Teaching - What Guides You?

As I drive to work each day I know as soon as I get in the car what the regulations, rules and etiquette of driving are. I don’t read them over or recite them to anyone.  I just drive. When I walk through the school doors, I have another set of parameters that I live within. They are the Ethical Standards and Standards of Practice.  But I don’t really talk about them, as with the car, I just live them. Upon analysis of how I’ve done this I’d say the Ethical Standards seem to boil down to ‘be nice’.

Nice = Caring

Nice = Trusting

Nice = Respecting

Nice = Integrity

As students are subjected to character development assemblies, 8 keys of whatever, and living in a village,  doesn’t it always just boil down to ‘Are you a nice person?’ Every year on the first day of school, I ask my students to ‘be nice’ and we’ll all have a great year.  We all agree, and go from there.  I have shown them this definition, often right after the winter holiday break, as a reminder to our commitment. Not much different from OCT standards I notice.

According to Merriam-Webster….Related to NICE

Synonyms

befitting, correct, decent, decorous, de rigueur, genteel, proper, polite, respectable, seemly

And for teachers, shouldn’t we be nice too?  At all times, no matter how trying a situation can be?  No matter how biased or prejudiced we could be?  No matter how stubborn or set in our ways?  Ethical Standards….how do I relate these to my beliefs? Easiest question yet….follow them in and out of the school setting, pre and post teaching.  Easy to do?  Of course not, this is one for the ‘if it was easy, it wouldn’t be important’ lists.  In my opinion, it should go without saying that we follow ethical standards, but of course it has to be written down somewhere and the OCT did a good job of that.

Next, Standards of Practice.  These are the ones that make us exhausted!  Don’t you just want to do them all the time?  Be totally committed to your students! Have the best current professional knowledge!  Be a leader in everything!  Always refining what we do!  And of course, committed, ongoing, professional learning.  A tired teacher is a good teacher!?!  Sounds like a ‘circle of life’ for teachers.  If you sincerely join in anywhere in these standards, you almost have to do the rest. 

And it goes on your whole career.  But didn’t we know this coming into the profession?  There’s big opportunity for fulfillment here.  Not every ‘job’ offers that.  And isn’t it just Education Act 264.1 (a-d)?  So it’s everywhere, and has been for a long time, does that mean its relevant?  And how does the rapid development of technology fit into this circle?  

I think it’s just sprinkled over top. There are interwoven math layers and reading layers and art layers and so on. Technology just settles onto all of them and covers the whole circle. It’s here, ready or not.  And I’m glad, I like sprinkles on my ice-cream.