(Week 12) Larrivee's Levels of Reflection

For my last post in my Learning Log for Lorayne's course "Critical and Reflective Practice in Education", I would like to use Larrivee's assessment tool to describe my own level of reflection, both past and present.

Early in my teaching career, before 2008, I was, as the above card accurately portrays, mainly in the Pre-Reflection (Level 1) and Surface Reflection (Level 2) stages.  Why do I think so?  Well, I taught my classes with the express purpose of relaying information with minimal support from any established theories, research or best practices.  As such, I was very teacher-centered considering most of my beliefs were based on my own classroom experience.  My focus was on short-term results and did not recognize the different learning needs of students.  As described in the article, my concern was, "mainly with means, rather then ends".

Since this time, I have been engaging in much higher levels of reflection.

Based on the following descriptors, in Larrivee's article, I would say that I'm currently navigating between Levels 3 and 4:

To break this down even further, before Lorayne's class, my practice indicated I was more in Level 3.  Having completed an M.Sc. in Linguistics at Aston University, in 2008, I developed a good habit of questioning my own assumptions and strategies based on theory and research in the field of TESL including how:

•  ELL's successfully acquire a second language, 
• to measure learning needs 
• to implement different methodologies such as Problem-Based Learning
• to assess students fairly, 
• to involve students' prior knowledge, 
• find alternative ways to represent information, and;
• constructively criticize my own learning

However, it wasn't until I moved back to Canada, in 2012, when I started to think beyond the classroom and different theories to look very seriously at what it means to have a quality educational experience and reflect upon the principles of justice and equality.  In Lorayne's course, my Critical Incident group used my current situation as the "International Student Support Officer" to address the "low retention rates of International students at Algoma University".  Based on the realities of my job, I've encountered a great deal of diversity, and because of this, I've had to seriously reexamine and question my own set of believes and learn how to suspend judgement - all of which, according to Larrivee, are descriptors of Critical Reflection!  

(Week 9) Critical Incidents

In Week 9, we discussed the article by Griffin (2002) "Using critical incidents to promote and assess reflective thinking in preservice teachers".  This article triggered me to think back to the time when I graduated from Lakehead University to teach overseas.  As I mentioned in my second post of this blog "My Journey", I taught ESL in Korea using a toolbox full of the knowledge and skills I learned in my teacher education program.  However, based on my inexperience in the classroom - not being much more than a pre-service teacher, I quickly reverted back my own education experience as a kid, full of assumption and believes about what and how to teach.  The article refers to this phenomenon as a 'latent philosophy of education" (Henry, 1999, p. 53). However, I wonder about the term "latent" because in my experience, you can spot a new teacher a mile away!

The main reason, I believe, this happened is because, during this time, I was a very "concrete thinker" as opposed to an "alert novice" which means that I was more concerned with, as the article explains, the 'how to' or 'what works' questions or the effective application of skills and technical knowledge in the classroom.  As I reflect back on this time, there was also another barrier for me as a young teacher and that was "time".  I was required to teach 30 contact hours with students ranging in age from 5 to 18 years of age which left me no chance to reflect upon my own practice.  During these years oversees, I was more concerned with organizing my lessons, keeping track of attendance and motoring students' behavior in my classes.  The 5 minutes afforded between classes and the limited prep-time did not adequately provide time for critical reflection.  Problems or challenges which I identified were more often than not, addressed on the fly without being recorded for subsequent review.  Over time, as I mentioned in my second post, this led me to feeling of frustration and disappointment because I knew there was more to education than just the transfer of information.

I posted the above picture because this is how I often felt teaching in the kind of environment described above.  Deep down inside, I knew that sticking to the teacher-centered style of learning, although easier to manage the students, was a disservice to the students and to my own professional growth as a teacher.

(Week 6) Towards a Theory of Online Learning

For Week 6, we had an asynchronous class where we were responsible for submitting a paper based on our reflection on Anderson's paper "Towards a theory of online learning".  For this paper, we were to consider our own needs as a learner in this online class and the elements of design which are optimal for them.

Having spent 15 years in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), I have come to a place where, as I reflect on this time, I see two particular areas of need bubbling on the surface. The first is my need, or thirst, for knowledge in the field of Educational Technology.  The second, is my need to be challenged and to approach topics from more of an analytical or critical point of view so that I may improve upon my current practice.  
I see these two needs being interlinked and because of that I would like to keep them in the same melting pot as I continue my reflection.

In my paper, I talked about the general design of the UOIT program and the affordances of the Internet, as I described what facets of the platform have been optimal for my aforementioned learning needs.  For this blog, I would like to reflect more specifically on Lorayne's Critical and Reflective Practice in Education.  I will start out by saying that this course has been the best one I have taken so far in the program because of Lorayne's emphasis on, as the name of the course mirrors,  "reflection" and about being "critical". Through the ongoing interaction within the breakout rooms and group work, I have been able to learn through other participants' perspectives and gather firsthand information from real-life contexts.  Like other courses, there has been an emphasis put on the core readings but Lorayne is able to bring the concepts to life by giving us the time we need to reflect on the ideas.  In other courses, I always felt pushed or rushed to move on to new concepts without being able to dive deeper into what was presented.  Because we were able to work together, and effectively share our ideas I really feel that I've belonged to a real community of learners and that Lorayne has kept the focus on student-centered education.  

As I wrote in my paper, I would like "to be able to incorporate technology into the classroom and feel adequately prepared for a world where everything is in constant flux".  Through the UOIT program, I have come to the realization that there is not one simple recipe which will work for every classroom and that a teacher has to be very flexible and open to new ideas.  

During the first 8 courses in the M.Ed program, I have been exposed to many different learning theories and methodologies.  However, it is through the collaboration and dialogue with other professionals that I have been able to synthesize and be critical of the  information and ideas, where i feel the real learning begins.  In this respect, I see this higher order thinking to be integral to any graduate program.  

(Week 2) Could too much student-centred instruction be impacting teachers' health?

I noticed the following article entitled, "Why Introverted Teachers Are Burning Out" while I was on Facebook and it really struck a cord with me.     

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/why-introverted-teachers-are-burning-out/425151/

As I mentioned in my first post, I have been thinking a lot about my friend Mike who lost his vision over Christmas and the role burnout may be factoring into his ill health.

Even though I'm not currently in the classroom, I can definitely relate to how teachers can, at times, feel exhausted by the constant demands for collaborative learning.  As described before I aught overseas for about 15 years and while  I enjoy group-work, I did have times when I felt drained by the daily contact and interaction with students, not to mention fellow teachers.   I can also relate to how hard it is to find a quiet space to decompress and to reflect as a teacher on the job. In my current position at Algoma U, I'm required to attend numerous meetings and work collaboratively with other departments. It is a different kind of stress and it is important to take the time to, what the article calls "decompress". 

The article makes some very strong points about how the education system doesn't take into consideration how many teachers may have introverted personalities and the lack of break time provided between classes.   This could lead to what the author refers to as “collaborative overload” in the workplace. With these concerns in mind, I'm still a strong supporter of collaborative education and I believe students learn best when they co-construct knowledge with others.   

I believe the key is balance and mindfulness exercises could be one of the methods used by teachers to find that much needed quiet space for introspection.  Everyday, I am able to go home for a one-hour lunch break and I feel that this time provides an opportunity for me to recharge away from students and/or other distractions.    

(Week 2) Does Technology force classes to be more student centred?

In the second class, as Lorayne was given her critique of the presentations on student vs teacher centered approaches, she made a comment about how she thought some of the groups got off-topic by talking too much about technology.  I thought this critique was interesting because, in my view, technology is one of the main drivers for why classes have become more student-centered so, as such, it shouldn't be excluded from the discussion.  In this post, I would like to reflect more about technology's role within the classroom and how it has played a pivotal role in changing the dynamics of today's classrooms.

It is no secret that we are living in a knowledge-based society where students have instant access to events that are happening around the world.  As such, learning is no longer confined to the four walls of the classroom or an event that has to happen at the same place or the same time.  To be successful in school, students need to have the ability to seek out information over the Internet, synthesize it, and then based on this information, produce new information. Students need to actively participate in classes, to be creative and use their high order thinking skills to complete tasks.  Because teachers are no longer the delivers of content, their role in the classroom has changed to more of observers and/or co-learners.

Teachers, as mentors, are still needed to be present in the classrooms to help students to think critically, to gain knowledge, draw conclusions and make informed decisions based on the knowledge they track down via multiple sources including online materials.  The challenge for teachers today is to help students make sense of this overload of information that is available via cyberspace. Because of these changing roles, teachers have to evolve their practice by creating new learning environments that are able to leverage the Web and tap into the natural ways in which students learn.  Part of the answer is to move towards more collaborative, student-centered learning which puts students in control of their own learning and allows them to use the information that they have gathered outside of class in productive ways.

Lorayne's feedback was able to help me better reflect on the differences between teacher and student-centered approaches and the role technology plays in transforming content delivery in today's classrooms.

(Week 2) Student vs Teacher Centred

In Week 2, we discussed the shift from teacher to student-centered learning and how this .works in graduate education

As I mentioned in my second post, as a fresh graduate from the Concurrent Education Program at Lakehead University, I decided to head over to South Korea to teach English in 1996.  Reflecting back at this time in my life, I now realize how inexperienced I was as a teacher. I taught in a very linear fashion, teaching one concept at a time, testing for a certain level of mastery and retention before moving on the next principle – basically mimicking how I learned other subjects through school. As a result, my classes were very traditional, teacher-centered, and I viewed learning as simply the transfer of information, leaving little room for collaborative work and/or engagement among my students.

During the first five years of teaching in Korea, I became increasingly dissatisfied with the progress my students were making and this led me to enroll in a Masters in Linguistics program offered through Aston University where I was able to specialize in Teaching English as a Second Official Language (TESOL). Through this program, I became informed of the essential difference between “learning” and “acquiring” a second language which quickly dispelled my belief that learning a language was a linear process. In other words, just because you learn something doesn’t mean it becomes internalized! I also became aware of how important “exposure” is within the target language, what is meant by “effective filters”, the “silent period”, how to fairly assess student progress and/or achievement, how to engage and motivate learners, etc.

However, my biggest transformation was the realization that learning is more than just the transfer of information from the teacher to the student - it is also a social process. During this program at Aston, I began to use more collaborative activities in my classes such as Task Based Learning (TBL) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL) where my English Language Learners (ELLs) have to “negotiate meaning” to arrive at an answer which wasn’t always predefined. I started to value more what each learner brings into the education mix and the importance of the social connection needed to co-construct knowledge.



The picture above is a good representation of how the teacher should involve the learner in the education process.  It is through this style of "hands on learning" or "learn by doing" that I've had the best results from my ELL's.

The new Bridging Program (BP) I helped design for ESL@Algoma is clear evidence as to how far I've steered by curriculum development towards a student-centered approach.  All instruction within our BP is based around four core competencies,  each one having a list of predefined learning outcomes.  Throughout the term, the students in BP are given the freedom to compile evidence in electronic portfolios to submit to their teachers as evidence that they are achieving the learning outcomes.  This curriculum is based on the flipped classroom where materials are posted on the Course Management System beforehand and the students are expected to come to class prepared to apply what they have learned within collaborative groups.  The teachers are there to act more like facilitators and to support the students as they follow their own inquiry based learning.  As in the picture above, our student have responding very positively to these changes and feel empowered to be part of their own learning!