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Wholistic Education with a ‘W’ – Etec 521

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Wholistic Education (with a ‘w)     Etec 521

Two summers ago, I took Etec 521 with Dr. Michael Marker.   The course ended up being a profound experience for me, but it did not start that way.

For the first 6 weeks of the course, I was floundering to find my place and to connect with the curriculum.  I understood prior to taking the course that Indigenous perspectives were unique, important, and in need of greater recognition.  I knew that Aboriginals had a strong connection to the land, but didn’t really understand the implications of that.

As the course progressed, I began to realize that my problems in the course were rooted in my worldview.  I was making a number of problematic assumptions:

  • Aboriginal ways of learning are the same as my own ways of learning
  • Learning is something that is done in a universal manner
  • The impact of colonization is something that First Nations groups have overcome
  • Technology is culturally neutral

One of the biggest assumptions I made is that Aboriginals simply identify with the land their tribe is from much in the same way, we, westerners identify with the town we grew up.  In this regard, land simply identifies a person. For the Indigenous, land is much more significant.  The connection goes well beyond identify.  For First Nations land has a spiritual, physical, social and cultural connection – so much so that a member of a tribe can feel disenfranchised when she is away from her territory.

It took me a while to grasp this concept.  Fortunately, there were some students of First Nations descent in the course to help and, of course, Dr. Marker.  One pivotal set of events in the course took place when our class was asked to view two documentaries:

March Point — available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80nfzX7wzlQ

Fraser River Journey — available here: http://www.fraserjourney.ca/

A short summary of March Point:

For centuries the Swinomish Indian Tribe in Western Washington State has relied on the natural resources of the Skagit Valley. Before white settlement tribal people inhabited the valleys, rivers, and shorelines, living off the rich land. But in 1855 most of this land was taken away by the U.S. government in the Treaty of Point Elliott. The Swinomish people were left with basic health care, some fishing rights and a small reservation.  In the late 1950s, two oil refineries operated by Shell and Tesoro were built on March Point in an area that was once part of the Swinomish reservation by treaty. Over time, the presence of the refineries has negatively affected the health of the water and land.

Three teens from the Swinomish Indian Tribe volunteered to make a movie to reduce the amount of time that they spent in drug counselling.   These teens decided to investigate the impact of the two oil refineries.  The film is their interpretation of the harm colonization and settlement have inflicted on the culture, environment, and spirituality of their tribe.  (adapted from Londghouse Media, 2009).

A short summary of Fraser River Journey

Fraser River Journey documentary follows a group of 12 B.C. First Nations youth on a raft trip down the Fraser River. Wielding waterproof video cameras, the youths set out to document their adventures on one of the most stunning and diverse river systems in the world and re-live a journey that Simon Fraser had taken 200 years earlier.  This time the journey is discussed from a First Nations perspective. During the trip downstream, they learn important things about their heritage, their ancestral lands, and themselves.  (adapted from Jaswal, 2010).

Impact upon my Learning

One of the participants in Fraser River Journey, Bonnie, died a year after its filming.  One of the participants from March Point relapsed into a period of substance abuse.  When I read about Bonnie’s death after having viewed her journey in such detail, I was shaken.  Bonnie wished to become an RCMP officer and was one of those students who seemed to be pulling her life together after some issues with alcohol.  Bonnie’s death reminded me that even once-in-a-lifetime events like a month long journey down the Fraser River are sometimes not enough to combat the tremendous pressures that many Aboriginal youth face with the challenges of decolonization, racism, poverty, and disenchantment.

Wholistic Education  (with a ‘w’)

As I progressed through Etec 521, I began to appreciate how a comprehensive methodology is needed to address the needs of Aboriginal learners.  Parent (2009) has argued that for Aboriginal educational reforms to be successful, First Nations must reclaim their traditional teachings and values, so that they can heal and be whole once more.  Wholistic (with a ‘w) education is rooted in Aboriginal languages, land, cultures and the oral tradition.  More recently, it’s understood to be part of a lifelong experiential process, which engages, uplifts, and develops all aspects of the individual and potentially the collective community or nation (Archibald, 2008).

Connection to Metaphor

The death of an outstanding youth due to the pressures that she faced has no parallel in golf.  The notion of wholistic education has no direct comparison to golf.  In the case of First Nations culture, wholistic education is centered on cultural revival, and in some cases cultural survival.  I can’t imagine a concern being any more pressing than the preservation of one’s ancestral traditions.

By contrast, golf is a pastime.  The world would essentially be very similar if golf were not played.  Nevertheless, those who play the game understand it to be a lifelong endeavor.  Golf is something that a person must commit to if they wish to progress.  For many, this translates into spending considerable time reading about the game and understanding it deeply so that improvements can occur.  Any golfer can tell you that superficial efforts to change one’s swing or approach to the game will quickly fail.  Golf, despite being a trivial game, demands total commitment from participants.  To excel, one must believe in one’s self and be dedicated to the fundamentals they have embraced and rehearsed.

With First Nations cultures the challenge is exponentially immense. The difficulties of how to reclaim traditional culture and understandings that have been passed down for centuries is not something that will be readily overcome.  Aboriginal youth, in particular, are struggling to preserve traditional teachings in a world that is rapidly changing.  What little advice golf offers for this challenge is that the process for learning must be something that a person commits to wholeheartedly.  For a select few, golf borders on being a spiritual endeavor.   For First Nations youth, traditional teachings and values identify the soul of their culture and desperately need to be re-discovered and preserved because the loss of such understandings would be profound.

References

Archibald, J. (2008). Indigenous storywork: Educating the heart, mind, body and spirit. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Jaswal, N.  (2010). The Fraser River Journey.  Retrieved from http://www.fraserjourney.ca/

Longhouse Media (2009).  March Point.  A Native Lens film by Longhouse Media.  Retrieved from http://marchpointmovie.com/?page_id=13

Marker, M. (2003). Indigenous voice, community, and epistemic violence: the ethnographer’s “interests” and what “interests” the ethnographer. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 16 (3): p. 361.

Parent, A. (2009b).  Keep them coming back for more: Urban Aboriginal youth’s perceptions and experiences of wholistic education in Vancouver.  Community Report. Retrieved from: http://www.unya.bc.ca/downloads/keep-them-coming-back-for-more-amy-parent.pdf

My Personal Learning Theory – Etec 512

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My Personal Learning Theory – building upon Fundamentals     Etec 512

My Personal Learning Theory is a vital artifact from MET experience.

The declaration of theory is only 300 words in length, but took a full 3 months to develop.  In many ways, Etec 512 was a transformational experience.

Like many of you, I was conferred an Education degree with honours.  I studied under highly accomplished professors and benefitted from the generous mentorship of my school advisors.

I then interviewed for work in two different school districts, Kamloops and Surrey, and taught in both.  I interviewed at least six times for different positions, including my most recent interview to become a department head.  Many times, school and district administrators asked me what I do with students.  Not once did a single person ever ask me a very pivotal question:

“How do your students learn?”

Dr. Cliff Falk was the first person to ask me that question and I was floored by it.  I remember thinking that this Falk fellow was asking me the wrong question.  I remember wondering: “the learning just happens – why do I need to explain the internal processes in students’ minds? Why on earth doesn’t Falk just ask me about the strategies I use in class to facilitate learning?”  I knew in general terms that  try to engage students, get them excited about class, get them active, take them into the community, expose them to real-life experts, have them role play etc…

I knew that these activities fuel learning, but I really had no good explanation as to exactly how learning takes place.  I knew from provincial exam results and feedback that my students were internalizing what we did in class, but I was lost as to exactly how or why.

Another thing I knew is that Dr. Falk could care less about provincial exam results or testimonials.  He was seeking a research based answer to a very precise question.  It had been almost 15 years since I had taken a course in Educational psychology, and I wondered if I had the skills to answer this question in a manner a university professor would find acceptable.

In Etec 512, we were provided with many opportunities to drill down into the writings of leading theorists such as Bandura, Vygotsky, Piaget, Ausubel, Skinner, Gardner, Anderson, Nardi, and Anderson.   During each week, I was surprisingly enthralled with course readings and began to appreciate the significance of the learning process.  It became clear that learning extends far beyond the explanation provided by any single theory or theorist.

In what appears to be a futile attempt to try to capture the complexity of learning in one sentence, I began my statement with: “Like human learning itself, my personal learning theory is multi-faceted and incorporates elements from developmental, cognitive, social, and behaviouristic approaches.”

Here’s a few more highlights:

  • Considerable learning occurs when students are active in educational processes.  Meaningful contexts fuel student motivation…
  • Much of what we learn is socially constructed
  • The wisdom of my class exceeds the wisdom of any individual
  • Reflection is vital in promoting the self-regulation and metacognition that drives continued inquiry
  • my teaching strives to create guided and collaborative structures that assist with the scaffolding of knowledge
  • If a student can accommodate new information, then existing cognitive structures are modified (assimilation, subsumption); if a student is perturbed by stimuli, new cognitive structures are constructed
  • Much human knowledge is transitory. Therefore, it’s important to focus students’ attention on the processes of learning as opposed to the products of education

Connection to Metaphor

So how is intense study of Learning Theory connected to golf you ask.

In 1957, the legendary golfer Ben Hogan wrote a book entitled The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.  This text which is a classic of golf instruction, first ran as a series in Sports Illustrated.  The magazine described the book in this way: “The greatest golfer of our time has distilled all of his knowledge, his experience aid his perceptions into five extraordinary lessons which he believes will enable the average golfer to shoot in the 70’s.”  (Sports Illustrated, 1957).

Hogan believed that with clear understanding of the golf swing, any golfer could reach the high level of expertise that it takes to shoot golf rounds with a score of 70.  Hogan emphasized fundamentals such as posture, grip, swing plane, and follow-through.  Since 1957, golf equipment and the golf ball have revolutionized how the game is played.  Golfers can now go out and routinely play on manicured golf courses, and enjoy the all the trappings of modern golf technology.

Despite all of these technological advances, in 2011, less than 5% of golfers shot a score routinely in the 70’s (National Golf Foundation, 2012).  The really surprising part is that in 1957, the number of golfer shooting scores in the 70’s was a similar percentage (National Golf Foundation, 2012).

Reflection

What the golf statistics remind me of is the need for educators to deeply understand the fundamentals of their craft.  Just as expert golfers know that it’s not prudent to blindly practice golf without an understanding of factors such as swing plane and posture, master teachers know that it’s not wise to just do stuff with classes in the hope that such activities may facilitate learning.  A master teacher has taken the time to understand her craft deeply and develops learning activities through an awareness of her students and the context that surrounds them.

There are a lot of good teachers in schools and it’s healthy that educators continue to ask why we do the things we do.  I am astounded that it took me 15 years of practice to articulate my thoughts on learning in any precise way.  I also appreciate that the précis I wrote for Dr. Falk will change in upcoming years.

Since I wrote my Personal Learning Theory, I have come to realize that the use of transmission techniques can persist despite the changes that technology is precipitating in schools.  I teach at a BC grades 10-12 virtual school.  Having lectures delivered online as opposed to face-to-face  still utilizes a transmission model.   It’s also become apparent to me that Inquiry and Discovery as described by Bruner (1967) is an important strategy in developing learning that endures.   While the research on retention of student learning is something that is open to debate (see Thalheimer, 2006), Inquiry learning has tremendous potential in Social Studies because of its focus on authentic contexts and problem solving.

Just as our understanding of the fundamentals of golf has evolved, so too has our understanding of learning.  In my own case, the process of drilling down and thinking deeply of how students learned has helped me to improve my practice.  Instead of hoping that something that I am doing will improve results, I am now trying to operate in a research supported framework that identifies strategies such as Inquiry that will help my students build meaningful connections with school curriculum.   All good golfers know that it takes considerable time and practice to develop a strong understanding of the fundamentals of golf.  Likewise, I realize that learning about learning is a continuous journey that will require further study, practice, and reflection.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Bruner, J.S. (1967). On knowing: Essays for the left hand. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Hogan, B. (1957).  The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.  Retrieved from http://www.golf.com/instruction/ben-hogans-modern-fundamentals-golf

National Golf Foundation (2012).  How do golfers score on an 18-hole regulation golf course?  Retrieved from http://secure.ngf.org/cgi/faqa.asp#5

Thalheimer, W. (2011).  People remember 10%, 20%…Oh Really? Retrieved from http://www.willatworklearning.com/2006/05/people_remember.html

Schunk, D. H. (2008). Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective. Macmillan Publishing Company, U.S.A

Vygotsky, L. 1978. Mind in society. London: Harvard University Press