The Anthology

A Collection of Unique and Personal Literay Expressions

The St. Francis Xavier University Faculty of Education is home to a diverse group of pre-service teachers whose experiences in and outside of the program have influenced their educational philosophies and pedagogies. Our Pre-Service teachers carry virtual bag packs that are filled with their personal morals, values, beliefs, philosophies, attitudes, and experiences. These virtual bag packs carry the stories that make up our beliefs about education. They have had many opportunities to reflect on their learning to unpack, understand, and analyze their identities as early career teachers.

This is the story of where our difference in educational philosophies and pedagogies emerged and why they are important.

My Story

Filled with uncertainty in an alien world, my mother, father, brother, and I had to navigate a new country that we struggled to fit into. The transition of moving to Canada from Sri Lanka was difficult. My parents had their own struggles to navigate, while my brother and I attempted to understand our new world through school.

My beliefs and values about education stem from my dual educative experiences in Sri Lanka and Canada. Specifically, what makes me unique as a teacher is heavily influenced by my lived experience in Sri Lanka and Canada. It was through reflective practice that I came to understand that my everyday practices as a teacher, my beliefs about teaching and learning, and more, are all influenced by my experiences.

As pre-service teachers, the practice of reflection is important to our development into early career teachers. Reflection allows us to process and learn from our lived experiences and aids in the development of our underlying beliefs about education. The aim of this anthology is to provide pre-service teachers with the opportunity to reflect on their learning to unpack, understand, and analyze their identities as early career teachers.

As part of this endeavor, I recruited the help of an editorial team to analyze and answer how our unique lived experiences contribute to our difference in educational philosophies and pedagogies.