(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 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) Could Taekwondo be a Pathway for Somatic Ways of Knowing?

Another very strong takeaway from this class will be "whole person learning" which is often overlooked in Western culture.  We tend to separate the mind from the body and think that all our learning is in our head.  I like the example the article, "Creating Space for Somatic Ways of Knowing with Transformative Learning Theory" (Amann, 2003) where it talks about disease and how a person can research the symptoms, but until they actually experience the symptoms, this knowledge is all external.  It is only through the somatic experience that the symptoms can be understood internally.  The article goes on to explain that somatic learning is "felt by the body" and describes the four main areas of somatic learning: kinesthetic, sensory, affective and spiritual.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I took at course in kineselogy which helped me increase my awareness of my own body movement which was a powerful learning moment.  As I read through each of the other areas, I kept thinking of which sport or activity that would tap into each one.  I have my kids taking Taekwondo, a Korean martial art, twice a week and they love the exercises that they do for breathing and how the class all shout out at once when they do power punches or kicks.  I believe that these practices allow the students to become sensitive to their senses.  The whole idea about spiritual learning is also evident.  For example, the class reciting the following chant, "discipline, respect,confidence, patience, honour - combine them for good attitude" is very representative of Buddhist thought which aims to create balance in life.  I believe my children have had a spiritual awakening through Taekwondo and are developing a cultural awareness of their Korean background through this martial art form.