Standards of Practice for 21st Century Learners

“At the heart of a strong and effective teaching profession is a commitment to students and their learning.”    - OCT Ethical Standards

If our commitment is students and their learning, we need to look closely at who these learners are.  What are their needs?  What skills will help them in the future?  What their environment is now and what it will be in the future?  For our system to be effective we need to focus on the 21^st century learner.

One of the Standards of Practice for teacher is Professional Knowledge.  It states that we must ‘be current in our professional knowledge’.  Being current in today’s society means that teachers should expand their knowledge base to include important influences of the 21^st century, such as; technology, social media, online collaboration, etc..

As well, the Standards of Practice also discuss Professional Practice.  They state that, teachers need to use, “appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation, resources and technology in planning for and responding to the needs of individual students and learning communities”.

One of our students major needs is to develop the skills that will help them be proficient in different 21^st century environments.  If we do not teach this at school, they might not be as prepared as they need to be to become productive members of a profession, company or even society. 

The OCT professional advisory points out that because teaching is a public profession, that we need to be professional at all times.  To pull out a quote from OCT, they state that,

“Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that teachers’ off-duty conduct, even when not directly related to students, is relevant to their suitability to teach. Members should maintain a sense of professionalism at all times – in their personal and professional lives.”

Our board reflects this statement in our policy agreement (E5: Digital Technology use by Teachers).  It states that we are responsible at all times for our use of technology and will ‘have to take full responsibility for our actions’.  It does not go into as much detail as the OCT professional act, however it is clear that if it is not used properly there will be consequences. 

Overall, I believe that these standards are very important and need to be enforced.  It is our job to use these tools effectively and model appropriate use.