Joanna Ross

“As a classroom community, our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
― bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

My core beliefs about education:

• Quality, publicly funded education is a right
• Learning is a collaborative process where each person is accountable for their opinions, actions and interactions within a shared community.
• Learning inherently involves risk; risk in showing up, in making mistakes, in unlearning engrained ways of doing and seeing, and in daring to see the world differently.

The Teacher has two important roles:

• To create a classroom environment where everyone feels safe to show up as themselves, believes in their capacity to learn and experiences joy.
• To truly get to know each of their students and to draw on this knowledge when supporting them to learn new ways of thinking and being in the world.

A bit about me

• I am a mother to three primary-aged children, one of whom has special needs. My children have sparked my interest in early childhood development and my son’s journey has motivated my return to classroom teaching.
• I am an advocate
• I am an entrepreneur

Qualifications

• 15 years of experience supporting marginalized communities with accessing educational supports within the school system.
• Member in Good Standing with the Ontario College of Teachers with certifications in Primary, Intermediate and Senior divisions.
• Graduate level education