Please welcome our newest teacher, Zoe Scott. Her kind spirit and compassion for teaching are felt immediately once you see her in the classroom, and are truly wonderful to work alongside. Her first blog post below illustrates not only her beautiful way with words, but also the journey that many of our students can relate to. Her journey is inspiring and heartfelt. It shines a light on a challenge so many of us carry with us, and often, a reason why many of us later decide to become teachers, to make a positive change in the world of our students. We are lucky to have found someone who will have such a positive influence on our students. Welcome aboard, Ms. Zoe! I can still feel the ice shooting from my fingertips as the knot in my stomach tightens. Yet another morning that I wake in a cold sweat, as the queasy feeling takes over. The symptoms may be all in my head, but to my 12-year old body, they are very real. I’m not sure when the thought of school first began to fill me with such anxiety. I had once loved to learn, and had looked forward to each school day with great anticipation. How did such a change occur?
The school system can be a difficult place for anyone, but it is extremely bumpy terrain for those who are different. I was the girl that never quite fit in, despite my desperate attempts. I never felt as though I was enough. Like a lot of others, I spent my adolescence afraid to raise my hand in class, though inquisitive fires burned inside my mind. I spent my days hiding my opinions, and cloaking my true essence in a thinly veiled disguise. This constant state of fear and inauthenticity slowly began to gnaw at my heart. I lost confidence… I lost opportunity…I lost myself. My journey began a few simple online yoga tutorials. Yoga came to me like small droplets of rain that eventually grew into a stream. This practice gave me a sense of inner connectedness that I had never known. It pushed me to honour myself where I was, instead of in comparison to other people. Instead of turning down the volume on my thoughts in fear, it forced me to acknowledge them, to explore their roots, and to then release them. In doing so, I soon began to strive for growth rather than perfection. Moreover, I finally began a path of self-discovery and inquiry. What I love about Via Vita Academy is that they see the value in this sense of questioning and soul-searching. They encourage uniqueness and push students to become lifetime students of the world, and explorers of the body, mind, and spirit. Inquiry can lead to strength and self-discovery, during a time that often feels so unstable. Adolescents in particular often find themselves feeling out of control. They are desperately trying to navigate the parameters of their new position between childhood and adulthood. Suddenly they are overwhelmed with responsibility, pressure, opportunity and choice. Moreover, with the increase in social media, they are constantly bombarded by external forces, telling them what to think and who then should be. This is why I am so excited to be able to help facilitate these aspects of yoga for the students of Via Vita, both on the mat and in the classroom. Sometimes the noise of the world can become so loud, that it can muffle the sound of our hearts. For me, teaching is about helping students to listen to themselves, so that they can discover what they need, and how they might impact others. If students are ever to grow or make sense of the world, they must first have an understanding of who they are, and where they are in their journey. Next, they must learn to honour their inner light by learning to drown out negative self-talk. As we begin to respect ourselves, we ultimately begin to generate kindness toward others. It is in the tradition of yoga to end each class with the phrase “Namaste”, which loosely translates to “the light in me sees the light in you”. Each time I teach yoga to my students I like to end the class by saying “the light in me sees the light in you, and may you always see the light in yourself and the light in others”. For me, this is the ultimate goal of education-- to create students that strive to see the beauty and possibility in the world, that have the means to explore and question it, and the hearts to try to improve upon it.
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Teachers are on the front line of education. They live and breathe it everyday. They see what is happening, and they see what is not happening. So, when things need to change, who, logically, should be ones who have a say?
Teachers, right? New curriculum roll outs, policy changes, new and newer initiatives, standardized testing, priority schooling, specialists overseeing teachers, unbalanced class sizes, decreasing student supports, meetings, evaluations, reports, assessments, data, data, and more data… The list goes on. The thing is, for years, in Nova Scotia, teachers have not been asked. Changes are made, things keep piling on, but not by teachers, not by the ones who are teaching… in classrooms… today. We look at the above list of things coming down the pipes for teachers today and we’re left, scratching our heads, wondering - when do teachers get to actually get to do what they so truly love and prepared for - when do teachers actually get to teach? When are they given the time to get to know what each child needs? When do they have the opportunity to talk with each of their students, every day? When do they have time to pull together ideas, activities, and resources to better support each of their students? When are they supported in their judgment on how to best support the children in their class? When was it acknowledged that teachers, good teachers, were leaving the school systems behind to pursue other endeavors due to lack of support, resources, and freedom to teach in the way that best suits their students? When was it documented that each child is different, and therefore learns differently, so therefore, we need to support the teacher who is reaching each of those children in a different way? What about that each community holds a vast diversity of learners, with varying support networks of their own and that that should be taken into account when attempting to blanket assess students today, or rather, when administering standardized testing across the province? When were teachers recognized for being the ones who know, who really know, what their students need – be it extra one-on-one support, a breakfast, a moment to take a breath, a smile, or someone to listen? When was the last time a teacher was asked, in their professional opinion, because they are professionals who received specific post secondary and often post graduate education in their field, and they live and breathe the education system everyday – when were they asked how the education system could better prepare students for the world they are growing up in today? With the current conditions, teachers are working to make things work, but they’re hearts are breaking because they know many students are not getting what they need. They’re doing what they can with what they have, but there is so much standing in their way: piles of work unrelated to actually teaching the children sitting in front of them and funds that seem to be missing the connection to what these students actually need to prepare for a future so vast and ever-changing. Teachers need a voice. They need the help to make things change. We hear you, teachers of Nova Scotia, and we are proud to see more teachers taking a stand and making changes for the sake of our students and their future – our future. Our friends, our colleagues, our fellow professionals are making history by standing up for their students in the only way they can – the only way in which everyone will hear them all at once, finally. They’re saying it’s time for a change, and we couldn’t agree with them more. Meghan and I, owners and teachers at Via Vita Academy, are teachers, too, who, not that long ago, chose to take a different path in the field of education for the very reasons many teachers are standing up today. We believe there is a better way to teach, to educate, to inspire, and to make a positive change in our world. We opened a school in hopes to make a stand for that needed change in education in Nova Scotia. Education matters. Let teachers teach and stand up for our children. Let teachers do what they so truly love to do, inspiring students to succeed and making a better future for us all. |
Welcome to Our BlogEach post is written by a supportive member of Via Vita Academy, be it a teacher, parent, student, community member, who is invested in the topic of education. Take a read and comment below! Archives
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