EDTE 501 Sarah Adams

Frame of Reference

My beliefs about education are that teachers should be knowledgeable, but perhaps more

importantly adaptable, encouraging, inspiring, empathetic and of course engaging. I firmly

believe that teachers should be able to efficiently teach the course materials and curriculum to

students. They should be able to manage different learning styles including students with

challenges and all students’ difficulties and strengths. I believe teachers should nurture growth

and promote learning, including a love for knowledge. The purpose of education is to educate

young learners but also to foster their overall development, including an interest in the

curriculum, motivation for their future, and develop their communication, thinking, and personal

and social skills as outlined by the BC Core Competencies. I will teach students the required BC

curriculum, with emphasis on a strong foundation in math and writing skills. Additionally, I plan

to foster students’ creativity and problem solving, along with a sense of social responsibility and

teach them how to thrive as unique individuals.

Within my classroom, I will foster an enthusiasm for learning, support their emotional

and mental well being, and to encourage young individuals to think critically, self-reflect and

evaluate their performance and to become self-directed, intrinsically motivated learners.

According to theorist William Glasser, the classroom should be a comfortable and welcoming

place where students feel safe and are encouraged to challenge themselves to achieve anything

they want. As a teacher, I will “work to make sure that student classroom activities are designed

to satisfy [my] students’ needs” (Hussung, 2016). I will build positive relationships with my

students, and encourage my students to persevere and strive for high-quality work. I will give
EDTE 501 Sarah Adams

students ownership of their learning by allowing them to evaluate their performance and set

goals for themselves (Hussung, 2016). Glasser believes that we should “encourage students to

redo their work and try again until they have demonstrated competence and high-quality work”

(Hussung, 2016). I plan on using a variety of assessment methods to incorporate both formative

and summative assessment into my teaching practice. Most assessment will be done through

student observation, student self-reflection and ongoing peer and teacher driven feedback.

As stated above, I will engage different learning styles within my lessons by

incorporating a variety of strategies and creative activities into my teaching practice, including

adding several access points and using differentiation to reach all my students’ needs and

strengths. The best way to promote student learning is through effective instructional tactics and

strategies, instructional concepts and inclusive practices. According to practitioner Barrie

Bennett, these tactics could include using “think-pair-share, four corners, round robin,

brainstorming” and “graphic organizers, PMI charts, venn diagrams, place mats” (Bennett &

Rolheiser, 2001, p. 91). They could also be strategies such as “providing think time, framing

questions, checking for understanding, sharing the lesson objective, actively listening,

paraphrasing and modeling” (Bennett & Rolheiser, 2001, p. 91). Bennett also developed the

Lesson Design strategy. Lesson Design facilitates the process of “designing lessons… through

the needs and inclinations of the learner” (Bennett & Rolheiser, 2001, p. 118). Instructional

concepts such as “active participation, motivation and levels of thinking” can “also be connected

to each of the components” of an effective lesson (Bennett & Rolheiser, 2001, p. 119). It will be

important for me to create lessons with these tactics, strategies and instructional theories in mind,
EDTE 501 Sarah Adams

to always check for student understanding, and to include many access points and challenges to

ensure that all of my students are successful.

The role of other school personnel is also important to the success of students. The

students rely on these people for music classes, gym or library time, computer lab, school

counseling, special education and much more. My beliefs about the role of parents and guardians

are that they should be actively involved in the child’s learning. I do not think learning should

begin and end in the classroom, and I would strongly encourage willing parents and guardians to

continue learning and experiencing the world with their child inside and outside of the school

environment. My beliefs about the community are very similar; I think the community should be

involved with the school, through guest speakers, visitors, friends and family members attending

end of year recitals, fundraisers, and much more. I believe the community aspect of a school,

including the other school personnel, parents and guardians, community members, fellow

teachers and students all foster a better and more successful and enjoyable school experience.

Two principles that have influenced my learning are the Seven Principles of Learning

outlined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the First

Peoples Principles of Learning created by the First Nations Education Steering Committee

(FNESC). The OECD principle that most resonates with my thinking is Principle Two – The

social nature of learning. I like this principle because children need to work cooperatively, form

social connections and practice their communication skills. As a future French Immersion

teacher I plan to encourage as many opportunities for communication and group work so that I

can to foster the important oral language communication and comprehension skills as much as
EDTE 501 Sarah Adams

possible. This is directly related to the FNESC principle that “learning is embedded in memory,

history and story”. An incredibly important part of First Nations culture is story telling and oral

language, and I plan to incorporate as much of that as possible into my future classrooms.

References

Hussung, T. (May 31, 2016). Understanding Three Key Classroom Management Theories.

Husson University Online. Retrieved from https://online.husson.edu/classroom-

management-theories/

Bennett, B., & Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond Monet the artful science of instructional integration.

Toronto, On: Bookation Inc.