History of Education in Canada

As a former History student, I find the history of education to be very interesting. It is amazing to see how education started and how much it has changed today. The one part of the history of education that amazes me the most deals with the Scottish tradition. I think that it is fascinating that almost all of their children were educated. In many other traditions you see that only the wealthy children were educated and that boys and girls were educated separately. In the Scottish tradition however, they educated boys and girls together and your class structure was not an issue. When the Scots immigrated, they had great influence on how the education system should be run in each country, which was likely because they were the most educated.
I do believe that the Scottish traditions really have had the most influence of what the school systems have developed into today. Most of our schools include boys and girls educated together and no one is rejected education today. Therefore, everyone in Canada is given the opportunity to get an education no matter what social class you are from. This opportunity for education has been very important to Canada and has allowed it to develop greatly by giving people the opportunity to get a career and support their families. 
Another thing that I find interesting about the history of education is the Manitoba Schools Question. This stated that English would be the primary language taught, however, if ten or more people required a different language, then an adaptation would be made by the school. I think that this has had a huge impact on Canada also because it has allowed Canada to remain bilingual and has allowed for the French language to be preserved. It makes you wonder if this was not passed years ago whether or not Canada would have more than one official language. 

Code of Professional Practice

As a teacher, I now have to always keep the Code of Professional Practice in the back of my mind.One of the codes that I was not as familiar with, or did not understand quite as well was code #13 "A teacher or group of teachers makes only authorized representations to outside bodies on behalf of the Society or its local associations. Without the express permission of the Society, no member(s) conferring with outside bodies may explicitly or implicitly claim that they represent the Society or its local associations." After our discussions in class, I discovered that this means that you are only representing the school when you are dealing with school issues and you can never say that you are speaking on behalf of the school about an issue when you have not got permission to do so. For example, if you are at a public meeting and you are expressing your opinion but you were not asked by your employer to attend this meeting, then you must make it clear that you are speaking on behalf of yourself and not the school.


Another section of the code that I find really interesting is code #7 "A teacher first directs any criticism of the professional activity of a colleague to that colleague in private. Only after informing the colleague of the intent to do so, the complainant may direct in confidence the criticism to appropriate officials through the proper channels of communication." I found this one interesting because I don't believe that this happens all the time. This code means that you should not talk to the principal about any problems that you have with a colleague before you personally approach that colleague and talk out your concern with him/her. Likewise, if you have an issue with your principal you must go to him/her and talk about it privately before you direct your concern to the higher up. An example of this, is that if you have a colleague that you both teach the same students and you overhear the colleague talking about this student in the staff room and about what he heard is going on with her at home and how it is affecting her marks and behavior in his classroom. Since you teach this student also, you have also heard about what is going on at home with her and you have seen a change in her marks and behavior in your classroom, however, you know that it is not right for him to be giving out this information to all the other staff members at your school. In order to address this situation properly, you need to privately meet with your colleague and explain to him in a polite way that you don't feel that that is information that needs to be spread across the whole staff. If your colleague continues to chat about this student in the staff room then you can tell him that you are going to speak with the administration about the issue because you don't feel that his behavior is appropriate. The whole time you are speaking with your colleague however, you must be sure you are doing so in a professional manner and not insulting him in anyway.


Personally I feel that it will be easy for me to get used to abiding by these codes of conduct. I think that each one will come naturally to me as a professional. Also, as a professional I just have to remember that I will always be looked upon as a teacher and that I must act accordingly all the time. I think that the Code of Professional Practice is a good list of practices for teachers to have because it does not exclude the idea that potentially you will have issues with a colleague and it explains to you how to handle these situations professionally. Also, it reminds people that all information that they encounter is confidential however, you are not breaching the code of confidentiality by reporting child abuse. This is a good tie to have into the code because as teachers, it is our responsibility to report such behavior that we believe is inappropriate and harmful to a child. As professionals, this code will eventually, if not already have become natural to us and we will have no troubles implementing it into our daily lives.

The Teacher Who Inspired Me To Teach

Who was my favourite teacher? 
There is one person that definitely stands out in my mind and that was my grade six teacher. I did not like this teacher because she gave me the best grades or because she had the easiest class, but I liked this teacher because she was strict and always pushed me to do my best. She did not accept work that was not done to your full potential and she rewarded success in her class on a regular basis. In this class we had a "Waldo" program, which was a certificate if you truly succeeded on a test or assignment. We posted the Waldos up around the room and when they made it completely around the room we had a celebration. This was a great motivator for me and  it made me strive to succeed. This teacher set high, yet attainable expectations and by knowing this I think it made me feel better when I succeeded in her class.
Not only did this teacher help me succeed in the classroom, she also got me into volunteering and becoming a community member. Looking back, I feel that this was one of the most important things that she did for me. I feel that from volunteering in my community and getting involved I found a much greater appreciation for being a member of a small community.  In our community most major events do not run without the help of a committee. From volunteering with committees (ie: Triple H Rodeo Committee), I have learnt how to plan, organize, communicate, work collaboratively with people of all ages, and be a leader. These are all very valuable attributes that I will have for a lifetime.  Shortly after leaving this grade six class I got  involved with the Midwest Recreation Association in my hometown and volunteered for their events, many of which were with young children. I continued to volunteer and in grade 12 I received two monetary volunteer awards. Not only did these volunteer opportunities fill up a page on my resume, but they lead me to find my real passion - working with children. 
Therefore, this teacher was by far my favourite because she taught me what doing your best means and feels like. She also taught me that volunteering your time can shape you as a person and lead you to where you truly want to go in life. If I ever have the opportunity to teach higher grades I will for sure encourage my students to volunteer because I think that my volunteer experience has lead me to my career choice of being a teacher.