It's a cold, winter evening here in Sault Ste. Marie and I'm very excited to start my Learning Log for Dr. Lorayn Robinson's Critical and Reflective Practice in Education (5004 G). Today's date is February 10th, 2016 and last night marked our 5th class of the winter term. I've really enjoying this course so far and I would like to use this blog to reflect on my learning up to this point and throughout the rest of the semester. I hope you enjoy it.
My original plan was to reflect on my learning after each class but as I sat down to write my first post five weeks ago, on January 5th, I quickly realized that I had little idea how to go about this properly. I suppose as, I'm reflecting back on this now, I can come to the conclusion that I had not learned very much about reflection up to that point to help guide me! I understood what was meant by the concept of "critical reflection" but I didn't know much about how this process was to effectively lead to my own learning. At the beginning of this course, I was not fully aware of different models of reflective practice or the difference between reflection, analysis and description.
While I was completing my B.Ed in the mid 90's, I was responsible for keeping several learning journals while but, like most beginner teachers, I simply jotted down some ideas on paper with little thought or reflection about how they were connected to my actual learning. I'm sure the minimal amount of time and energy my colleagues and I devoted towards this practice was definitely not what our instructors had envisioned from the class! I admit, at that time, I was not fully aware of the role of a reflective practitioner. Perhaps our profs could have explained it a little better....
Now, after 5 weeks of classes, under the guidance of Dr. Robertson, I have been exposed to several strategies which I'm confident will ensure that my reflections support my learning and also my development in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). I'm starting to understand how to look critically at the contradictions and challenges I face at Algoma University, my place of work, and within this course, and how I can transfer what I learn to other new situations and/or contexts. In this respect, I suppose I'm connecting the dots which have been there the whole time. Maybe I just needed to focus the lens more on myself, which was Loryane's advice in Week 4 but I don't want to get a head of myself here!
Please feel free to leave comments under each post.
In my next post, I would like to give the reader, a brief history of who I am as a professional to provide much needed context to this Learning Log.
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