I have always enjoyed spending time reading and thinking about teaching – what does the curriculum say and what does it mean? What are some of the theories and strategies I can learn about as an educator? How do these translate to student learning? All of these help to shape my understanding of teaching and learning and what’s best for students. Reading, attending professional learning, and taking those moments to think deeply about what school means to me have given me a lot of information.
But it isn’t always this way. I don’t always have the opportunity or enough time to think as deeply as I’d like. Like most educators, I’m just trying to do my best. There is so much to learn about the curriculum and even more to find out about myself as an educator – what does my ‘teacher voice’ sound like? What do I know about students and learning and teaching? How can I take my new learning and make sense of it in action? It is all so very overwhelming and yet all so necessary.
When I learn about new strategies or information, I try to take the time to digest and consider what that might look like in the classroom. This year as I make sense of new curricula and new research and learning, I’m planning to focus more on what it looks like in practice. I spent last year radically dreaming of all the possibilities of what school could be and have spent so much time reading and learning for myself. The question for me this year is what does this mean at 8:45 am when the doors open and the classroom is set or when my prep is done? What do the conversations sound like? What are the students feeling, saying, and doing in the moment?
I’m going to spend more time learning about students, about these people I’m so lucky to share space with every day. I want to engage in more conversation, get curious about them, learn what they like, their fears, their identities and learn what they need to feel like they belong and are safe at school. I’m planning to cultivate the joy of learning and a space that builds their confidence as learners. I’m going to focus on becoming radically kid-centred.
Cornelius Minor explores the idea of being “Radically Pro-Kid” throughout his work in examining and reflecting on the education system. As he entered into conversations and interviews about his book “We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest To Be Who Our Students Need Us To Be”, he shares:
I always say that it is my role as a teacher to initially create opportunities for children and to eventually teach them how to create opportunities for themselves.
I always say when people ask me what my politics are: I am radically pro-kid. That definitely means that I am walking into every arena that attempts to abridge opportunities for kids and I’m attempting to disrupt those things.
This makes so much sense to me. Learning curriculum for myself, learning about myself as an educator, learning about what I believe in…. All of this is important, but not more important than learning about students – their experiences, who they are, and helping them to discover who they can and want to be. Being radically pro-kid means thinking bigger about the children’s experiences, being present for family to partner and build spaces where they belong. It means unpacking and examining my own biases and classroom rules – even when it’s an uncomfortable truth. It means being willing to change, to adapt, to centre student experiences, to provide opportunities, and to dismantle barriers that I didn’t know existed.
It still leaves me wondering what this looks like, in practice, at 8:45am. I wonder how this shift will change the climate of the classroom and how it will change me, too. I trust it’s going to take some time, but I believe it’s going to be better for all of us.
