Course Journal: Category 1
PIDP 3100
Professor Glenn Galy
March 12th, 2015
Sean Harris
“21st century competencies include deep understanding, flexibility and the capacity to make creative connections and a range of so-called 'soft skills' including good 'team-working'”
Objective
This quote immediately spoke to me from a teaching point of view, specifically the fact that the quote made a point of mentioning
making creative connections. Reading this quote has opened my eyes to the necessity of providing my students with opportunities
to make creative connections in the classroom. It has been my experience in the classroom that those students that are given the
opportunity to practice their ‘soft-skills’ such as team work are the ones that tend to be most successful. Preceding this quote the
text also touches on the idea of hyper-connectivity.
“what is different today is the speed and intensity of this movement (referring to the movement of goods and services and likening it
to information). As Friedman (2011), one of the major commentators of this phenomenon writes, we have moved from connected to
hyper-connected” (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p.2)
In our world today everyone, not just adult learners are continually confronted with chances to foster and further connections with
information as well as each other. This has proven to be not only a useful, but a vital skill in modern times. By setting up classes that
foster these skills we are not only providing our students with the skills to succeed in their academic subject of choice, but also to
succeed in life in general.
Reflective
This quote has made me realize something interesting about teaching adults that I honestly did not take into account before;
namely, the fact that technology and connections have not only evolved with adult learners but also that adult learners have
evolved with technology and connections. Many adult educators, myself included, have been guilty of overlooking the fact that adult
learners have been exposed to many different forms of connectivity at this point. Further, the work place where these adults are
coming from has also evolved. Gone are the days of the solitary office worker spending the day writing numbers on a ledger. Adults
in the work force are not only used to working with others in a team setting, but rather, this has become a vital part of their jobs. I
have realized that I need to set my classes up in a such a way that these inherent skills that are present in the vast majority of adult
learners are used in a productive way and fostered to ensure the student is stronger when they leave the class, not only in the
subject but also in their ‘soft-skills’
Interpretive
On reading this quote I immediately thought back to one of my prior students, a lawyer from Poland who was only studying in
Canada for two weeks. This student was used to working with a team of diverse individuals in her practice and as such, she
immediately took to group work. Part of my policy in class was to continually mix the groups of students up; however, this student
did not once wait for me to change her group. She would make the effort herself to always pair up with someone that she had not
worked with in the past. This provided her with two things. One, because she was speaking with students from other countries she
had to work on her listening and speaking skills to make sure that she understood and was understood. This helped her to progress
in class very quickly. The most interesting part to me however was the second benefit. She had to ‘listen’ to the other students in
class. This student was continually forming new and quick relationships. She had to build rapport with the other students in her
group quickly. This necessitated that she was constantly paying attention to her ‘soft-skills’; her ability to listen and empathize with
the other students in the group. This engaged the other students and because of this, not only herself but her learning partners were
able to benefit. One thing I will take away from this quote and this experience is to always provide my learners with the ability to
work on these ‘soft-skills’ in class so that they can practice them outside of class.
Decisional
From reflecting on this quote I can see that I have not done enough to ensure that my students are using their inherent team-working
and relation building skills in the past. I have often approached my students as individual bodies in a classroom. This is useful in
some situations but by planning my classes in such a way that they tap into the collaborative skills that these students will already
have I can ensure that I am setting them up for success in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.
References
Merriam S.B., Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
PIDP 3100
Professor Glenn Galy
March 12th, 2015
Sean Harris
“21st century competencies include deep understanding, flexibility and the capacity to make creative connections and a range of so-called 'soft skills' including good 'team-working'”
Objective
This quote immediately spoke to me from a teaching point of view, specifically the fact that the quote made a point of mentioning
making creative connections. Reading this quote has opened my eyes to the necessity of providing my students with opportunities
to make creative connections in the classroom. It has been my experience in the classroom that those students that are given the
opportunity to practice their ‘soft-skills’ such as team work are the ones that tend to be most successful. Preceding this quote the
text also touches on the idea of hyper-connectivity.
“what is different today is the speed and intensity of this movement (referring to the movement of goods and services and likening it
to information). As Friedman (2011), one of the major commentators of this phenomenon writes, we have moved from connected to
hyper-connected” (Merriam & Bierema, 2014, p.2)
In our world today everyone, not just adult learners are continually confronted with chances to foster and further connections with
information as well as each other. This has proven to be not only a useful, but a vital skill in modern times. By setting up classes that
foster these skills we are not only providing our students with the skills to succeed in their academic subject of choice, but also to
succeed in life in general.
Reflective
This quote has made me realize something interesting about teaching adults that I honestly did not take into account before;
namely, the fact that technology and connections have not only evolved with adult learners but also that adult learners have
evolved with technology and connections. Many adult educators, myself included, have been guilty of overlooking the fact that adult
learners have been exposed to many different forms of connectivity at this point. Further, the work place where these adults are
coming from has also evolved. Gone are the days of the solitary office worker spending the day writing numbers on a ledger. Adults
in the work force are not only used to working with others in a team setting, but rather, this has become a vital part of their jobs. I
have realized that I need to set my classes up in a such a way that these inherent skills that are present in the vast majority of adult
learners are used in a productive way and fostered to ensure the student is stronger when they leave the class, not only in the
subject but also in their ‘soft-skills’
Interpretive
On reading this quote I immediately thought back to one of my prior students, a lawyer from Poland who was only studying in
Canada for two weeks. This student was used to working with a team of diverse individuals in her practice and as such, she
immediately took to group work. Part of my policy in class was to continually mix the groups of students up; however, this student
did not once wait for me to change her group. She would make the effort herself to always pair up with someone that she had not
worked with in the past. This provided her with two things. One, because she was speaking with students from other countries she
had to work on her listening and speaking skills to make sure that she understood and was understood. This helped her to progress
in class very quickly. The most interesting part to me however was the second benefit. She had to ‘listen’ to the other students in
class. This student was continually forming new and quick relationships. She had to build rapport with the other students in her
group quickly. This necessitated that she was constantly paying attention to her ‘soft-skills’; her ability to listen and empathize with
the other students in the group. This engaged the other students and because of this, not only herself but her learning partners were
able to benefit. One thing I will take away from this quote and this experience is to always provide my learners with the ability to
work on these ‘soft-skills’ in class so that they can practice them outside of class.
Decisional
From reflecting on this quote I can see that I have not done enough to ensure that my students are using their inherent team-working
and relation building skills in the past. I have often approached my students as individual bodies in a classroom. This is useful in
some situations but by planning my classes in such a way that they tap into the collaborative skills that these students will already
have I can ensure that I am setting them up for success in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.
References
Merriam S.B., Bierema, L.L. (2014). Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.