“Educators implement effective planning, instructing, assessment and reporting practices to create respectful, inclusive environments for student learning and development.”

What a mouth full! Rather than define every word of this sentence I think it is easier to summarize the spirit of what is said. First, teachers are expected to teach, in the conventional sense of the word: create lesson plans, conduct the lesson, assess student learning and report that information to the school. Second, the lessons should create an inclusive environment, in the modern sense of the word: avoid using anything in lessons that reinforces racism, sexism or bigotry, do not tolerate bullying, and encourage the students to get along with everyone. Third, the point of all of this is for the school and classroom to promote student learning and development; it is not enough for the environment to just exist for its own sake in a vacuum. Putting all of this together, this professional standard states that teachers should perform the law and letter of their job description while ensuring that they do so in a way that promotes inclusion and respect, with the goal being to allow all students the sense of safety and belonging needed to engage in the learning process being lead by the teacher.

There is a key point of philosophy in this standard which has to be spelled out: the main point of creating a respectful and inclusive environment is so students can learn the curriculum. The school does not exist to be a place where students can go to feel respected and then go home. I don’t know if everyone would agree with the penultimate status of respect and inclusion. I think many would say that fostering a culture of respect and inclusion is the ultimate goal of their work as a teacher. In the end I believe that we can all agree to do both, and I believe the evidence shows that students cannot learn if they feel unsafe or unwelcome in the school, so in a way the point is a philosophical diversion. Still, I consider it a possible sticking point in certain debates over assessment and teaching practices and therefore something to be aware of as a teacher.

Pictured: my shame. I am not entering the profession from a place of high organization. If there was one thing that became quite immediately apparent to me in my first practicum it was the need to improve my level of organization.

I relate this to the standard in two ways:

  • 1: Effective planning requires careful organization. In any one class there is taking attendance, handing out notes, collecting assignments, catching up students who arrive late or have missed days (increasingly common), handing back assignments and more. If your paperwork and class layout are not organized effectively then the entire class can be bogged down in scrounging for the right document.
  • 2: More time spend scrounging for paperwork is less time spent being emotionally present in the classroom. The only way to encourage inclusion and respect is to actively model it, celebrate when it happens, and correct students who go against it. None of this can be done if you are distracted, and being disorganized is the easiest way to become distracted.