students through classwork and extra-curricular activities or just hallway conversations in ways that allow students a way to develop and express their unique viewpoints and voices. 

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Dear Mr. Waples, A letter to myself

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You’ve been alive long enough to have seen some dramatic changes in Canadian society.  The social values of your youth are no longer the social values of today.  One important aspect of this change has been society's few of Aboriginal people and culture.  As a nation we’ve begun to move away from colonialism.  We’ve begun to recognize the lasting harm colonialism has had on the First Peoples of North America.  Before you started your journey to become a teacher you knew there was a great value in Indigenous culture and perspective.  You learned this growing up in an area that celebrated the historic connection between French settlers and the Wyandot people.  It was a history told mostly from a French and English perspective.  Your time in the Faculty of Education has helped you realize the importance of individual perspective and voice.  You now realize that for too long, Canadian culture and colonialism has denied Indigenous voices.  The history that was celebrated in your youth was only one perspective.  There were few if any Indigenous voices being heard.

 

You’ve also learned about the lasting effects of the residential school system.  The people that started what would become provincial education were also responsible for initiating these residential schools.  There, children were denied access to their language, communities and families.  There, children were exposed to horrible abuse, neglect and violence.  The truth and Reconciliation is Canada’s start at facing this terrible part of our history.  This is a start.  I’m not sure anyone knows what direction the future will take.  It will be difficult and it will take time.  Murray Sinclair’s comments about the process forward are important.  “It was the educational system that has contributed to the problem in this country, and it is the educational system, we believe, that’s going to help us to get away from this.”  Education will play an important role moving forward.  You will play an important role.  Always make sure you allow Indigenous voices to be heard.  Find ways to remind yourself how important it is to hear those voices.

 

Mr. Waples

TRC-CVR (n.d.) What is Reconciliation [video]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/25389165

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