Have you ever heard someone sing their beliefs about teaching and learning?

well I am one of those people! When I began writing about my beliefs I wanted to make this
page more personal; something that captured a big part of me; what I love. Most of all, I wanted
it to come from my heart in more ways than one. Singing is something that is very personal to
me, as are my beliefs about teaching and learning so I took a chance and combined the two
things that I hold dear to my heart. I invite you to not only read my words but to take a moment
and listen to them.
This is a song my colleague Amanda Meredith and I created together. The melody is
inspired by the song "Seven Years" by Lukas Graham.

I hope you enjoy!

What education consists of for one, maybe different to another, because we all see things
in our own perspective; for me, education consists of learning. I am not just referring to the
subjects school curriculum expect us to teach. School is a place where we learn who we are and
who we aspire to be; we acquire new skills and improve on old ones, we meet new people,
develop our own judgments, likes and dislikes. We gain experiences, good and bad ones, and
learn how to care for people, and about our world. All this is relevant to society because it
prepares children for the real world; for their choices and successes in life, and for who they
want to be; which is why it is important for learners to be educated. These skills we encourage
students to adopt, such as social skills and critical thinking, prepare children for adulthood; by
taking ownership of these skills, students will grow and reach their full potential. They will gain
confidence, think for themselves, and recognize that they are equally important to the world. As
educators we need to treat students with respect and foster their skills and abilities, so they can
benefit from them when they face reality; for me, this is the purpose of education. My role as a
future educator is to encourage my students to take on risks in school, so that when they reach

the big world, they will not be as scared to take chances because they have already done so
before. In my classroom they will gain knowledge, experiences, confidence, friendships, long
lasting qualities and moral and ethical values. I will care for my students and teach them how to
do the same for others. I will encourage them to remain authentic but most of all, I will teach and
inspire them to be thinkers.
Education provides students at both social and personal levels

What?

the skills to critically think about the world they live in. For example,
what is going on in the world today, historical events that have
affected the world, certain places or people who have and about

Critical Thinking

their identity. Individuals change who they are to fit the norms of society, but if you listen to
yourself, put your heart at the center of everything and refrain from becoming a follower or
conforming to societies ways, you will develop an autonomous identity and remain true to the
real you. This is not always easy though; we get lost in this big world and we see traits in others
that we wish to possess. I want to remind my students every day, that who they are is better than
trying to be somebody else. To not focus and put effort into becoming like someone else, rather
introspect, reflect, and improve daily on who you are today, so that you can be a better you
tomorrow. School is a place where you will encounter different types of people. There are
diverse learners in every classroom; all children have different minds, different learning styles,
working strategies, experiences, and prior knowledge. I will reach my diverse learners by
listening, observing their behaviour and monitoring their work and progress. I will motivate and
have them engage in countless activities that give them the opportunity to explore themselves,
their peers and their classroom. I will organize multicultural activities as well to show them that
everyone is different in a variety of ways. Some ways are more obvious such as, interests,
abilities, religion and skin tone; whereas, others are less obvious. By creating an open, safe and
comfortable classroom environment, I believe this will break the barrier of curiosity and maybe
answer questions students may be too shy to ask or share. Children notice that they are different
from one another, especially obvious differences. By addressing this issue first, I believe
negative acts (i.e., bullying) within and outside the classroom can be avoided. Moreover,
students will gain knowledge on this subject and develop new skills like, open-mindedness, care
and autonomy.

Teaching children about caring for themselves and others is fundamental to

their growth as a person. Through prior experiences of being cared for and caring for
others, we develop this image of the kind of person we want to be. As a teacher,
nurturing and modelling to your students how to care is a must. I will be the kind of teacher my
students look up too; modeling characteristics I only hope they learn and take ownership of, such
as caring and empathy. Putting yourself in others shoes and seeing where they are coming from
is important for every child to learn. This will teach students that everyone is equal and worthy
of being cared for, regardless of obvious or less obvious differences. Students will develop such
skills as engrossment and motivational displacement; they will gain friendships with students
who are different and similar to them and accept them without judgement.
My community of learners will possess much more qualities than care and empathy. They
are intelligent, autonomous, open-minded, fair, compassionate and responsible. They engage in
inquiry activities and class discussions and take ownership of their work and opinions; primarily,
they are thinkers and not producers. In my college years I read a book called "How Children
Fail" and I must say, it was the most inspiring book I have ever read. It
speaks about how, the way the education system is set up, it is teaching
kids to be producers rather than thinkers. A producer is someone who
is only concerned with finding and saying "the right answer"; solely
focused on the answer the teacher "wants", rather than thinking outside
of the box, using imagination and critical thinking to learn and come up with an answer - being a
thinker. His spoken words, all of them, are true; when we are young we have a natural curiosity
about the world, but then when we grow up we sort of drift away from this person we started off
as and we often times turn into producers. We lose this desire to discover and explore the world
because we become obsessed with knowing the right answers to everything. This happens
frequently in schools; students begin to believe that they must get everything right, that there is
no room for mistakes or trial and error. Without realizing we teach our students that the only
good response from the teacher is "yes," and that a "no" is defeat. As a teacher, this is my desired
goal; I want to create and encourage students to strive to become thinkers and let go of being
producers. Imagination is key; we are all born with it but unfortunately, because of how the
curriculum is set up, we learn at a young age that we have to be smart in certain things, to pass

and just get through school. We do become focused with getting the right answers, we forget
about the whole learning part - the most important part.
Through my teaching, I will encourage my students to stop being so scared of failing or
getting the wrong answer or saying something they think is "stupid", I will encourage them to
say what they think and express in the best way they know how, how they feel. My students will
demonstrate critical thinking, curiosity and creativity; they will gain confidence within
themselves and their work and exhibit good cooperation and communication skills. They will
develop a deep understanding of the content taught and apply that knowledge and find
connections to real life situations inside and outside the classroom. I will make sure of this by
providing them with opportunities of exploring their world first-hand: field trips, exploring
nature - anything to get my students moving and getting out there, finding their answers and
coming back with even more questions. I will make sure that trial and error is a part of my
assessments. For example, throughout the year I will remind my students that 5% of their final
grade is based on taking risks within the classroom. Risks such as, if a student is very shy, they
will have the whole year to maybe raise their hand twice minimum and give their opinion or
answer to a question! Or maybe even ask a question themselves. For the student who always
needs the teachers reassurance or approval, they will maybe complete an assignment or project,
without asking for my approval of if it's exactly what I want/ am looking for. I want my students
to exercise their imaginations, think outside the box and just go for it! Take chances now, with
their learning in school, because this is where you're safe to land, no matter how far you get off
track; this is where you'll grow and learn.
My classroom will be inclusive and student centered; if there is one thing I strongly
believe in it is that there should be no hierarchy when it comes to students and teachers, we are
equal to our students; we should be learning and growing with one
another - learning is reciprocal, it shouldn't be one sided. Every
human has had their own experiences and in my opinion the best
way a child learns is through their experiences. I have learned
about many teaching strategies throughout my school and one that
I will use when I become a teacher is a method known as the Problem-posing. I will make use

of my students prior knowledge and experiences; I believe that when a person relates something
to a past experience they tend to better understand the issue(s) at hand and are more willing to
engage in the conversation or activity. By using a childs language, culture, understandings and
realities to better comprehend things, it helps them make an actual connection from what they
know to the new material they are learning. Using their prior knowledge as a starting point will
show them how their knowledge is appreciated, which will give them confidence within
themselves and their work. My students will learn from me, as I will learn from them. I intend to
help my students recognize their own agency to react and instead of pouring information in their
heads, we will develop a collaborative form of communication and learning together. I will do
this by observing my students, taking anecdotal notes on their progress, behaviours - them as
individuals. I will continuously and constantly encourage and motivate them through positive
and critical feedback. We will work together as a team and collaborate through classroom
discussions, one-on-one meetings with myself and the student, and peer and self-assessments;
this will occur throughout the year.
I will never force knowledge or a set of beliefs on my students, especially ones of my
own. Indoctrination is the adversative to education; however, it can, and it does take place in
schools. I am very confident in the teacher I am; I plan on encouraging and motivating my
students to speak their minds in an appropriate manner; to stand
up for what they believe in and who they are and respect and
listen to others perspectives as well. By doing this they will gain
knowledge and will adopt the skill of openness. They will witness
first-hand different ways of seeing things, which will open their
eyes and expand their views and understandings of the world. My
students will learn how to be open to different perspectives, reevaluate their own and possibly see that their view may be mistaken or even adopt a new belief
or perspective. Overall, I do intend to share my beliefs and thoughts with my students because
my classroom will consist of equality, equity and fairness; therefore, if I am asking my students
to share and open their thoughts with the class, to be daring and stand up for their beliefs and
opinions, then I will reciprocate, because we are a team, and we always will be.