Learning Outcome 2
Reading Ontario Ministry Documents as a Lens to Understand the Needs of Learners and School Environments
Safe and Accepting Schools (2013)
Having done basic background research on Ontario Ministry of Education policies during my second practicum, I first sought to understand the overall direction and values reflected in Education policy in Ontario. This made me think a lot about what kind of learners does the Ministry see when it sees these bullets and what kind of learning environment does the Ministry imagine when it sees these bullets.
There are many resources on the Ontario Ministry of Education website but the first I want to bring attention to is the Safe and Accepting Schools policy. Here, the Ministry outlines its vision and highlights the importance of establishing a safe environment for every student to learn.
I knew reading this that I had to ask myself, What am I doing to create a safe place for my students?
The school I was placed at — Blue Willow Public School in a combined Grade 4/5 classroom — thus offered me a very real and diverse setting to consider this question. In addition to being a split-grade group, the class contained many students from diverse cultural backgrounds, some of whom were English Language Learners. I sometimes wondered if I was really meeting their social-emotional and environmental needs when I was trying to juggle academic progress for nearly 30 students in one room, as they exhibited vastly different attitudes toward learning.
Safe Schools Act (2000)
Equity is something that is always on my mind in teaching. As an East Asian educator,I found myself offering extensive support to a Chinese student simply because I could speak the language. This made me think, if I was treating others with the same level of effort as well. Half of these reflections have caused me to continue to mediate a vision of fairness and impartiality in my teaching.
At first this self-examination so terribly confused and embarrassed me. However, I now view it not as a deterrent, but as a lifelong mission to guarantee that all students have access to equitable experiences. Rather than succumbing to fear, I recognize the importance of consistently striving to maintain equitable treatment in my educational practice.
This ongoing reminder helped frame how I taught and how I planned my lessons. The more I thought about how a safe and welcoming classroom is created, the more I found myself in persistent conversations with my mentor teacher about classroom culture and student wellness. My method for developing lesson plans changed dramatically over time.
During this process, I intentionally did not want to fixate on my students' learning results. I opened each day with friendly and compassionate banter — asking what they’d been up to, how their day was going, or if they had anything they wanted to talk about. I wanted to make sure that, at least while they’re in my class, that they’re safe and it is positive.”
This intention also informed how I designed lessons. I started to tailor lessons around what students liked and responded to—bringing their favorite foods, after-school interests and day-to-day lives into the material I taught. In doing so, I seek to blur the boundaries between academic learning and students’ personal lives, and thus create in some way a more authentic and comfortable learning environment. Instead of trying to tunnel my students’ sense of self outside the classroom, I encouraged them to bring their whole selves into the space.
