Establishing your baseline
Identifying your "why" for tough times
Education can be fickle. The days are long but the years are short.
Teachers and pedagogies change; policies and management change; but our job as educators remains constant. Research-informed in our practice, of course, but constant in our “why”, as well as our non-negotiables.
I am indebted to a generous colleague1 - who in conversation recently - affirmed his passion for education; recounted the impact of educators on his learning journey; and emphasised the potential for education to reverberate throughout society to build a better world.
I had been caught up in the minutiae of politics, systems, confusion, and lack of clarity; I missed the forest for the trees.
I went home and cried after our conversation.
In response, here is my baseline:
All students are good students.
Irrespective of background or behaviour; all students have the right to a quality education.
High expectations for everyone - staff included.
All employees are deserving of respect (in fact, it’s mandated in the Code of Conduct);
When making an argument for higher wages, I have heard teacher aides say: “even a cleaner earns more”.
The inference being that cleaning is “lesser” than learning support, which is manifestly untrue - both are valuable and indispensable in education.
Treat people with “fresh eyes”;
The amount of times I have been warned about a student or staff member, only to find that they’re perfectly fine, and actually, quite insightful if only listened to without bias;
Prior understanding of a person can be helpful, but stereotyping and bias impact our responses, and thus, student learning.
Learning is a good in itself; not everything has to be connected to getting a job.
Lead with empathy and integrity;
We all have bad days, try to lead with empathy and extend grace to others (and yourself);
Be honest and authentic; and take responsibility for your actions.
Be a good gossip;
Make it a priority to spread good gossip about people regularly.
Make good trouble;
If anyone goes against my non-negotiables, depending on the context, I will either:
Say nothing or leave - making sure not to affirm their position;
Say something - calling out their comments/behaviour directly, if safe to do so;
Change something - put a plan into place to have a process changed; best practice refined, information disseminated, or training requested - or write about it on my blog;
If I am to bow, let it be to a lofty mountain2. And if I lose my job in pursuit of fairness and inclusion, that is a worthy sacrifice.
If you have a clear ethical baseline, it becomes easier to fortify yourself against constant changes and challenges to your teacher aide practice.
Sometimes the most confident people are wrong.
Sometimes people in higher positions are wrong.
Sometimes the Union is wrong.
And sometimes a teacher aide is wrong too.
What matters most is to maintain humility and critical discernment; treat people well; and hold true to your guiding principles.
As always, comment below or email me at teacheraideqld@gmail.com
backoftheclassroom.substack.com
Thank you for the salve of your well-timed words and advice. I am incredibly grateful.
Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei