“Educators demonstrate a broad knowledge base and an understanding of areas they teach”-Taken from BCTC’s Professional Standards for BC Educators.

I had an experience that aligned with this standard in my 490 four week practicum at Southridge Elementary. I was getting ready to teach my first lesson to these particular students and it was an introductory lesson to food chains and food webs. I had some prior knowledge and experience with this material but I spent some time before the lesson looking through my coaching teacher’s resources on this topic and doing some research of my own to make sure I was as confident and knowledgeable I could be before going in front of the students to teach. The lesson was going really well and there was a lot of engagement and interaction with the material happening from the students. Then, one student put up their hand and asked if humans are producers or consumers. I explained to the class that I thought humans were consumers but the students made such a strong argument as to why they thought humans were producers that I was no longer sure and didn’t know how to answer that question properly. I decided to tell the students that their answers made sense to me so I was no longer sure if it was me or them that was right and I told them that I would research what humans were and the reasoning behind that decision after the lesson was over so that I could be sure and bring the right answer and the justification back to the students before the start of our next science lesson together. The students were happy with this answer and the lesson then continued as normal.

To me, this standard is not about being perfect and knowing everything there is to know about a topic because that is pretty much impossible to accomplish. This standard is about having as much knowledge and understanding of a topic as possible while being vulnerable enough to accept when you don’t know something. No matter how prepared you feel like you are for any particular lesson, it is almost a guarantee that the students will ask a question that will throw you in a direction you never expected to go and because of this, you might not have the knowledge to answer their questions while you are in that present moment teaching a particular lesson. This is where the importance of vulnerability comes into play- as a teacher, you should be willing to express to the students that you don’t know the answer to a particular question in that moment but that you will look up the question and do some research and come back to the class with an answer as soon as possible. When this has happened to me, the students are always accepting of this answer and are grateful that you will take the time to find their answers for them. They also like to see that the teacher is human and doesn’t know everything and makes mistakes just like them and this helps to strengthen the relationship between teacher and students and bring the teacher back down to their level to be seen more as the lead learner, which is always how I want to be seen in my classroom.