Katelyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Georgia waited. “Well, I don’t know how to do that,” she finally admitted. “That’s going to be a lot of extra work.”
Georgia had just observed a lesson built almost entirely around reading from the textbook and answering questions.
“Yeah, it is,” Georgia said. “But this is the time to start making those choices and investing the time.”
Rather than expecting an immediate transformation, she gave Katelyn one clear challenge: “I do not want to see another lesson on reading from a book and answering questions. I need you to bring in multiple modes of representation.”
By Georgia’s next visit, Katelyn had made progress, but she was still relying heavily on the textbook for social studies. Eventually, she explained why.
Katelyn admitted. Teaching about Inuit culture made her nervous. She worried students might misunderstand something or that she might get something wrong herself.
“I just don’t know enough.” Georgia understood the hesitation but challenged her to move beyond it.
“Part of being a teacher is learning the material well enough to teach it,” she said.
“You’re also not the only teacher who has ever taught this. There are resources out there. You just need to find them.”
"I just want to be as respectful as possible"
Katelyn took Georgia’s advice. She visited the Curriculum Lab and borrowed a box of traditional Inuit tools for her students to explore.
There was no worksheet or formal assignment. They simply handled the objects, asked questions, and talked about how they had been used.
“The students loved it and still bring it up,” Katelyn later told Georgia. “But I feel like I didn’t do enough with it.”
Georgia paused. “Was it not valuable then?”
Katelyn thought about it. “No, it was. I just…think I could’ve done more.”
For the first time, she was beginning to reconsider what a meaningful learning experience could look like.
By the end of the unit, Katelyn had moved far beyond the textbook. She organized Culture Celebration Days for the Inuit, Acadian, and Ukrainian communities her class had been studying.
During one celebration, she brought bannock and used something she had recently learned to challenge an assumption she had held herself. She carefully introduced students to the history behind the food and connected it to larger conversations about reserves, displacement, and the treatment of Indigenous peoples.
Later, she excitedly told Georgia how well the lesson had gone.
“The kids loved it.” Georgia smiled.
"See! The kids will remember this lesson for a long time because it wasn't boring."
Near the end of practicum, Georgia approached Katelyn with an idea. After seeing what Katelyn had accomplished, and hearing about the experiences of other student teachers, she wanted to bring several of them together over dinner.
Their conversation would focus on integrating Indigenous perspectives into teaching:
what they had tried, where they struggled, what resources they found, and what they had learned.
Only a few weeks earlier, Katelyn had been afraid to move beyond the textbook because she worried she didn’t know enough.
Now, her own experience had become something others could learn from.
1
How does Katelyn's understanding of teaching evolve throughout the case?
What evidence suggests Katelyn is becoming a more reflective practitioner?
2
What specific teaching practices was Georgia initially trying to improve? What larger professional capacities was she trying to develop?
3
4
How does the case illustrate the difference between covering content and creating meaningful learning experiences?
5
How does Georgia move across multiple dimensions throughout the practicum?
6
How can educators balance humility, curiosity, and confidence when teaching unfamiliar content?
Reflection Questions
2
3
4
5
6
1
How does Katelyn's understanding of teaching evolve throughout the case?
What evidence suggests Katelyn is becoming a more reflective practitioner?
2
What specific teaching practices was Georgia initially trying to improve? What larger professional capacities was she trying to develop?
3
4
How does the case illustrate the difference between covering content and creating meaningful learning experiences?
5
How does Georgia move across multiple dimensions throughout the practicum?
6
How can educators balance humility, curiosity, and confidence when teaching unfamiliar content?