For this penultimate blog post, I would like to start where I left off last week, that is, talking about citizenship education. As I near the end of blogging, I am becoming even more aware of the need to take a deeper look into an educator’s perspective on what it means to be a part of a growing community of young learners within one’s geographic and cultural environment, and how this marks the process of teaching and learning.

 

Apart from the school board’s framework for success, and the school slogan “everything is possible” I wanted to know what marks the lives of teachers so that they keep showing up in the way that encourages maximum student learning? Conversely, what motivates students to want to engage in the way that I have witnessed in the 4^th grade classroom in which I was placed?

After reading Alicia’s blog from last week titled “What it means to be international” and commenting on the issue of student voice, I did some self-reflection and introspection myself, and questioned how much I had included the voices of children in my own research. By my own self-admission it was safe to say that I have only meagrely highlighted the voices of the children in my blogs so far. Was this then, a reflection on my own teaching style?

 

Building on a foundation of success

As I went on to question what I was learning as a trainee teacher, I noticed how much my own background in language teacher education and citizenship influenced my determination to see these themes represented in the classroom. Although important, what I found from my observations at Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was a broader focus on student achievement in community and what can be defined as building on a foundation of success.

In my discussions with staff at the school, they highlighted areas that were pivotal for academic achievement for students. The first being parental and stakeholder involvement mentioned by the administration, and the second being student participation and inculcating values such as confidence, determination, enthusiasm and a sense of wanting to win, as highlighted by one of the physical education teachers.

Still I questioned, what evidence there was to support the demonstration of these beliefs of the administration and staff as it related to everyday student experiences? Researcher Cassidy et al. focuses on the importance of student voice and its role in making students feel a part of the learning community– an experience she believes is important for success. In her 2018 work, “Fostering citizenship in marginalized children through participation in community of philosophical inquiry” she affirms that students must “practice their voices in terms of speaking about their own ideas and the ideas of their peers without the influence of an adult on the content or focus on the dialogue itself”. For her, educators should “free the children to engage in the dialogue and develop their critical thinking in order that they may engage more fully beyond the confines of the school”. This resonated with me as I believe that true expression of citizenship education is when the learning expands to engagement and involvement outside of the school community. The question then remains, how much did I learn during my time on a Community Engaged Learning placement and am I prepared to continue the learning when I begin my journey as a full-time teacher?

How will I as the teacher enact experiential learning about citizenship and engagement in my own classroom?

After my 5-week visit to the classroom, I made a list of best practices based on my experience that would help me as I begin my teaching journey. I believe that I can enact experiential learning by focusing on these three important points:

1. By modeling it for students and ensuring that my own practices and learning activities are in line with experiential learning practices.
2. By focusing on media literacy and gender issues or other areas where I know experiential learning can easily be integrated into the curriculum and students will respond positively.
3. By being open to student ideas and decisions about their own learning; how they feel and want to approach learning they will guide me as to how I ought to facilitate their learning.

 

The good book

One area that was not fully explored in my posts was the use of the curriculum to inform citizenship education and immigrant issues in the classroom. According to Sharley in her 2018 article “The promising potential role of intercultural citizenship in preparing mainstream teachers for immigrant populations” these issues are highlighted in the American curriculum, alongside other initiatives and structures such as “community actions and task forces”. Together they offer a “useful starting point for connecting intercultural citizenship education into teacher preparation for im/migant communities” (Sharley 2018). Our own Ontario Social Studies curriculum makes room for indigenous and migrant issues that assist educators in addressing immigrant and citizenship issues in the classroom. As teachers it is important to use every resource available, and the curriculum is one such resource.

In conclusion, it is my role as a teacher to ensure that I am prepared to allow students a voice and to help shape the way they learn and understand a sense of citizenship “as status, as feeling and as a practice” (Sharkey 2018). This community engaged learning course has had a positive role in preparing me for teaching immigrant populations. It has made me more sensitive to the need to help bring about a sense of rest from turmoil, and peace for those who feel marginalized and paralyzed by their language, citizenship and social immobility.

 

 

Instruments of peace song by the Drakensburg Boys’ Choir

 

References

1. Cassidy, C., Christie, D., Marwick, H., Deeney, L., McLean, G., Rogers, K. (2018). Fostering citizenship in marginalised children through participation in Community of Philosophical Inquiry. Sage Journals. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197917700151
2. Sharkey, J. (2018). The promising potential role of intercultural citizenship in preparing mainstream teachers for im/migrant populations. Sage Journals. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168817718577