This certificate from the Learning Difficulties Center of Prince George shows my adherence to the seventh standard of educators because it shows that I engage in career-long learning. Although this certificate was given before I entered the teaching profession, it shows that I am willing to do whatever it takes to educate my students, even if that means that more education is required of me. It also shows that I have identified my professional needs and have worked to meet those needs. One of my needs is to learn the bases of language, including phonics, which is what this course was based on. It will help me when I teach a primary class because I will be able to understand and teach phonics as well as whole reading. Theory has suggested that a combination of phonics and whole-word reading is best to use in the classroom because some students learn better through phonics, and some through whole-word reading, but both types of students need to be exposed to both types of reading styles. Furthermore, the course that the certificate was given for required me to work with other people to better my ability to say the phonetic sounds and to be corrected by the peers in my course.

This philosophy of education shows that I engage in career-long learning. First, it shows that I have addressed the my ideas of education, teaching, learning, curriculum, and the involvement of family and community in comparison to several secondary sources and philosophers of education. It shows that although I had preconceived notions of education and educators, I also am willing to change those notions if the need arises.

Second, it shows that my philosophies of education, teaching, and learning are informed by theory and practice. Although I have had very little teaching practice thus far, I have had some classroom experience and have changed my views according to what I have seen in the classroom. It also shows that I am grounded in other philosophers’ expertise and am not merely relying on myself for all knowledge.

Third, it shows that I look at education in a Canadian context, since I am addressing students in both a Caucasian and Aboriginal educational view. Although I understand that there are many different cultures and nationalities in the school system and that they cannot merely be lumped into one or two philosophies, this essay also shows that I am willing to alter my views of education to include other cultures as necessary.

This email is sent from the practicum placement coordinator at the University of Northern British Columbia, Ricci Dalton. It shows my adherence to standard seven of the standards for educators because it shows that I am engaging in career-long learning. Because of the ability to choose which courses to take, I show that I have identified my professional needs and have worked to meet those individually, through my selection, and collaboratively, through working within the workshops with others in the course. I have highlighted which courses that I chose to attend during the British Columbia Teachers Federation Day. I felt that learning more about poverty as a classroom issue was a professional need for me, because I have been quite fortunate and have not had much exposure to this issue in the past. Because of this, I recognized that I was getting an opportunity to pre-empt the issue and to learn about it before it became an overwhelming issue in my classroom. Furthermore, I chose to attend the assessment for learning because I felt as though I could use a re-invigorator about formative assessment. Prior to this course, I had identified my personal needs and made choices to address those needs.