Communication
Communication is something that I have had a lifelong focus on. Establishing for myself very early on the fundamental differences present in my cognition from more neurotypical peers, I knew that developing an understanding which might help me communicate more clearly could be very important. For me, the best way to approach communication is through a combination of optimism, open-mindedness, and time. As Education is an industry of people, it is only natural for there to be a multitude of situations under which people need to communicate in order to work effectively. Some interactions will be fluid by virtue of sharing the interaction with a like minded professional. Others, will be more rocky, difficult to navigate, and even more so to come to an understanding. That does not make them bad interactions. Rather, it simply means that more time, and an emphasis on optimistic respect of collegial value may be required in order to understand one another. I value the patience I have for allowing time to feel understood, and I value the spectrum which represents impressive teaching. Open-mindedness allows me to communicate with, and learn from, professionals who approach Education through different, but equally valuable lenses.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking, I think, has become colloquial in its usage to describe a variety of methods of dissecting the various narratives which compose our lives. Realistically, critical thinking is defined by the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue, and this can only be done through the acknowledgement, and intentional reduction of personal bias wherever possible. Given the nature of Anthropological study, a substantial component of my prior Bachelors degree was focused on the consideration of the manifestation of human bias, with an overarching inquiry focusing on the legitimacy of a spectrum of bias born through cultural, social, and individual phenomena. I believe what is the most valuable component of my critical thinking is my ability to regard not only others, but especially myself in an intentionally unbiased way (unbiased referring to the above mentioned acknowledgement and intentional reduction). This allows me to maintain an open mind when accepting advice, or feedback from peers and colleagues, and also allows me to grow exponentially through self reflective practices.
Intercultural Awareness
Intercultural Awareness is another essential component of Anthropological study, and by similar virtue is something that I have had a lifelong drive in both understanding and defending. Growing up in the 90’s, in a rural village in Northern B.C., divided not only by staunch racial tensions between the Caucasian and Indigenous communities, but further still by a rigid taxonomic separation of the variety of denominational subscribers, the lack of intercultural awareness present in my environment was a poison that I never did learn how to medicate as a child. As an adult, and as a student of UNBC, I spent a substantial amount of time in consideration of how this divide might be addressed, and so far what I have found is that the best I can do is rely on my passion for understanding other cultures to inform my narrative when presented with the opportunity to challenge a stereotype or bias. Throughout my practicum experiences, I observed a variety of instances where more racially charged comments were born from a simple lack of understanding surrounding the cultural implications pertaining to the information in question. More often than not, I have found that when I am able to provide a statement which incorporates an element of cultural parallel, students often are able to reflect on how their own beliefs really do not differ so much. For me, I truly see humanity as a collective. Certainly, a colourful collective worthy of substantial respect and reverence, but not one which should exist of a variety of “teams.” The best way we can all feel as if we are on the same team is through the respectful awareness and appreciation of the things that make us different.
Social Justice
Social Justice is an aspect of my Self that I plan to incorporate wherever I reasonably can into my teaching practice. I have been able to experiment with strategies surrounding student motivation, and have begun to develop a portfolio of directives which can align with interest in order to guide project directions. For me, the consideration of human rights as a subject in its entirety is one worth multitudes, and I think that no matter who students are as individuals, there is something happening globally that they would be able to connect with on a personal level in order to feel some form of personal motivation behind their learning. I think these experiences are ones which really embed themselves into the learners memory, and have the potential of manifesting as they carry themselves forward into adulthood and in the pursuit of careers. I know these experiences were those which had the strongest affect on my shaping, and my desire is to provide those same experiences wherever possible.
Creativity/Innovation
I love to think outside the box. I think that is likely because I often have a more challenging time understanding the crap that is in the box. I was a student who constantly needed to find alternative ways to understand things in order to reinforce my learning. I found that more often than not, asking for clarification would result more so in myself having to try and convince my teacher that I understood their help in order to ease the frustration I could feel building in them from my not understanding what they were trying to explain. I think a lot of the time, we forget that knowledge is not universal, and the colloquial notion of “common sense” is really much more of a Venn diagram than it is a dictionary. Today, we are exposed to “titans” of the creative scene who fall back on paradoxes like “Any thought you’ve ever had has already been thought before; What is original?” in order to defend blatant plagiarism. Originality is born from the practice of taking what exists and smashing it together to create something new, whether that thing is breathtaking or rubbish. For me, I think maintaining the love for wanting to see the unknown, wanting to create the un-created, and wanting to approach content from angles not yet considered, is what makes me primed to be an educator whose classroom runs on creativity, and innovation.