Reflection and Conversation
Last week, I had the good fortune to attend a plenary session at UBC’s Learning Conference, facilitated by Judy Brown (English) and Harry Hubball (Curriculum Studies). Although the presentation was focused on “conversation”, I found myself thinking about reflection – about our students, our practices, our successes and our defeats.
We struggle to carve out enough time in each day, week, month for this reflective activity. Review of student feedback is often a time for many to reflect on teaching practice. I’m offering up a few questions that I jotted down the session above:
- Did I achieve my teaching goals?
- Is there a gap between student expectation and my teaching approach? What can I do to close the gap?
- What do I want to do more/less of next term?
- Did students learn? How do I know?
- Did I learn what I needed to learn from my students? If not, how can I change this?
- Who can I have a conversation with about my reflections?
Pat Hutchings VP of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching would agree wit Judy and Harry about the importance of conversation and reflection in the development of teaching practice. In a recent article titled Building a Better Conversation about Learning she asks us to consider the scholarship of teaching and learning not as a stand alone initiative but a set of principles that “undergrid and connect diverse approaches to improving learning.” This begins with some reflection about how and in what circumstances students learn and a “commitment to the inquiry and evidence about those questions.”
Please share your questions in the comments field below. Perhaps we carry on a conversation here…
November 17th, 2007 at 10:03 am
What a personable invitation. I appreciate being asked to the table. These questions are so simply put; they are questions that never really go away when we are in front of students. Like barometers, classroom students can reveal their interest minute by minute depending on their involvement in the material. Regardless of how brilliant we are being or how long we might have worked on a topic, a slide or a handout, their interest depends on their perceived involvement and whether meanings resonate within them.
In the online environment, we can’t as easily judge how our engaged our students are in the course material or in self questioning. Reflections–when they are introduced into a course–invite thoughts to emerge and a certain level of honesty that assures me they are learning and engaged. Just as reflections among us will connect us as teachers and let us learn from one another. Do you think that, in online environments, the mark one gets for reflections or for joining discussions defeats the purpose?
Jane
November 19th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Hi Jane,
Good question. I guess (especially at the undergraduate level) it is important for learners to develop good habits around reflection, sharing their perspectives, etc. Awarding grades for this is one way to provide encouragement…
Cindy