Victoria Peters

The Standards for the Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in BC set many important standards for BC’s who hold a teacher’s certificate of qualification.  I believe there are standards so that every teacher is on the same page, and follows the consistent guidelines for teaching and overall morals.  The four standards that I thought to be particularly crucial (although all of which are extremely important) were:

Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interests.

The relationship between the educator and student is important because of the impact the educator has on the student.  As educators we must be good role models in the way we interact emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially.  I believe it is important to build friendship bonds with students, but still have the understanding of authority there.  Adolescents are developing in many emotional and physical ways in that period of time, and it is important that we can assist and support them through it.  

Educators understand and apply knowledge of student growth and development.

As educators we must also be able to support our students in their intellectual development.  It is important to know adolescent psychology in order to best attend to student’s learning styles.  We need to keep in mind the balance of giving them knowledge while leaving room for them to think critically.

Educators value the involvement and support of parents, guardians, families and communities in schools.

It is important to always keep in mind that parents usually know their children best.  This is essential when problems arise because we do not always know the adolescent’s background.  Having parent input and feedback may help understand our students better, and guide us to better knowledge of planning for special instruction.

Educators implement effective practices in areas of classroom management, planning, instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting.

If there is a need for special instruction - for example if a student has a learning disability, we as educators need to know how to prepare to support that individual student.  We need to be aware of different learning disabilities, learning styles, gifted students, handicaps, and any other emotional or physical issue a student may be going through.  We need to know how to aid the student to help them achieve their full potential.

As a future high school teacher I can see how all of these standards will be useful to keep in mind and follow routinely. It will be important for me to get to know my students on a friendship level, while still maintaining an authoritative figure.  I will aid student intellectual growth by tailoring to individual learning differences and special needs.  I will keep parents highly involved as they are most likely to know their children best, and give useful input into their child’s best interest.  I will also make sure that every child’s learning needs are met, as every child is different.