I believe a healthy classroom climate stems from something deeper than a teacher’s discipline techniques. A safe classroom requires a loving teacher with a vision, so therefore a trusting relationship between teacher and student is needed for substantial learning to take place. I can personalize education once I consult and get to know each one of my students on their needs and interests. I will spend my career practicing and advocating for learning of substance, which means learning the values of society and developing the ability to critically appraise those values. It will be my privilege and responsibility to equip Canada’s future adults with the skills required to navigate a complex country. As such, I need to guide my students in developing prosocial behaviours, effective research techniques, technology use, resilience, healthy risk-taking behaviour, and respect for diverse peoples and the environment in which we are situated. I would model my classroom to reflect the habits and vision of a compassionate and sustainable society in collaboration with my students. As a professional musician, I believe that the arts are an integral part of a child’s education because they infuse many modes of learning for expression of creativity. Through arts education, I can fully engage all students through multimodal learning that is fun and memorable.
I envision a caring and thoughtful learning environment that regards all students as having innate worth and potential. I was heart-broken during my teaching practicum to have one student in particular who had extremely low confidence in his abilities. When a task was difficult, he told himself he could not do it. His grades suffered not for lack of ability, but poor self-esteem. I hope to instill in my students the belief that they will best grow intellectually and emotionally through positive thought patterns. During my practicum, I researched and applied social emotional and growth mindset strategies in order to help this predicament, and I will continue to weave these themes throughout my curriculum to support the core competencies of the new curriculum. I believe that the optimal mental and physical health of students requires a balance of outdoor and indoor education. Such place-based learning brings the curriculum to life by teaching concepts through real experience. Students will remember the real salmon they touched far better than the worksheet they filled out on salmon life cycles. Therefore, I believe that best practice requires educators to bring the community into the class, bring the class out to the community and make the class into a community of its own.