BC Standard for Educators 2 reads, “Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility, and reputation of the profession.” This is something we’ve reflected on many times throughout our preparation for teaching, and I find it to be one of the most complex standards to grapple with. Ethics are, by any measure, subjective. We know that the legalities of this issue are also applied unevenly, depending on location and the ethics of a community. This means that in one context or community teaching about queer and trans history could be considered highly ethical and valuable, while in another context it may be seen very differently. The same is true of critical race theory, social emotional learning, and issues of Indigenous sovereignty – all elements of my own personal ethics as an educator that are important to me. 

While it is tempting to argue that teachers who believe in these ethics should simply live in places where the community believes similarly, it is also unfair. Some of the most radical activism comes from places with the most vocal oppressors. More than that though, queer and trans kids are everywhere, white supremacy is everywhere, the mental health crisis is everywhere. And regardless of histories of genocide and displacement, wherever we go, there we are on stolen Indigenous land. It is not so simple as to leave a place, because the students being left behind deserve depth and diversity of instruction regardless of the community’s beliefs.

Truthfully, I do not have an answer for this issue. There are ways that I have stood up for my beliefs in the past that likely would not meet the ethical barometer of many communities. Despite that, I have the privilege of presenting, at least on the surface, like many teachers – I am white and a woman – my queerness, my disabilities, my political beliefs – these are mostly invisibilised by the structures that surround them. In this context that benefits me, because on first glance most parents, school administrators, and communities at large would not think twice about my suitability as a teacher. And for what it’s worth, I believe I am suitable to be a teacher. I believe that all sorts of people are suitable to be teachers and that children deserve to encounter a variety of world views presented in an honest way. And yet, I do continue to struggle with standard two, not because I believe educators shouldn’t be held to ethics and integrity, but because I question who decides how those words are defined.