Sept 12th Entrance Slip - The Relevance of Reflective Teachers in 2024

As a new teacher candidate, I part of my motivation comes from how poorly math was taught to me in high school. To me, this article suggests that much of what was ‘bad’ about my secondary math teachers was their unreflective attitudes

In 2023 I volunteered at a Vancouver secondary school with a relatively young, reflective math teacher. As a candidate, he saw the ineffectiveness of ‘traditional’ teaching in schools. Being reflective, he sought new pedagogies; this led him to Peter Liljedahl’s ‘Building Thinking Classrooms’. Despite my lack of experience, he gave me opportunities to experiment with assessment and lectures, showing an open-mindedness I was very grateful for. He created opportunities for all students to approach him, listened, and was patient with those who were frustrated. Lastly, he was constantly adjusting his lesson plans & assessments from prior years, demonstrating the responsibility he felt to offer students his best. Seeing so much of the description of a ‘reflective’ teacher align with my mentor gives me confidence in the relevance of this article in 2024.

That being said, this article does feel somewhat idealistic. Although I’m aligned with the value of open-mindedness, responsibility, and whole-heartedness, the reality of our resources and political situation will mean that a balance of all these is necessary. My mentor drew very firm boundaries which kept him out of trouble (and from burnout). Although we need reflective teachers, there is a nuance required to operate in our current system which is not discussed in this article.

Lastly, I’m grateful for this article’s commentary on practicum, particularly it’s emphasis that we as candidates must actively ask pointed questions so as to understand the ‘why’ of our mentors. I intend to leverage the questions offered in this article during my practicum.