September 17 Entrance Slip

What kind of teacher do I want to be? What does that mean for my time as a teacher candidate now? Before reading Grant and Zeichner's article, "On Becoming a Reflective Teacher," I think I would have responded to the first question in some way like this: "I want to be a teacher who is always growing and seeking the growth of my students." And for the second question, I might have said, "I want to take in all I am learning and ask the question: 'How might this impact my teaching practice?'"

So yes, as a new teacher candidate in Vancouver in 2026, Grant and Zeichner's article "speaks to me," but not as introducing an entirely new way of thinking about being (or becoming) a teacher. In some sense, I think I already wanted to be a reflective teacher. I would even say I don't think I've met a single teacher candidate in the last couple of weeks who is unreflective! But perhaps there is something more to that observation: the world in which we live in 2026 is quite different than that of the 1980s (when I was a young child, but before most of my fellow teacher candidates were born). Approaching the teaching profession in this technologically saturated, AI-infused era, it seems to me there is a drastic urgency for education that creates critical thinkers, equips students to engage the world wholistically, and instills in them an appreciation for what it means to be a human being in the universe. How could teaching that has such goals be anything other than reflective? It certainly won't be the kind of teaching that is guided by "impulse, tradition, and authority" (p. 104).

Grant and Zeichner are not, therefore, saying anything that seems "surprising" to me. But what they write still "speaks to me" in that it gives me a framework and way of thinking more thoroughly about what becoming a (reflective) teacher means in practice. The three attitudes the authors identify (following Dewey) as prerequisite for reflective action are all helpful as a way of approaching my time as a teacher candidate, to varying degrees.

Regarding openmindedness, the authors suggest that we should adopt an openminded attitude to alternative ways of looking at existing teaching practices in the schools in which we spend time as a teacher. While I hope I would have such an attitude, their examples seem somewhat dated (and U.S.-centric, since Thanksgiving and Columbus Day are not the same or do not exist in Canadian schools). Allowing for different points of view and beliefs seems now to be expected, rather than something that would go against the mainstream. But I certainly do hope to "keep an open mind about the content, methods, and procedures used in [the] classroom" (p. 106) where I will be on practicum, as well as about the many ideas, philosophies, and examples I am already beginning to encounter in my teacher education program. 

I found the article most helpful in drawing attention to the responsibility I have as a teacher to consider the consequences of the decisions I make, particularly in explaining that these consequences may extend far beyond the classroom. As a teacher candidate and future teacher, I can imagine it will be tempting at times to prioritize the immediate utility of an action. So it helpful to have this clearly stated: "The costs associated with what works in the short run to help you get through a lesson smoothly at times may outweigh the benefits to be gained" (p. 112).

With regard to wholeheartedness, at this stage of teaching candidate experience, I think this requires of me to be actively seeking out the skills and knowledge I know I need to be an effective teacher. It would perhaps be easy in the midst of this busy program to take "shortcuts" in various ways in order to meet the requirements that seem pressing, perhaps at the expense of growing in the ways I need to. Being wholehearted would mean I do not think or act in this way.

Looking ahead, I return to the statement I made at the outset about the kind of teacher I want to be: "I want to be a teacher who is always growing and seeking the growth of my students." Such growth seems very natural at this stage, but what about when I am further along into the teaching profession? Here I think Grant and Zeichner are helpful, because a reflective teacher will be an inquiring teacher. As reflective teachers, we are never "set" in our ways, but actively considering how we can expand our knowledge in the subjects we teach and how we can learn from new and evolving teaching practices. A reflective teacher will have the skills and the desire to pursue professional inquiry throughout their career.