(Week 10) My own teaching philosophy

In this post, I would like to share some of my own teaching philosophy and, where possible, make connections to what I have learned so far this semester.

At Algoma, I find myself in a very unique situation because our university was the former site of the Shinwauk Residential School which closed it's doors in 1971.  Because of this history, and our northern location, part of our university's mandate is to cultivate cross-cultural learning between aboriginal communities and other communities.

Over the past 4 year's, I have learned a lot about the experiences of the residential school survivors, and, every chance I get, I go out of my way to honour the history of our campus.  As part of AU's commitment to providing a respectful, inclusive and innovative education environment for Anishinaabe (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) students, the university has entered into a Covenant with the Shingwauk Education Trust.  As stated on our university website, "The Covenant is a document through which both parties pledge to work together for the furtherance of Anishinaabe education and research."

For the English for Academic Purposes Program (EAPP), I have worked hard to shape our curriculum so that it reflects the historic roots of our campus and is culturally relevant to indigenous culture and traditional values.  One of the central ideas or themes is the following aboriginal medicine wheel:

There are many depictions/variations of the medicine wheel but most have the same central concepts or themes.  The circular shape represents the continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realities and the inter-connectivity of all aspects of one being, including the connection with the natural world.  It typically has a clockwise direction or follows the direction of the sun. The directions can also represent the stages of life, season of the year, aspects of life (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical) animals (eagle, bear, wolf, buffalo), four directions (north, south, east, west) etc. Each of these have meaning separate from the other sections but when taken together, they are even more powerful.  Many of the aboriginal teachings and practices are based on the inter relatedness between these elements and keeping a balance in mother nature.

In the center of the wheel, are the important concepts of the "creator" and "me".  Individuals (i.e. students) have to understand themselves before they venture outwards on their journey to learn more about the interconnectedness and interrelatedness of all things represented by the medicine wheel. 

As I reflect on what I have learned in this course, I see a lot of connections to the medicine wheel. The emphasis put on student-centered learning, the different kinds of learning (ex. somatic), the tacit knowledge that one brings with them through life, the role of the surrounding environment etc. I feel that the Medicine wheel is a great model to guide the development of pedagogy at Algoma where all parts of life may be represented equally.  In this light, it is also extremely important for teachers to understand themselves before venturing out from the center and part of this realization can be achieved through the process of critical reflection. 

(Week 5): Mindfulness Meditation

The third reading in Week 5, was the one by Elghalaieni (2015) entitled, "A review of on the beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation".  This article explained all the health benefits associated with mindfulness like reduced stress and anxiety.  As I reflect on this article, I can't help but to think back to a local Immigration Forum in Sault Ste Marie which I attended as one of three representatives from Algoma University.  Most of the morning was full of information workshops - well worth our time.  However, in the afternoon, there was a series of speakers who are recent newcomers to the Sault which didn't provide much information.  In particular, one lady from India, who runs a new yoga studio in town, did a series of breathing exercises with those in attendance that lasted from about 40 minutes.  When she started, I thought that she would only be providing about 5 minutes of techniques but in then end, she ended up instructing the class for about 40 minutes.  As a willing participant at the start, I found the first 10 minutes very calming as I was able to reduce some anxiety and stress I was feeling on that given day.  However, as she continued through the exercises, the reverse started to happen - my stress and anxiety actually started to build up.  I started to think about how unsupportive our university would have been to see three of its employees with the eyes closed humming mantras at 2pm in the afternoon during company time.




Although I do see benefit from mindfulness exercises, I wonder if I, personally, would be able to dedicate the time to get myself to a place where I would be able to relax enough to use them.  In an earlier post, I talked about the Buddhist monks being so at piece with themselves. I wonder if that takes a lot of practice as well.  

(Week 4) Poppy Field - Mindfulness Exericise

At the beginning of week 4, Lorayne shared a picture, similar to the one above, showing a field full of poppies.  She directed our attention first to the flowers and then to the warmth of the sun in the distance.  I find these short moments of reflection in this class very powerful because I'm not able to set aside much time for personal reflection.  Like many of the participants in this class, I have a full-time job and a family that requires my attention outside of work hours.  With this said, I do cherish all the small moments spent with my kids.

One  moment I remember fondly in Korea, was a sunny afternoon spent with my wife and daughter, Myles, along a river bank near our apartment.  We found a field of yellow flowers and we managed  to take some time out of our busy day to appreciate their beauty.  I remember the feel of the warm sun on this day, how clean the air felt and the smell of the flowers.  It is crazy how this moment seems so fresh to me - I believe it is because I paused to appreciate the simple beauty of this occasion.  

As written in his book, "mindfulness means paying attention is a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmental.  This kind of attention nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of present moment reality.  If we are not fully present for many of these moments, we may no only miss what is most valuable in our lives but also fail to realize the richness and depth of our possibilities for growth and transformation."

Based on this reading, I will try hit the "pause" button on life more so that I'm able to enjoy more moments like these with my family.  As Jon states, "Mindfulness is the polar opposite of taking life for granted."

I'm confident, this is one of the most profound lessons I've learned through this course.  For this reason, I believe Lorayne's lessons really do transcend her course objectives!

(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 1) Wherever you go there you are!

During the first class, I became very interested in Jon Kabat-Zinn and his book entitled "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life" and how this is connected to ancient Buddhist practice. 

As I mentioned in my 2nd post, I spent 15 years living and working in Korea where, of course, Buddhism is widely practiced.  My Korean wife, who comes from a is Buddhist family, and I would often take time to visit temples in and around the city of Daejeon.  We marveled at how simple things seem from the Buddhist perspective and how the monks, living at these temples, appeared to be in harmony with themselves and with the world.  As we visited these temples, we noticed a few "foreign" monks who had traveled to Korea to join this tranquil way of living and/or get away from the distractions of the modern world.  I could not help but to think about the reasons that might force one to choose this path in life...

Reading through Jon's description of mindfulness, I cannot help but think how out of tune the majority of people in the Western world are with themselves, both with their bodies and with their spirit.   I think about the rat race we live in, about how people are so preoccupied with the notion of making money, buying a new car, a new house - all the materialistic things that tend dominate Western society. 

As for myself, I, like most of my friends and colleagues, lead a very hectic life, with work, with my family and much of my time is dedicated to making my family comfortable.    Unfortunately, I am not able to set aside much time to look inwards - to reflect on my current situation.  The only real chances I get to be alone are when I go cross country skiing on the weekends and the time I spend in my garage woodworking.  Here lays the main challenge, how does one one reflect if they not able to dedicate time towards this practice?

At the start of Jon Kabat-Zinn's book, he explains what is meant by meditation, "From the Buddhist perspective, our ordinary waking state of consciousness is seen as being severely limited and limiting, resembling in many respects an extended dream rather than wakefulness" (page 3).  This description left me questioning whether or not the majority of people, are just walking around unaware of their own existence.  Jon Kabat-Zinn goes on to explain that "meditation helps us wake up from this sleep of automaticity and unconsciousness, thereby making it possible for us to live our lives with access to the full spectrum of our conscious and unconscious possibilities" (page 3).  Have  the monks at the Buddhist temple in Korea woken up?  Are they more aware of their own existence than other people?

I think without sacrificing some of the creature comforts in life, time will always be one of the determining factors on how far one can take mindfulness and meditation.   Not to get ahead of myself here, but I was amazed how one of the participants in our class, Lisa, described going on retreats, in week 5 of this course, where she would dedicate days if not weeks of time to this endeavour.  

(Week 1) Mindfulness: Getting in Tune With Your Body!

On January 12th, Dr. Lorayne Robertson dedicated most of the first class to getting to know all the participants in her course while reviewing the course outline.  However, at the end of the session, Lorayne did manage to introduce the concepts of "the learning log", "personalized learning reflection" and "mindfulness".  It is the short description of mindfulness which I would like to reflect on in this post, especially about becoming more in tune with your body.

On this particular day, I was excited to attend Week 1 of this course but I was also little distracted because of something that happened to one of my closest friends over the holidays.   My friend Mike, who is in his early 40's, started to complain about headaches and blurred vision a few days before Christmas which led to a complete loss of his sight in both eyes on Christmas morning.  To this day, he remains completely blind despite visits to different doctors/clinics/specialists who are all trying to determine what is causing this abnormality. Of course, my friend's situation continues to preoccupy my thoughts so far in 2016 and Lorayne's description of mindfulness really hit home for me. 

As the old adage goes, "We all take our health for granted" and until something of this gravity happens to you, a family member or friend, people have a natural tendency to not think about it. My friend Mike is employed as a head plumber for a company in Sault Ste Marie and he is responsible for quality of his crew's work.  This was very stressful for him as he was constantly training new apprentices and had to be at the job site both day and night.  The last few times I talked to him before he lost his eyesight, he told me that he hadn't been sleeping or eating well and feeling very exhausted from all the overtime he had been putting in.

For my job, I have similar workload issues as I have to keep irregular hours and I take on a considerable amount of responsibility.  My goal for 2016 is to listen more attentively to my body and start putting more focus on my eating/sleeping habits.  As Lorayne mentioned in her talk, just concentrating on your breathing patterns for 5-10 minutes every morning can be a good start to a healthier living.  

I will be reflecting more about mindfulness in later posts.  As the picture above portrays, you need to strike a balance between work, family, friends, your hobbies while saving time for yourself to concentrate on your own wellbeing.