Educators contribute to the profession. 

Educators honour the profession by supporting, mentoring or encouraging other educators and those preparing to enter the profession. Educators contribute their expertise in a variety of ways, including opportunities offered by schools, districts, school authorities, professional organizations, post-secondary institutions and communities. Educators contribute to a culture of collegiality. 

This standard is not one that we will be assessed for or required to demonstrate in our time as teacher candidates (Check this). Throughout training it is still important that we look for opportunities and future possibilities that we may be able to carry this standard out in our careers as teachers.

For now, we are doing our best as teacher candidates to support each other. I am grateful for my fellow TC’s and the abundance of support and enthusiasm we have for helping each other grow in our learning and teaching journies. When my classmates have questions about teaching or the program I do my best to help them out and support them in their learning. Often I have found myself in study groups or planning sessions where I am working with a fellow TC to develop lesson plans, check work with each other, bounce ideas and help formulate plans for different assignments. I love to hear about classmates’ experiences working as TTUCs and supporting them in that way, working through things that happened and how they could do better or differently in the future.

As I prepare to start my first practicum, I am so grateful for the two teachers who are exemplars of this standard and are giving up their time, energy and classes to help support and mentor me as someone who is hoping to enter the profession in the future.

Reflecting on my practicum, I did my best to uphold this standard by contributing to a culture of collegiality at the school I was teaching at. After a staff meeting, I tried to make an effort to connect and express my appreciation for the Vice Principal who led the meeting. I also did my best to connect with other teachers outside of my classrooms. I received an incredible amount of support from various teachers on staff at my school and it had a significant impact on my entire practicum. In the future, I would like to remember how this felt and provide similar support and encouragement for coworkers and any student teachers, or new teachers.