Monsieur Autio

In my undergrad I had a job in as a Residence Advisor and I remember going over to my supervisor’s house one day for a meeting and on her fridge was a sticky note with a cute hand drawn picture of a plant in a pot with a note that said “Feed me, I like water.” I was so amused by this witty strategy to give herself a reminder. I wonder if she ever became a plant parent during the pandemic?

When I think of my professional growth I liken it to taking care of my house plants. In my home I tend to have mostly pathos and succulent varieties like snake plants, these types are easy to care for now that they have been established in the conditions I created for them. When I first got them, I had to repot them, place them in an ideal position, water them frequently and fertilize them more regularly. At times I was over saturating and it actually hurt them! Now, the regular watering and intermittent fertilizing help them grow over time. Now that they are established they are ready to propagate. I’ve even gifted some to friends over the years or split them into different pots around the house. 

My professional growth is similar, I have established my career in a place and position I like and learned about the conditions I need to personally thrive: healthy relationships, building a home, presence, and healthy living. I feel I am in the place where my houseplants are now, benefiting from regular reading and pro-d workshops, intermittent courses and now mentoring student teachers and leading pro-d events, workshops and summer courses. 

Establishing My Roots 

As an early teacher I was establishing my roots and thus soaked in a lot more professional development that was more technical in nature. It leaned more towards curriculum and pedagogy, assessment, and classroom leadership (another day I’ll go deeper into my differentiation between leadership and management). I took several summer courses and became certified in Kodály-inspired music education, and I was building networks of teachers and connections as I found my way. I highly involved in the Kodály Society of Canada and the Kodály Society of BC and am proud of being part of the planning committee for the 2017 International Kodály Symposium in Camrose, Alberta. During my tenure on the board, I learned by observing and listening to many incredibly intelligent, hard working, and dedicated women who were at the cutting edge of music education at their respective institutions: Dr. Cathy Benedict, Dr. Hélène Boucher, Dr. Kim Eyre, Dr. Laurel Forshaw, Dr. Ardelle Ries, and Dr. Jody Stark. I keenly watched them and many other teachers in my early years. 

I’ll always remember what the student teacher who did her practice in my Grade 9 band class, Ms. Lemon turned Ms. H, told me once when I volunteered in her class years after as a preservice teacher. She said that she often used her pro-d days to observe her colleagues in other districts who were still teaching. Ms. H said that from observing she was able to pick up more, sometimes, than watching a workshop. I was mentored by many amazing people in my early career and observed many people I respected. It reminds me of what my choral director, Lawrence Ewashko said at the University of Ottawa, “be like a sponge.” My early carrer was like a plant soaking in the nutrients of the sun, turning towards people who inspired me. 

Perhaps the most influential of all people I met in my early teaching career was my now husband, Mr. Tong. We both take care of plants but in different ways. I enjoy taking care of the house plants whereas Mr. Tong enjoys taking care of outdoor plants in his garden. As we continue to grow together and tend to our separate types of plants (grade levels and subjects) I cannot help but be highly influenced by his flourishing garden. Being married to a teacher makes for daily conversations that help me reflect on my teaching, encourage me, and cross-pollinate ideas. I also witness his professional growth which is a constant source of professional “nutrients.”

In my early career when the BC Curriculum was being rolled out, Mr. Tong was the helping teacher for assessment and de facto curriculum implementation. He helped me interpret the curriculum in a way that has helped me transform my teaching in tandem with my own learning of Kodály. Once back in the classroom, he taught a grade 8 inquiry course at his high school that combined several subjects which has been an influence on my own process-based teaching. Next, he was seconded to the University of British Columbia (UBC) while also becoming an Apple Distinguised Educator (ADE). He currently is highly involved in an app-development program that runs across the country. Through overhearing many video calls I glean ideas about technology in education. On top of that, Mr. Tong is Chinese-Canadian and part of the LGBTQ+ community. As he shares his positionality and concerns with me, I am made more aware of my own positionality and privilege. 

As such, I have an extremely close professional partnership with Mr. Tong and our professional network reaches from our connections to other teachers. I help out with his involvement with his Provincial Specialist Association (PSA), THESA (Teachers of Home Economics Specialist Association), while he has helped in his fair share of Kodály workshops. Our networks have stemmed out words and as I pursue my Teacher Librarian Certificate I will be getting more and more involved with the BC Teacher Librarian Association PSA. 

Current and Future Growth

My current focus for my professional growth is moving towards propagating as I am moving from mentee to mentor. I have now had two successful student teachers and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others at workshops but more so in more intimate conversations. I continue my personal growth as I read books and attend the occasional pro-d compared to my former self that was perhaps over saturated in these areas. My interests now can be categorized in three main streams: Social Justice, Truth and Reconciliation, Technology and Education, and Mental Health and Well-Being.  

Social Justice, Truth and Reconciliation 

As mentioned, Mr. Tong and I speak a lot about who we are, how we act in the world, and how we are therefore treated. In a recent workshop with Dr. Brad Baker I was made aware of the idea of “unlearning” (May 16, 2025).Upon further research, perhaps even due to my algorhythm hearing the lecture, I now I understand from  Florko (2025) that unlearning is this a version of critically thinking and reflecting about what we consider to be true, our “ingrained beliefs”. Florko notes that many psychological theories are based on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations, which is a bias we must also consider when we apply new theories and practices. Dr. Baker reminded us that “discourse and discomfort are healthy” as we unlearn racist beliefs about Indigenous peoples balanced with “humour and humility.” Considering our bias we are able to embrace our selves as people working towards decolonizing our thinking. He reminded us that there is still a reliance on Indigenous people to do ‘the work’ but that non-Indigenous folk have a lot of work to do too. This is a part of our Call to Action as educators, a part of Truth and Reconciliation. 

I feel called to the action and felt reignited by Dr. Baker’s keynote. Some of my other books on the topic I have read that I recommend others enjoy are: 

Katz, J., & Lamoureux, K. (2018). Ensouling our schools: A Universally Designed framework for mental health, well-being, and reconciliation. Portage & Main Press.

King, T. (2012). The inconvenient Indian: A curious account of Native people in North America. Doubleday Canada.

Oluo, I. (2018). So you want to talk about race. Seal Press.

Education Technology  

My current course towards my Teacher Librarian citizenship has been a wake up call about Digital Citizenship. My other blog posts explore this more fully and this course will continue to be a “dose of fertilizer” in this area. 

Before this course, though, I was an early adopter of e-portfolio-based assessment and did a lot work before the new reporting order came and made it less appealing as a teacher. That being said, with the dawn of AI availability I have been able to save ample time planning and creating activities that I can now spend more time back with tech. As mentioned, Mr. Tong is another source of inspiration for this area of professional growth. As an ADE he has amazing calls with teachers across Canada that bring with them many different ideas about how to use the Keynote as well as general work flow and creativity! 

Certainly, too, I gain many ideas from social media reels. These ideas have fit into my already established frameworks and systems. I liken these ideas to songs in a music class – they are materials that fit into a structured, intentional sequence that interconnect and we learn the deeper literacies through them.

Mindfulness, Well-Being and SEL 

I recently wrote a post about my personal journey towards mindfulness and have mentioned several times on this blog my inspiration form Kishimi and Koga’s Courage to Be Disliked (2019). This area of professional (and personal) learning is perhaps the easiest for me. I once had a principal remark, “you teach yourself to your students” meaning I share with them my own learning about self-growth through my themes. I believe that this is a gift I give to my students, teacher candidates, and colleagues and will continue to explore and refine my own practices.

Reminder On the Fridge

This post was meant as the reminder sticky note on my fridge but instead of “Feed me. I like water” it will read, “Feed me. I like unlearning.” At the moment, I feel I have steady growth and I am able to propagate, but when I begin to feel wilted and thirsty from neglecting my professional growth I can turn to this post to see where I have come from and where I want to keep going. To keep the simile going, I may also need a reminder at some point that it may be time to repot and reposition myself if I feel my growth is stagnant by moving school sites or changing positions within the profession. All these things are options to keep my feeling nourished and fulfilled as an educator. 

Where do you see yourself in my story? Comment below!

Are you establishing your roots, growing steadily,  propagating, or in need of repotting or repositioning? 

Autios! À la prochaine! 

Bibliography

Baker, B. (2025, May 16). Indigenous education: Continuing to move forward [Keynote address]. Math Secondary, Richmond, BC.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. (2024, May 31). Education for reconciliation. Government of Canada. https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524504501233/1557513602139 

Florko, L. (2025, May 24). Learning to unlearn: How to rethink what we think we know. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/people-planet-profits/202505/learning-to-unlearn-how-to-rethink-what-we-think-we-know

Katz, J., & Lamoureux, K. (2018). Ensouling our schools: A Universally Designed framework for mental health, well-being, and reconciliation. Portage & Main Press.

King, T. (2012). The inconvenient Indian: A curious account of Native people in North America. Doubleday Canada.

Kishimi, I., & Koga, F. (2019). The courage to be disliked: The Japanese phenomenon that shows you how to change your life and achieve real happiness. Simon & Schuster. 

Oluo, I. (2018). So you want to talk about race. Seal Press.

OpenAI. (2025). [Monsieur Autio Watering Snake Plant] [AI-generated image]. ChatGPT. https://chat.openai.com/