I am currently spending three weeks in a grade 2 classroom at T.E. Scott Elementary for my Community Field Experience placement. As I have previously considered myself to be more of a primary teacher than an intermediate one but I completed my practicum in a grade 6/7 classroom, this placement affords me the perfect opportunity to further explore my evolving teacher identity. In addition, T.E. Scott was also the site of my practicum placement. Therefore, although every class in a school is unique with its own strengths and challenges, I am able to compare primary and intermediate experiences more directly, independently of any extenuating community or school dynamics. I am hoping that the two contrasting experiences I will gain will help me feel comfortable in any setting as I move forward in a possible TOC role, and perhaps shed light on the type of classroom I see myself leading one day.

 

One week in, and I find myself with more questions on this issue than answers. I have found so far that children on either end of the elementary school divide are ultimately more similar than they are different. They both relish opportunities to learn through hands-on and contextualized experiences, and have a hard time focusing during more top-down style lessons. They both throw themselves into physical activity with enthusiasm but also love the quiet moments in which they are able to truly forge connections with the significant adults and peers in their lives. They both need to be truly heard, and need a teacher who cares as much about how their evening was and how they are feeling in the morning, as they do about what their achievement in mathematics looks like. They need differentiation in lessons, not to be simply slotted into boxes or measured with arbitrary standards, and to be given chances to show their individual strengths. Fortunately, these are all reasons that I entered the profession and so myself more passionate about the challenges of these types of modern classrooms, instead of intimidated.

 

In terms of differences, I have discovered so far that there are things I love about primary classrooms but just as many things that I enjoy in intermediate classrooms. For example, I love the energy of primary students, the strong and immediate importance that teachers still play in their lives, and the focus on open-ended creation and play. I love the small class sizes and the connections that these arrangements afford. However, I also find great fulfillment in helping students navigate their complex social worlds while illuminating the world that exists outside of their frames of reference, teaching lessons that can incorporate issues of social justice and complex topics, and mustering all of my creativity to design lessons that can engage the whole class.

 

Perhaps the answer to this question is that I am suited to the grades right in the middle, so that all of my passions can be fulfilled. Or perhaps the answer is that, wherever I find myself one day, as long as I throw myself into the environment with enthusiasm and value relationship above all else, I will find enough passion and challenge to last me a full and rewarding career.