Worldview Reflection

Teacher Identity

• What Does it Mean to be ‘Effective’?
  • During my first practicum, my students created a binder for me. In the binder were pages where the students wrote advice. Some were very cute suggesting I make sure I have strong relationships with my students and some were silly like make sure to not start any fires. To be an effective teacher you must start with strong and meaningful relationships with students. From there an effective teacher is someone who believes in every students success and uses those relationships as the backbone to teaching.

• What Characteristics Does an Effective Teacher Have?
  • A focus on making students feel seen, heard and valued.
  • Believes in mutual respect between staff and students.
  • Commitment to being a lifelong learner.
  • Hold students to high standards.
  • Communicates effectively.
  • Demonstrates professionalism and so much more…

• What Kind of Teacher do I Want to Become?
  • My number 1 teacher inspiration is Miss Honey from Matilda. I love how her students think of her as the kindest teacher. Miss Honey’s students and classroom brought her joy and pride. I hope that when I have my classroom that even on the hard days and I can still go home thinking that my class is my joy and passion.

• What Do I need to Learn to Become an Effective Teacher?
  • To become an effective teacher I need to demonstrate professionalism. In correlation to the UVIC Teacher competencies, specifically number 3 (Cultivate a culture of professionalism by demonstrating professional standards, including the professional Standards for BC Educators) because to be the most successful teacher for my students I must abide by and be familiar with the teaching standards set in place by my university and the BCTF (British Columbia Teachers Federations).
  • https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/teachered/competencies-12/

• What Are My Beliefs About Teaching?
  • My teaching philosophy is to ensure I have created a safe and welcoming environment where my students not only learn but also thrive. To achieve my philosophy it comes down to one simple thing, RELATIONSHIPS! That is why when I went into my practicum class last week, I grabbed a class list and spent time talking with my students 1-on-1.

Worldview

• What is a Worldview?
  • A worldview is the ‘lens’ we use to see the world.

• How Would I describe My Worldview?
  • One of my worldviews is that I believe family, culture and traditions are one of the earliest worldviews that shape who we are. My ethnocultural identity has taught me the importance of my family and traditions such as embracing my Ukrainian heritage. My socioeconomic and geopolitical worldview has taught me that I am very blessed to be a Ukrainian in Canada because my family in Ukraine does not have the freedom I have today. My spiritual beliefs have taught me to walk this life with grace, love, respect and gratitude for the path I am on. 
    
• As a Teacher Why is it Important to be Aware of my Own Worldview, as well As Those of My Students and Community? And What Can I Do to Not Impede the Success of Diversity of Learners in My Classroom?
  • Tied back to my teaching philosophy where I explain my goal is to create a safe and welcoming environment for my students, which also requires me to model empathy and inclusion in my classroom and community. Every person in a school and community has differences in their worldviews and recognizing that my worldviews will be different from my students, my colleagues, the parents I work with, etc. will prevent me from wanting to change others or push my beliefs onto people who think and feel differently than I do. An Individual can stay true to their worldviews while also accepting and embracing other worldviews. Worldviews are not like pie; you don’t lose pieces of your worldviews for every worldview you’re exposed to. I believe that embracing every student’s worldview in the classroom, starting by modelling your own, is an impactful way to embrace diversity.
• When Do I Consider It Necessary to Challenge the Western Worldview as it Impacts the K-12 System?
  • I feel it’s necessary to challenge Western ideologies on a daily basis as I prepare to become a teacher. When I lesson plan I try to think of ways to have my students out of their desks and outside, ways to remove memorization and regurgitation of facts, reduce the amount of individual and isolated work ect. I feel half my role in lesson planning is undoing what Western education has done to our community. In summary, I consider it necessary to challenge Western worldviews regularly to achieve my teaching philosophy.
• What Aspects of the BC Curriculum Reinforce or Challenge a Western Worldview.
  • Including Indigenous education is one way to challenge Western worldviews. However, I believe the curriculum can still improve on integrating Indigenous education authenticlly.