Consult, Collaborate, and Communicate Reflection

The Inclusion Initially section describes my learning journey of Inclusion.  This page will focus my level of sophistication to consult, collaborate, and communicate with others to support my growth as a teacher and student learning.

I am a teacher who has been teaching for 5 years in 5 different schools, now onto my 6th.  During this journey consulting and collaborating with fellow teachers has been both incredibly rewarding and challenging.

The challenges I have felt are due to pressure to measure up, conform to teaching styles, and to use their resources of other teachers.  I have also found that I was regularly compared to the previous teachers who either taught similar grades or in the classroom that I was assigned.  This regular comparison continued until I was able to establish myself at the school.  I was happy to read that Palmer agreed with me when he said, "that pain is felt throughout education today as we insist upon the method du jour -- leaving people who teach differently feeling devalued, forcing them to measure up to the norms not their own."  In the article, the character Eric showed what may happen if a teacher teaches in a way that they are not passionate about.

The strengths of consulting, collaborating, and communicating with other teachers have been very rewarding.  As a new teacher, this is where most my learning came from during the past 2 years.  I am thankful for the additional resources available to plan engaging learning activities.  PBL (problem based learning) and experiential learning.  Last year I had my students participate in a PBL along with another teacher.  This PBL that we co-planned, involved in students applying to be a part of a Nutrition team at the school.  As part of the application, students need to learn about what makes a healthy meal, purchase groceries for the healthy meal, prepare and serve the meal to another class.  The other co-planned unit I learned immensely from involved my class and another class role playing first contact between first nations and Europeans, and later the emotional effect of residential schools on both first nations and ‘Canadians.’

To reflect upon my level of sophistication with respect to communication, I look to the Palmer and Brown articles and talks, respectfully.  Palmer taught me more about what makes a good teacher and what good teaching is.  Until reading this article, it was always important for me to make connections with children through communication.  In my intent letter I wrote, "Currently, inclusion in my classroom is a commitment to valuing everyone and to genuinely caring for everyone equally.  To make this commitment, my teaching begins with making connections and developing positive, meaningful relationships with children.  By developing unconditional relationships and establishing connections, I strive to ensure a child’s needs are being met emotionally, socially and academically and that they feel safe, secure, and have a sense of a shared learning experience."

This shows that I have always thought of making connections as knowing about the kids – asking questions about their family, interests, strengths, and weaknesses.  However, Parker enlightened me on the importance of communicating more about yourself to better connect with kids, and in turn, becoming a better teacher.  He also insightfully taught me that before you can do this, you must know yourself emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually.  By knowing yourself you can deliver material passionately, and that you teach about your passions. A specific quote I connected to was:

"I project the condition of my soul onto my students, my subject, and our way of being together. The entanglements I experience in the classroom are often no more or less than the convolutions of my inner life.  Viewed from this angle, teaching holds a mirror to the soul.  If I am willing to look in that mirror, and not run from what I see, I have a chance to gain self-knowledge -- and knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject."

To add to this new found understanding of connections, Brene Brown also emphasized the importance of self connection before connecting to others.  "For connection to happen, compassion, courage, kindness, and vulnerability are paramount.  A sense of worthiness is also needed. The people who have a strong sense of love and belonging, believe they have a strong sense of love and belonging."

After reflection on my level of sophistication to consult, collaborate, and communicate with others to support my growth as a teacher and student learning, I would assess myself in the near "just appearing on my radar.” Going forward into a new year at a new school, I will celebrate more of my strengths, instead of conforming to the strengths of others.  I will also make more of an effort to communicate more about myself, to in turn learn more about my learners.