Any teachers?

[canadianhippie]

Heylo educators, Im heading to school for my undergrad in early childhood education and then to teachers college, Im aiming to teach the junior grades in public schools in Canada.

Im just wondering from your experiences as teachers how much leniency you have in your classroom or do you need to strictly adhere to the curriculum? I would love to incorporate more alternative learning in the class, Im just not sure if that will fly and Ill end up spending time in the principals office for my "radical" teaching and "unruly" children.

Is there way you bring natural living in the class or more adaptive lessons for each child? I dont agree with the same age, same tests, same marking scale, etc. philosophy in schooling ( i know,so why are you becoming a teacher) I figure I want to be in the front lines and do my best to make my classroom excieting, involved and successful through the participation of the children in their own individual ways. I want to spark some change in the systems to involve natural living as part of being in school. Im not sure how yet, but Ill get there, let me just get my degree I enjoyed school as a child as well and I remember the teachers I loved and what classes/year I did my best in and why, I want to bring that to each class I have. I can see myself venturing off in the teaching field as well, maybe not just public, we'll see.

Anyways, back on topic if your still with me, how much wiggle room do we get? Id appreciate any comments teachers, thank you

[Proxi]

I am in Alberta, which I am told is much stricter than Sask, but I don't really know how it compares to other provinces. Here, you can definitely be fired for not teaching the curriculum in a private or separate (Catholic) school. However, you have a lot of freedom on how to teach the curriculum depending on your school and your district. For example some schools require that you use certain literacy programs for teaching reading and writing... which drives some of us nuts ;-)! Others will require you to use something called "Understanding by Design" or the Inquiry Process. Basically, there will be trends that come in that you will be expected to follow.

In Alberta, and from what I understand all of the provinces, there is a HUGE focus on assessment right now. That doesn't necessarily mean standardized testing, although that is one of the ways students are assessed. I know in my district we always find out their benchmark reading level at least twice a year. It is standardized, but actually very helpful.

As someone going to early childhood ed, you may be forced to use nature in the classroom. I know my district is super into the Reggio Emilia approach which really embraces the environment. Of course, that might not necessarily be a bad thing in your opinion :-D!

Last but not least, in Alberta you would have a lot more freedom once you get your continuous contract. This isn't really "said" but basically what happens here is that you start as a substitute teacher. That can last anywhere from 1-3 years. Then you move into a temp contract. In my district you have to remain as a temp teacher for 2.5 years (we have had budget cuts because of the provincial gov). Then you get your continuous contract... which means it is a whole lot harder to get rid of you. You have more freedom once you are a teacher on a continuous contract. You still MUST teach the curriculum and follow your district's objectives, but you can experiment a whole lot more in ways that may not always please your principal. On your temp contract you still experiment, but you try and do it in a way where your principal is super impressed lol!

Good Luck!