All posts by Isabeau Iqbal

Bringing mindfulness into post-secondary teaching

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Mindfulness2

Teacher Candidate practices mindfulness at Nitobe Memorial Gardens, UBC.

Last year, I attended the 2014  Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education Conference  where there were a number of sessions on the use of mindfulness in higher education. This inspired me to think about how I might bring mindfulness into my teaching.

I teach in the Bachelor of Education program at the University of BC and my students are individuals who are preparing to be teachers in elementary and secondary schools. The course I teach looks at the role of knowledge in a teacher’s practice. In our short six weeks together, we explore concepts such as pedagogical content knowledge, core knowledge, embodied knowledge and “other” ways of knowing.

Given the course goals, I have  recently started to incorporate mindfulness into my classroom teaching. Additional reasons that have motivated me to do so are:

  • mindfulness is increasingly being used in the K-12 system (with many proven benefits) and therefore I want my students to become more familiar with it so they can decide whether or not to adopt it in their teaching
  • university students are often stressed and anxious and, by learning about mindfulness and being able to do short exercises, they may start to apply these techniques in their personal lives for their own well-being

I think it is relevant to say that, prior to this, I did not have my own mindfulness practice; that is, I was not able to draw upon my own past experience and have been learning as I go.

What have I done to bring this into the classroom?

  • Have created a “mindfulness” section of my course site where I suggest exercises to the students (i.e., “try this during the week”)
  • Present on evidence-based benefits of mindfulness in class
  • Do short mindfulness exercises in class (breathing, listen to the sounds)
  • Have a classroom discussion where students share their experiences of mindfulness in their schools
  • And, this week, together with Dr. Erin Graham who teaches the same course at the same time, we took the class to the Nitobe Memorial Gardens  where they practiced mindfulness in this lovely setting. Before hand, we sent students “instructions” with various exercises to try out.

In the past offering of this course, I received positive feedback from students on the incorporation of mindfulness. I will continue to invite feedback from students to get a sense of how this is going for them.

Some useful resources I have discovered along the way:

 

Ways to structure a writing group

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writing group
Photo courtesy of Alan Cleaver via Flickr

This week I met with folks who are interested in forming a writing group; many of us did not know each other and we were brought together by the lovely Sara Harris of UBC’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences.

The meeting has prompted me to write about two different writing group structures I have been a part of, in the hopes that the ideas below may help others who are starting a group and/or looking for peer support in their writing.

1. Face to Face Regular Writing Group with Feedback

For a period of approximately four and a half years starting early in my PhD, seven of us from the same cohort decided to support one another in our writing.  Once we agreed that we wanted to have weekly, face-to-face meetings (same day, time and location–for the most part) and that we wanted to get feedback on our written work, here is how we tackled some of the logistics:

Meeting coordinator: This position rotated and relied on one of us volunteering to set up a Google doc for a 2-month period.   The Google doc had weekly dates and a line for “writer/presenter” and another for “reviewer”.

Attendance: We knew that there was no way all of us could make it to all the meetings.  So, in the Google doc listed above, we indicated which meetings we could attend and whether we wanted to be “reviewer” or “writer/presenter” at the meeting.  If less than three people signed up as reviewers, it was up to the writer/presenter to decide whether she still wanted to have a face-to-face meeting or whether she would be happy to receive feedback via email.  She could also decide to sign up for another date when more reviewers would be present.

Writer/Presenter:  Each of us would decide to sign up as a presenter when we knew (or believed) we would have a piece of writing ready.  Writing could be a conference proposal, a section of a paper, an outline, or any other text that might benefit from a critical friend.  The presenter would send out her writing to the attendees a minimum of two days before the meeting. Normally, the presenter would include brief instructions about what she was hoping to get feedback on, specifically (i.e. organization, clarity, flow, argument etc).

Length of work: As a group, we agreed that the maximum length of the text to review was 5 pages.

Feedback: Each reviewer would provide feedback to the writer/presenter.  Some would note their feedback on a hardcopy, others would use track changes, and others would speak their feedback only.

Meeting structure: Our meetings were 1 1/2 hours long. We would do a very quick check-in, and then get right to feedback.  We would go around the table and individually give our feedback to the presenter.  We used “leftover” time to talk about life, including writing, studies, work, parenting etcetera.

Our group started to fizzle once most of us had completed our PhDs. However, while it lasted, it was terrific!

2. Occasional Face-to-Face Writing Group with “Calls for Feedback” Online

In another type of writing group I belonged to, five of us from the same department decided to support one another (three of us were completing PhDs and two were doing their Masters) in the following ways:

  • Meet monthly for approximately one hour to check in and get a sense of what writing projects were on the horizon and when people would want feedback.
  • Follow up the meeting with a quick email outlining who would be sending out writing and who would be reviewing that writing in the coming month.
  • On the agreed upon date, writer would send reviewers the writing with any special instructions for feedback.  Reviewers would provide feedback within required time frame (negotiated between writer and reviewers).
  • Between meetings, if one of us had a piece of writing that we hadn’t anticipated needing feedback on, we could email the group with “Can anyone help me?” Group members could individually decide whether they could take on additional reviews.

Due to a number of different circumstances (graduated from program, moved away etc), we have not been meeting monthly for the past two years or so. Nevertheless, we still occasionally  email each other with writing requests and someone always volunteers to review.

Educational development: common sense or content expertise?

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As teachers and educational developers, we have all undoubtedly come across people who believe our work is “common sense”. Though I am convinced we apply common sense to our work, I am equally convinced that our content expertise (in this case, our subject knowledge of teaching and learning in higher education) factors in strongly.  As Shulman (1986) asserts: The way you understand your subject influences the way you teach. In my work at the teaching and learning centre, the educational developer is the teacher, and the students are the learners who participate in our workshops and with whom we consult.

Because of the course I am teaching (Education, Knowledge, and Curriculum, in the Bachelor of Education Program), I have been reading again about pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), or “the ways of representing and formulating the subject that makes it comprehensible for others”. It has gotten me thinking about how PCK might apply to my educational development work.  Like the teacher candidates in my course, I wonder if I’m under-rating my knowledge of “the subject”—in this case educational development.

knowledge eyechart
Here are some of statements and questions, pulled from the references below and modified, that I find particularly useful as I think about our educational development knowledge and work:  (I have replaced the word “teachers” with “educational developers”):

  • How does somebody who really knows something teach it to somebody who doesn’t?
  • Educational developers are often unaware of the knowledge they possess–it being often contextualised and associated with particular learners, events, and teaching situations.
  • What are the most powerful examples, explanations, analogies that I use to promote the learners’ understanding of x, y or z?
  • Teaching in educational development is not generic (was “teaching is not generic”)
  • How do I prepare to teach (in an ED context) something I have never previously learned?

On Monday in class, I urged the teacher candidates to honour their content knowledge.  I think I need to take my own advice.

Photo credit: Nancy White, “Knowledge eye chart”. https://flic.kr/p/5Sy5Cq, Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

References:
Shulman, L. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.
Shulman, L. & Sparks, D. (1992). Merging content knowledge and pedagogy: An interview with Lee Shulman.  Journal of Staff Development, 13(1). 14-16.
Berry, A., Loughran, J. & van Driel, J.H. (2008). Revisiting the roots of pedagogical content knowledge. International Journal of Science Education, 30(10). 1271-1279.

Terminology – Teaching Philosophy

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NOTES

Note 1: I adopt Askew and Lodge’s definition of feedback as “all dialogue to support learning in both formal and informal situations” (Askew & Lodge, 2000 as cited in Carless, Salter, Yang & Lam, 2011 )

Note 2: I define critical thinking as a practice that involves “actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication” (Scriven & Paul, 2013). Critical thinking helps uncover assumptions, biases, and unexamined ways of being. The act of critical thinking shapes beliefs and guides actions (Duncan, n.d.).

Note 3. Purposeful reflection is “underpinned by a transformative approach to learning that sees the pedagogical process as one of knowledge transformation rather than knowledge transmission.” (Ryan and Ryan, 2012, p.246)

Academic Writing

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Professional Growth: Academic Writing

I have a strange fascination with academic writing. I love to read about it, learn about it, and think about it. Actually doing the writing is also part of the work (but I wouldn’t quite call that part a “fascination”!).

I have a regular writing practice which involves 30 minutes/day for 5 days week. I normally manage that by waking at 5 am, writing first, and then moving on with my day. I especially enjoy working on a piece of writing with others. Some of my favourite writing-related resources can be found here.

In addition to writing for peer-reviewed publications, I have a blog and publish posts in LinkedIn.

Below is a list of workshops/webinars I have attended to grow as a writer:

  • Providing Effective Feedback on Writing Assignments. Offered as part of the CTLT Institute, this 2 hour workshop provided us with techniques for being able to be more efficient and effective when we provide feedback to students on their writing.  Facilitators: Jackie Stewart and Meghan Aube. Loads of great follow up resources here.
  • 30 Articles in 30 Days. Punchy 4-hour webinar offered by Emphasis on Excellence. This was fun and inspiring and engaged the participants creative writing work.  This was a reminder that almost everything we do/think/consider can be written up and be of value to others. (April 22, 2016)
  • Blogging for Academics. In this webinar, Mark Leccese offered some advice for bloggers. Key ideas for me: (1) finding your voice is hard; (2) consider blogging for other blogs.Offered by the Text and Academic Authors Association (February 2016)
  • An Introduction to Academic Blogging. In this webinar, Dr. Lee Skallerup Bessette, spoke about her own path into blogging and some of the lessons learned which may help others as they start to blog.  This webinar prompted me to start blogging. Offered by Academic Coaching and Writing (May 2015)
  • Go Organic! Growing Your Writing Process From Seed to Harvest. In this webinar, Dr. Cassie Premo Steele  used metaphors and images of the four seasons to teach us about moving our work from “the seed of an idea…into a sustainable harvest”. Offered by the Text and Academic Authors Association (January 2015)
  • Leverage our Experience: Write More, Publish More, Stress Less.  Facilitator: Dr. Dannelle Stevens. Pre-conference workshop offered at POD (November 2014).
  • Habits of Highly Effective Writers. October 29, 2012. Facilitated by Dr. Helen Sword from the University of Auckland.
  • From Academic Researcher to Commercial Writer (Workshop offered as part of the Graduate Pathways to Success Program. Facilitator Simon Clews. Wednesday, October 19, 2011)