“Educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.” – Professional Standards for BC Educators, 1. 

This standard has been on my mind as I begin my work in schools and continue on my practicum journey. I am interested in the word “value” as it is used in this phrase. It is my observation that what lacks in many cases, especially in small northern communities, is not necessarily a valuing of success but rather a belief in the possibility of it. Teachers largely seem to care for and value the students in front of them, however there is a prevalent pedagogy of low expectations, particularly when it comes to disabled students and Indigenous students. 

Despite increasing traction for movements focused on meaningful inclusion, disabled students are often still othered in a way that not only devalues their success, but seems to more broadly reveal a general dehumanization. Many disabled students are not centered in their own learning, their goals and dreams are not considered (and at times it is not even acknowledged that they may have goals and dreams for themselves), and their success is secondary to the ease and success of abled and neurotypical students. This results in disabled and neurodivergent students being left to do work away from their peers, below their skill levels, and with inadequate support to facilitate growth. I should note that while individual teachers have a responsibility to disrupt this cycle, it is often a part of a larger structural void where teachers and EAs are insufficiently supported (and staffed) to facilitate the success of all students, and disabled and neurodivergent students are frequently one of the first sets of learners to be left to fail.

Indigenous students experience a similar othering on a systemic level. It has been my observation that in many schools Indigenous students are not offered a presumption of competency. One area in which this is particularly evident, is the allowance of high rates of functional illiteracy despite strong evidence that the vast majority of students are capable of learning to read. We know that low literacy rates correlate to higher incidences of incarceration, homelessness, food insecurity, and experiences of violence, yet it is seen as a natural or acceptable condition for Indigenous students. If we were to presume competency, then the onus would be on us as teachers to be effective in our teaching of reading (and on the system to provide teachers adequate resources and education to that effect). Instead, students fall through what I’d sooner call an earthquake than a crack. 

I do not mean to imply that teachers do not care about their students. I believe that on an individual level the vast majority of teachers care deeply about each young person in front of them. What I believe is lacking, is a broad understanding of the deep systems of oppression and violence that follow students through their education and color the ways we interact with students despite any care we have for them. I believe that as teachers we value the idea of success for our students, but especially when it comes to students who have been marginalized, and in this region more specifically disabled and Indigenous students, teachers must force themselves to not just value success, but to believe it is possible.