Module Three: REFLECTION
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Module three focused on Philosophical Thinking and Philosophy of Teaching and Learning. I continued to reflect upon my working definitions from module one, and found the sources here continued to strengthen my understanding of innovation, creativity, teaching, and learning. This module greatly influenced my philosophy of practice, particularly the works by Christou, Noddings, and Hadot. From these authors I found meaning in the professional ethic of a teacher to continue to grow for the betterment of their students, that educational theories are best accepted as tentative, that theory and practice must be connected, and the importance of care-theory. These concepts are explored in my postings below, accompanied by peer comments and replies, and connected to my own philosophy of practice.
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As a “local” author, I wanted to continue my reading of Christou, and read his co-authored paper with Bullock, The Case for Philosophical Mindedness. It is stated that philosophical mindedness is an ethic, which must be practiced and not just preached (pp. 20-21).
Philosophy is defined as concerning ethics, reason, affect, argument, and language (p.14), with mindedness referring to a way of being (p.16). Philosophical mindedness is then defined as an ethic, a habit of mind, which necessitates educational action, reflection, and an awareness of the implications for teaching and learning (p.14). This corresponds with my definition of teaching, and is the underpinning of what I termed being adaptable. Furthermore, Christou and Bullock remark that educational statements and theories are best accepted as provisional and tentative, not certain (p.17). Provisional claims may be well supported, but leaves the opportunity open for reflection, questioning, and change. The major position that is continued throughout the article, is that being a philosophically minded educationist is connecting theory and practice (p.14). It is about a lifestyle of ongoing, active questioning, and is reflective and self-aware. This position incorporates a degree of risk, as it requires the pursuit of knowledge of things uncertain, which incorporates my definition of creativity. The adaptive processes of this mindset involve innovative and creative ideas, which harbor taking risks with these new ideas, but is also what makes teaching with a philosophical mindedness invigorating and exciting. A challenge to this mindset is that humans naturally avoid cognitive dissonance as this creates an aversive state (p.18). It is not a natural reaction to work to understand theories that challenge our current practice, which follows the concept of a creativity bias discussed earlier by Mueller, Melwani and Goncalo. Within educational mindedness however, this is our responsibility; to challenge ideas of others but not allow the same of our own would by hypocrisy (p.19). To live with a philosophical mindedness and ethic, is to understand knowledge is not fixed, to strive towards questions and alternatives, to remain skeptical, and to maintain reflective practice. My initial question leaves me pondering the distinction between the line of thought and that of action. When and how does one decide an action is good enough to carry out and move forward, when our attitude contests that eventually this will need to change? Or do we need to add the variable of time, and that the idea is good for now and the immediate future, however in time will need to change with advances in technology, environment, etc.? Christou, T. M., & Bullock, S. M. (2012). The case for philosophical mindedness. Paideusis, 20(1), 14–23. Falkenburg describes his use of meditation, and how it impacted his teaching. External vs internal focus is identified; the former draws our attention and is more superficial awareness, and the latter involves various layers, from being aware that our attention had shifted, to becoming aware at the moment of the shifting (p.25). This transfers to being aware while teaching, such as becoming aware of automatic behavioral routines, from scratching one’s head, to responding to a student’s comment (p.26).
The actions, behaviors and what we attend to define our inner life, working to better this inner life is our moral purpose of teaching (p.27). Learning is described here as “understanding something requires awareness-in-action”, and that good learning is an intention to notice, and is a shifting in our noticing patterns (p.28), thus learning takes intent, focus, conscious awareness, and causes change. This aligns with my definition which involved learning being an activity of experience and interaction. There is a brief period of pre-conceptual non-judgmental awareness, which if focused on can allow us to view differing perspectives if we are able to appreciate the biases we automatically apply thereafter (p.29). If we can identify the pattern of our thoughts, we can begin to step-in and alter this to effect positive change. Teaching is defined as contemplative professional practice and has three components, ethical, noticing, and mindfulness. We are ethically and morally obligated to improve, and we do this by the latter two (p.30). This involves being mindful while teaching to identify situations that elicit a response you later reflect upon and determine a desire to change (p.31). For example, an eyebrow furrow after a student asks a question that you had just answered. The teacher becomes aware of this situation and the response as it is happening. During the noticing phase, we reflect this could improve, develop alternatives, develop sensitivity to notice the next situation as it begins to occur, and then utilize the alternative, and over time change our experience of the situation (p.31). It is no longer a frustration, but an opportunity. This process elaborates the adaptability of my teaching definition. Collaboration is also said to be beneficial, as it can identify solutions in how to act differently (p.33). Can others pointing out behaviors and reactions cause a similar degree of awareness and internal focus? Are we acting less morally if we do this “lazy man awareness” and rely on others to make us aware? Falkenberg, T. (2012). Teaching as contemplative professional practice. Paideusis, 20(2), 25 – 35. Noddings discusses the evolution of moral education, and how globalization has driven these changes. Traditionally, moral education was about shaping children into acceptable members of the community (p.390), however, with increasing globalization and the ease with which we communicate outside these communities, a bigger picture be taken.
This bigger picture begins with care theory. This is a relational ethic that places importance on listening attentively to others. The carer puts aside their own values in order to truly listen and understand the needs of others. If in this understanding the goals of the cared-for clash with our moral beliefs, then we should agree to not aid in their efforts, but aim to find another project in which we may (p.391). At this point I questioned what would happen if the degree of difference be such that the parties could not work together at all? I found the statement “an ethic of care requires the carer to continually seek increased competence” akin to Falkenberg’s notion of “teaching is the moral and ethical pursuit for the betterment of others”, and both of these support my inclusion of adaptability in teaching, which is an ever-changing field (p.391) (Falkenberg, p.27). The cared-for party must institute a form of reciprocity to complete the relation, which is as simple as recognition (p. 391). This plays out in the teacher-learner relationship, as well as a patient-caregiver situation, both ever present in my own context of teaching paramedicine. Care ethics includes thinking about justice, and being dedicated to doing right by everyone (p. 392). In my setting I would say that means listening to the needs of students, employers, administration, and other teachers, to determine the overall needs of everyone, and not simply telling them what they are. It is important too to take an overall view of caring. It is important to care for students’ success not just in my class, but in their overall field of study (p.394). Lastly is the point of confirmation, where instead of defaulting to criticize, point towards a better behavior, which goes back to Falkenberg’s building awareness and noticing the situation (p.395). If you find a view you cannot endorse, it is said to persist in dialogue to show your point of view, and work in other collaborative forms on which we can agree. If we should continuously explain our views of injustice as described on p.393, should the other side not have equal opportunity? These will often be practices deeply embedded in vastly different cultures, is this likely to accomplish anything? Falkenberg, T. (2012). Teaching as contemplative professional practice. Paideusis, 20(2), 25 – 35. Noddings, N. (2010). Moral education in an age of globalization. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 42(4), 390–396. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00487.x Hadot made some interesting comparisons in philosophy, drawing heavily on the work of Henry David Thoreau. A quick search revealed that Thoreau was a prominent US philosopher in the mid 1800’s, who politically focused on civil disobedience, and whose work would later influence the likes of Tolstoy, Gandhi, and King Jr.
One of the key concepts discussed and indeed the title of this article, is that nowadays there are professors of philosophy, but not philosophers (p.229). To Thoreau, it is stated that philosophers strive for a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, trust, and work so solve life’s problems practically, not just theoretically (p.229). There are many scholars who teach theories and speak well, but who do not necessarily live that which they teach. This would be akin to the importance in current education of modeling that which is expected of our students, for how can we expect them to act or perform in ways we ourselves do not? Thoreau was also noted for his vision of teaching by example, where it is described students would best learn philosophy by following their professor at work in the fields, instead of listening to a classroom lecture (p.233). This vision is paramount in today’s classroom where utilizing real-world application and problems is becoming ever more prominent. There are differences noted between divisions in philosophy, such as Thoreau needing to include manual labor, and the Epicurean way does not (p.232). This is important that people are not doing things identically, as it promotes discourse, creativity, and innovation. The idea of innovation is again spoken to when elements of Stoic and Epicurean are combined, which identifies with my definition of innovation and the building on existing ideas (p.233). Thoreau made rules to live by, and in Hadot’s writing seems to then be critical of those that didn’t live by these rules. I question if this critical nature aligns with his simplistic view of true living, which was to be utterly content so long as he was not hungry, thirsty, or cold? I feel there is at least a bit of contradiction here, where Thoreau was in need to leave his true philosophical living to work for a few weeks to support his lifestyle of simplicity. Is there a lesson here that we should be conveying to our students, that we do our best to uphold all that which we profess, but ultimately there will be lapses, identifying the lessons within? Hadot, P. (2005). There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers (J. A. Simmons, Trans.). Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 19(3), 229 – 237. Doi: 10.1353/jsp.2005.0021 |
After your review I am going to go back and read the Falkenburg article as it sounds very interesting. I often times see that the attention has shifted for some students, but I have never really thought about the moment that it specifically shifted. This would be interesting to find out because perhaps it is the location of the room that are creating distractions and thus the shift in attention. If you could pinpoint the moment that the attention has shifted perhaps you could determine the reason and put in place strategies to resolve this. Perhaps the student is not even aware that it is happening, such as the constant tap of a pencil, and just needs to be told in order for the behaviour to stop. As mentioned if we are able to determine the pattern of our thoughts, we can begin to step-in and alter this to effect positive change.
I believe that yes, others pointing out behaviours and reactions could cause a similar degree of awareness and internal focus as the attention and focus would still be directed at the event or situation. Thank you for such a great summary, Candice Thanks for the feedback Candice, I hope you do get a chance to read it, I found it not overly long and had some interesting and pertinent teaching practice. I like that you took it from the student perspective, the article itself speaks more to the teacher noticing their own change in attention, and taking steps to professionally and personally improve on an internal individual level. Adding the student line of thinking is also highly relevant, and certainly something to reflect upon during and after a class. Why did their attention shift? Was the material too repetitive, or did it advance too quickly? Do they see the relevance? Do they need a break, a change in topic, venue, or method?
My view now is that someone else pointing out the behaviors or shifts in focus would not affect the same degree of internalization and change. That said, I certainly would think that this may be a beginning step and promote the self-awareness, noticing, and then ultimately changing, so still beneficial! Jason,
Great summaries and questions. I felt compelled to respond to your questions and connections you made to both articles. I have not thought of mindfulness connected to responses during teaching. I have been on a journey involving meditation and being present at a personal level. You stated that you wonder the distinction between line of thought and action. I am quite the model of having a strong line of thought about meditation, understanding the theory and research, practical 10 day silent retreat, and have read many books. Ekhardt Tolle states in his book The Power of Now, a fascinating read, that you can know all you want about meditation but until you start practicing this knowledge will not do anything to help you reach your goals. You have to actually put it into practice. My action doesn't exist! So as powerful as your thinking it won't make a difference until there is action. When do you decide on action? You have raised a good question, how do you know it is the right direction? A personal goal for me is to take more time to research, as when an idea is presented I am eager to jump in and learn from my mistakes. While this has merit, the value of research and theories would make my teaching more efficient. I enjoyed Falkenberg's article and our summaries are similar. While other's viewpoints and constructive criticism are important, I think if teachers were mindful as to their teaching practice that it would be more effective. So often we are alone in the classroom and there is no one to provide that continual feedback. As well, an outsider's perspective, if continual may be seen as critical or as a judgement even if it allows for growth. I see the mindfulness practice to be for fine tuning teacher's reactions rather than teaching pedagogy. So perhaps, collaboration is best for planning and best practice whereas mindfulness is more of the ethic development that happens in the classroom. I'm not sure if I interpreted that correctly. Thanks for sharing, Cindy Hi Cindy, thanks for the reply. I appreciate your ideas on the line between thought and action. I'm lucky in my professional setting as there are only three full-time faculty in my immediate program, with adjoining offices, where we are able to collaborate daily, as this gives us the opportunity to discuss, create an idea, and instead of adjourning with an action decision, we can have the evening to let the idea percolate, and discuss again in the morning. I find this really allows the time to weigh options, explore alternatives and ideas we hadn't thought of at the time, and then make our action decision with more confidence. I appreciate your enthusiasm about heading forward and learning from mistakes, after all, you can't get anywhere if you stand still.Good point about being self-aware, and that the opinions of others may be seen as continually critical, or raise points that we don't feel are an issue, and particularly your realization that other teachers are not commonly there. Between your feedback in combination with Candice and Caitlin, you've all certainly helped me frame a better picture of this awareness practice.
Hi Jason,
Hope the course is going well for you so far. I, too, read the Nodding article and found it interesting, but pretty idealistic. I agree that everything would work very well in care-theory land until there is a misunderstanding or a serious conflict in values. After all, people don't go to war over trivial matters, they go to war when there is a line in the sand of values which is boldly crossed without apology. Caring is off the table then. What I took from this reading was the differences between care theory and justice. I did think that was a very worthwhile distinction. I also thought that the idea of immersion for better understanding was important also. What do you think Canada can do, in terms of care theory, with our current refugees and others thinking of coming to Canada? If you took Nodding's views and applied them strictly to newcomers, what do you think would happen that is different in future decades? Your review of Thoreau's article was great, but I think that may have been a frustrating read.... was it? It doesn't seem to make sense that such complex philosophy boils down to simplicity and simple rules. I think that would have come across to me as contridictory messages. Maybe it is our overly complex lives in modern times that makes me feel that too much philosophy is impractical. How do you think school grading contributes to innovation as an output? How much we do this better? Hi Tammy, you pose some great questions! Care theory could certainly go a long way in helping the refugees that are coming into Canada. In this sense, a few things would occur. Firstly, as does happen a little, as the initial carers, people in the host community would put aside their own problems to assist these newcomers with getting settled and introduced. As there would be cultural differences, there would need to be equal opportunity to share and most importantly work to understand these differences, not simply enforce assimilation. Obviously outnumbered, an equal cultural exchange would be difficult and we'd want to avoid putting them under a microscope.
Hadot's writing of Thoreau did leave me questioning a contradiction like you say, if the goal is such simplicity, why then maintain such a high level of scholarly activity, which I'm not sure falls totally together with living isolated in nature. There were many good points however, particularly the efforts to make learning relevant, practical, and more meaningful. As for grading and its contribution to innovation, I'll use my own context to share my thoughts. In our lab setting we provide the paramedic student with a patient, and although some treatments are more preferred than others, ultimately they can solve the problem in their own method, so in this instance there is room for innovation, and in fact we encourage them to do so. In our current theory courses, in preparation for certification exams, we offer lengthy multiple choice tests, which I would contend allow little innovation. Our lab results in a Pass or Fail mark, theory is a classic percentage. Innovation versus no innovation. |