Author: Tracy Jansen-Sequeira

One might assume that educators teaching for a long time know a lot, and they do to an extent. I’d say new educators also know a lot and are learning to trust that they do. It’s important to remember that as lifelong learners, there is always something new. I always say, “You learn something new each day,” and that has been true for me since day 1. It could be about you as an individual, your practice or even about a learner. You just have to be open to it and take the time to reflect.

I remember being in the faculty of education and thinking that I despised the word ‘reflection’ after hearing and practicing it so many times throughout the year. What I would soon realize, as a new educator, is how central reflection would be in my professional learning journey. Taking the time to reflect has helped me to understand my teaching practice better and the choices, approaches and strategies I implement in relation to the learners in class. 

One thing I have learned since the faculty is that self-reflection is important, but having a reflective, critical partner is needed even more. We so often as educators get into our silos or islands, even though we have a wealth of the school community around us. Sometimes we forget that our lived experiences bring in different perspectives and insight, and that includes from learners, too. 

We all need that critical friend. It’s vital to our growth and areas of growth as individuals and professionals.

It’s great to have a few mentors who can be that critical friend. That the co-critical friend can be someone who is new to teaching, too. My dear friend and I met in faculty together and shared our highs, lows and wonderings as new educators. We navigated beginning educator life together.

When writing this blog and thinking about resources about critical thinking partners, I referred to the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, which has references to the non-profit organization, The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²), and speaking of reflections and learning something new, here is some insight I have learned.

• There are different thinking habits and critically minded and relationally are the two that stood out. 

As defined by TC²:

Critically minded

The practice of engaging with information, perspectives, and experiences through reasoned analysis, questioning assumptions, and assessing evidence with clarity and care

Thinking relationally

A way of understanding the world that sees interconnections, relationships, and systems as central to ethical decision-making and meaningful change

The two thinking habits are connected and help to make those meaningful shifts in practice, approaches and strategies to support learners. Both these habits need others to provide perspectives. True reflection is with that critically minded partner that you can discuss, agree-to-disagree, return back to with new knowledge and insight. They are the people who can then help us to make those relationally interconnections, decisions and changes. 

Teaching is relational. We build positive relationships to make connections to teach curriculum. Learners are not just students in our classes, they’re humans developing, evolving, growing, trying to navigate this world called school, just like their educators. 

Build relationships. Get critical, and dare I say it, reflect. Reflect critically and relationally together, and throughout it all, remember to give yourself grace in this ever revolving learning journey.

Thinking about it, ETFO Voice, the digital magazine of our union, has always provided an opportunity for ETFO members to do just that, reflect critically and share. Share your journey, it can help another educator.

Quite often, centres or learning stations are associated with kindergarten, and the reasoning being that its instructional approaches focus on play- and inquiry-based learning. However, the same can be said for any grade. Just like in kindergarten, strategies and approaches are developmentally appropriate; with that in mind, play and inquiry can be developmentally adjusted for older grades. It may look and feel different, but that explorative and curiosity-supporting learning experience is still present. 

THE WHY

Transferable Skills 

In an age where technology is moving so rapidly, we need to provide opportunities for students to develop transferable skills. 

Inquiry-based learning provides learners with the opportunity to critically question and analyze real-life problems, which further engages learners. Imagine there is a concern in the school community, and students are able to discuss and try to problem-solve for that issue all while following curriculum expectations? Inquiry also provides learners multiple means of expression, which makes the learning more accessible. 

The transferable skills and inquiry are also interwoven in the curriculum. Being able to weave through the process of inquiry at centres (indoors or outdoors) helps to chunk the learning process into smaller more manageable stages where students can collaborate, explore ideas, test them out, reiterate, and even consult with an educator. It also provides you the time and space to be responsive to students’ needs. Read this ETFO Voice article to get inspired about an outdoor inquiry-based learning experience.

In a coding class, an educator used learning stations to support learners, specifically small group instruction and problem-solving tasks. While the students worked collaboratively in flexible groups to debug a code at one station or write the code at another, the educator is making observations and having conversations with students. In a French class, an educator is leveraging digital tools, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), at learning stations. (ETFO has published some Members’ Guides to Artificial Intelligence.) Students are sequencing images and then writing the story in French, another centre requires developing a prompt to generate a similar image to infer about, all while the educator is working in a small group to develop and strengthen vocabulary. 

THE HOW

The Environment as a Third Teacher

To encourage learning stations/centres, it is important to consider the learning environment. Flexible seating or being able to move and shift when exploration time is occurring is important in the fluidity of this kind of  learning. There’s a quick read about co-creating a learning environment in ETFO’s Building & Enriching Partnerships in Kindergarten, and most of the self-reflection questions are relevant for any grade. ETFOpley.ca also provides more insight. 

Self-Reflection

Prior to engaging in learning stations/centres, there needs to be detailed thought on the flow and roles to focus the explicit/direct instruction needed to develop the routines. 

For example:

• What are you doing while the students are at centres?
• What skills and knowledge are students developing and for what purpose?
• How do students access the information at each station (e.g., visuals, audio, video, etc.)? 
• How are the open-ended invitations to learning displayed at each centre (e.g., sign, audio recording, visuals and words, etc.) to support all learners? 
• Are materials accessible (e.g., magazine folder or tray of all items needed for centre)? 
• How are students documenting their learning and how is it made visible? 
• How are you assessing learning (e.g., observations, conversations and products)? 
• When will learning stations/centres occur (e.g., after lesson, middle/end of a unit)?

Once there is an understanding of these considerations, then there needs to be time to practice for both students and you! 

Success Criteria

Students need to learn how to collaborate with peers, how to engage and then clean up the space for the next group, they need to know how to document or submit learning. Co-creating success criteria on what is expected during learning station/exploration time helps to make it a smoother process.

High Expectations & Check-Ins

Don’t be afraid to stop the learning if the success criteria isn’t being met. Yes, it takes time out of the learning for that moment, but it’s a teachable moment for the learners and reminds them of what they co-created with you. Learning stations take time at first, however, the initial time and energy does pay off as transitions, independence and focus become better. The first step is setting those high-expecations and trying it out together.

A student enters a learning space for the first time, and a million thoughts run through your mind about how you can make them feel welcomed, safe and included.

There are many ways to make a space inclusive, but one of the simplest and most impactful ways is all in knowing, understanding and properly pronouncing students’ names. It sets a tone. It opens the door to discussion about identities as well as developing literacy. 

As I’ve mentioned to students whether in kindergarten or in high school, and even colleagues, the first and most special word should always be one’s name. To show respect and to honour identities, the pronunciation of names is so crucial. Sadly and quite often, when I’ve met students and colleagues, they’ll quite often shorten their name or tell me, “You can just say it this way” because that’s what their normal has become. You’ve probably heard, “Oh, it’s just a name” or “It’s too long to remember,” but that is not okay. It negates one’s identity rather than celebrating it. When learning about names, it reinforces mutual respect for each individuals’ identity and it encourages lived experiences and knowledge to be shared by not only students, but also their families. Here are some ways to help build an inclusive learning space by focusing on names.

1. Write out each students’ name phonetically. For example, you can write it like this: Tracy – (Tray-see).  Yes, it may take a little longer to go through the attendance that day, but it lays the foundation for respect and care.

2. Make it accessible, not just for you, but for students and colleagues, too. Post a list on the classroom wall, your desk, each student’s name/desk tag, in the attendance folder or digitally in an Learning Management System (LMS), like Brightspace or Google Classroom. Think of multimodal ways, such as a visual and audio clip connected to a QR code on a classroom wall, email or within an LMS. The more places the names are, the more everyone feels included.

3. If students are co-creating the learning space with you through their art, name tags, scribe or have students write the phonetical pronunciation.

4. One of my favourite ways to learn about names is through an assignment or unit. However, it’s important to know the situation of home life before beginning. Be considerate of varied backgrounds and family structures, including limited to no connection to birth family. One way to support all students is through a research project. Learning about their names can be the first “research” they need to do, and it’s a great way to discuss the differences between primary and secondary resources, such as name dictionaries. 

5. Ask Administration and the Office to write the phonetical pronunciation of a student’s name on the information card, email or even a sticky note. It can change the culture in the school, not just a learning space within it.

When a student hears their name properly pronounced or is able to share how their name was chosen, it builds another way of community connection. It builds a positive learning community, one that is respectfully inclusive and welcoming in the simplest but kindest manner.