Philosophy visual art (picture) & artist statement
Philosophy statement
This work is a pot of flowers with various colours. It symbolizes the role of teachers as “nurturers”, providing soil, nutrition and space for each student to grow.
The flower pot represents the classroom, an inclusive, stable and safe environment; and each flower symbolizes an independent student, with his own colour (personality), shape/size (thinking style) and growth rhythm (learning progress). At the same time, flowers of different colours emphasize the diversity of students and the inclusiveness of teachers.
Professional Standards # 9 for BC Educators reflections
In the past – Because I am an international student, I knew nothing about Indigenous people before joining the teacher education program. During the project interview, the interviewer asked a lot of questions about Indigenous people. At that time, I realized the importance of Indigenous culture to the local area. After entering the project, we have a special Indigenous course. Through the course study, I read a lot of articles about Indigenous, watched a lot of videos, and learned about some Indigenous history, culture, etc. During the internship, I learned more about how to integrate Indigenous knowledge into the classroom.
Now, in my teaching practice, I strive to incorporate the Indigenous worldview into the classroom environment and learning design. When designing courses, I will give priority to how to integrate local knowledge, such as supporting different students’ learning methods through land-based learning activities, story teaching methods and circular inquiry methods. I also encourage students to express their learning outcomes in a variety of ways, including oral stories, image narratives, etc., respecting different ways of expression and cognitive paths.
In the future, in order to continue to practice Standard 9, I plan to participate in more professional development activities on Indigenous education, including participating in workshops hosted by Indigenous communities, learning the basics of Indigenous languages, and reading educational literature written by Indigenous authors.