CFE: Fraser Academy (Vancouver BC)
Teaching: Tech Ed, Carpentry & Joinery and Jewelry.
Grades 7 – 12
My CFE at Fraser Academy was essentially another teaching practicum and it really opened my eyes to the independent school system. On my first day, I began teaching right away. By the end of the day, I was working with students on my own, helping students paint birdhouses, rip wood and cast silver. My experience at Fraser academy opened my eyes to the private school system. I no longer know that the public school system is my only option as an educator.
At Fraser, the school’s focus is “helping students in grades 1 – 12 with language-based learning disabilities to become successful learners” (www.fraseracademy.ca). Small class sizes is just one strategy that the school uses to focus on learners’ needs and it allowed me to get to know the students very quickly, establishing those relationships that are so pedagogically important. I also found myself employing creative teaching methods in order to reach these students. I wrote out and drew the class itinerary, repeated and had students repeat MTPs and literally held students’ hands as they made cuts with the table saw.
Not having a strong political opinion between public and private school systems is important to my own teaching practice. It has allowed me to be creative and consider my own teaching as a practice. While I know that the private system can be seen as commodification of education, I have seen Fraser’s strategies directly result in student success, which to me is the fundamental goal of education.