The 3260 experience
Who am I?
Hello all,
My name is Sean and it is nice to meet all of you. I am currently taking the PIDP 3260 course to finish off my BC provincial instructors diploma. I am currently an educational administrator and many of the issues that will be touched on during this course are things that I deal with on a daily basis. I am hoping that I will gain from this course some valuable insight and tools to deal with both teacher and student issues as they arise.
This is a pre-existing blog that I created for 3100, however, I would like to continue using it so I have added a specific page for this course. Throughout my weeks in this course I will be adding my posts here, with the newest always at the top. If you are looking for older posts please scroll down the page. I will keep the titles as clear as possible.
My full autobiography can be found here, and a list of useful links that I have been working on, including the SIE Facebook page and the VCC page can be found here.
My name is Sean and it is nice to meet all of you. I am currently taking the PIDP 3260 course to finish off my BC provincial instructors diploma. I am currently an educational administrator and many of the issues that will be touched on during this course are things that I deal with on a daily basis. I am hoping that I will gain from this course some valuable insight and tools to deal with both teacher and student issues as they arise.
This is a pre-existing blog that I created for 3100, however, I would like to continue using it so I have added a specific page for this course. Throughout my weeks in this course I will be adding my posts here, with the newest always at the top. If you are looking for older posts please scroll down the page. I will keep the titles as clear as possible.
My full autobiography can be found here, and a list of useful links that I have been working on, including the SIE Facebook page and the VCC page can be found here.
ciq digital projectFor my digital project I have decided to create an infographic on the Critical Incident Questionnaire as this is a tool that I would like to incorporate into our classes. The project can be seen below and also accessed at this link.
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my pidp journey"Sean, we were thinking and it might be a good idea for you and the rest of the team to take the PIDP course."
ME: "Ok, what is that?" COO of company: "It's a course on adult education" ME: "Ok, anything else I should know?" COO: "Don't take forever to finish it" This was roughly my introduction to the PID program. At the time the institution I work for was going through the PCTIA accreditation process, one of the requirements being that our SEA (Senior Educational Administrator) had the PID qualification. Our SEA did not and she completed the course in record time. I was allowed to take it as I am guessing my institution felt that it was better to have two people with the qualification rather than one. I had assumed that the program would be easy. After all, I was a seasoned adult educator with well over 4 years of experience in the field. I obviously knew everything! I was obviously very very wrong. What started as a work commitment has turned into something far greater for me. The amount that I have learned over the last year has been fantastic for me and I can say that my perspectives on adult education have definitely been changed. I had always thought of myself as an organic educator, someone who took my whole class into perspective and kept their needs in focus while teaching. However, each course that I have completed in the program has shown me areas where I can improve and mistakes that I have been making. I am currently completing my last course, PIDP 3260, and will be moving on to my capstone project soon, let's see if I can wrap all that I have learned into a neat little video package. The point of this blog post is to reflect on my PIDP journey. I am not trying to be facetious here but my reflection on this course will be a reflection on reflection. I understand that is a complicated sentence, let me explain. Each of the courses I have taken has been unique, each focusing on a different area of adult education. The one common theme throughout though has been a focus on reflective journalling. As much as I disliked this at first, I have now become a major proponent of this, not only as a tool for myself as an educator but also as a professional development tool for my teachers and a formative assessment tool for my students. My professor for 3250, Brian Aitken put this into perspective for me. Journalling allows us to take the information that we have received and put it back into our brains, making a new connection. This tool has been the most useful thing for me out of this entire program. Journalling has helped me to recall Bloom, to use Brookfields CIQ correctly, to put myself in my students shoes and to look at the challenges my teachers face through their own lens. It has also helped me look critically at situations and form plans based on research rather than simple emotional responses...even though Brookfield does say it is ok to do so in some instances. When I reflect on my PIDP journey I will reflect on the process by which I learned to reflect. It's been a great lesson. |
lifelong learning - learning and teachingI've often told teachers that are new to my school that the minute they leave a class and think to themselves that there is nothing they could have done better or nothing they could learn from that class that that would be a good time to consider moving on.
It sounds harsh but to me at least, the very nature of teaching requires us to be lifelong learners. To explain let's take a look at what we expect of our students. We expect them to meet our class outcomes, we expect them to be contributing members of the community (in class and out), we expect them to be engaged in their subject matter. We as teachers need to do the same. How can we ask this of our students if we do not do the same ourselves? Yes, we all might teach different subjects and we all might believe different methodologies or modalities work. If we have learned anything from The Skillful Teacher it's that we need to do what works best for our class, but how do we find that out unless we are constantly looking for new ways and educating ourselves? Further, we should never lose our curiosity as teachers. One thing that I have always joked about with my friends is the difficulty in managing teachers due to the fact that they question everything. Joking aside I would not change that for anything. To me a curious teacher is one that will also educate themselves. Lifelong learning is vital for any profession, but I would argue it is paramount to our careers in education. We know that we need to be adapting to the needs of our students. We cannot hope to do that if we close the books and say, we know enough already. |
Brookfield Chapter eight - getting students to participate in discussionBrookfield's chapter 8, focusing on getting students to participate in conversation was a great chapter for me to read at this point in the course.
At the moment, we have two classes running teaching the same subject. Class 1 has students that are participatory where class 2 has students that are very resistant to conversation. I have spent time talking to the students from class 2, seeing what might be stopping them from participating in conversation and have received some great feedback from them, however, the problem is still there. Thankfully, chapter 8 provides us with some reasons that we might not necessarily think about as to why students might not participate in discussion in class. - Personal Introversion - Fear of looking stupid - Feeling unprepared. - We don't trust you. - We're not welcome here. - We've been burned. - Talking isn't cool. - The teachers doing all the talking. - Talking isn't rewarded. For the most part I have focused on the last two parts. We have coached the teacher to not speak as much and open the floor up to more input from the students and we have also stressed that participation in discussion is a part of the final grade for the students, however, we have certainly not paid as close attention as we could to some of the other points. Our students are all international and many are having their first experience at the post secondary level here in Canada. That being said, many of our other students have already studied at the graduate level. What this has caused is two groups that do not understand each other. From the outset of our next set of classes I would like to have a focus placed on explaining to the students that regardless of background, they will all be learning the same thing. It will also be beneficial to them to understand that the classroom is a safe space and that they do not need to feel afraid to speak. By emphasising this from the beginning of the next class we can hopefully increase the amount of discussion in class B. |
The ACCREDITATION ProcessI would have loved to added a humorous subtitle to this posting but to be honest I am a little bit tired from just having gone through this process with my institution.
First, a brief caveat. Although the accreditation process can seem difficult and stressful and full of bureaucracy, I am completely in agreement that it needs to be there and that institutions that take on the responsibility of educating students should be accredited. I am in the unique position that I have been able to observe the accreditation from two perspectives over the last 12 months. 1. The international college that I work at has undergone the PCTIA registration and accredidation process. 2. The language school that I work at is now coming under the scope of PCTIA. From the college point of view things were quite straightforward. We were given a set of guidelines to follow, a checklist to work from and had the support of the PCTIA staff here in Vancouver to help us along the way. The support and guidance we have received from them has been invaluable to us and has served to make us a better institution overall. Also, the subject matter experts that take part in the accreditation process have a wealth of information and we have used this to enhance what we deliver in the college. From the beginning, we took the mindset that the accreditation process was there to help us better serve our students. I think keeping this attitude was key as I have heard others complain about the process and view it very negatively. From the language school point of view the accreditation process has been a journey. Language schools did not come under the jurisdiction of PCTIA or the Ministry before but times have changed. As PCTIA has been the regulatory body for private career colleges that generally operate on a fixed intake basis, it has been a stretch to ensure that a school with a weekly intake remains in compliance. It would be very easy to complain that the regulations set out by the regulatory body should not apply to us as we operate on a completely different model but again, approaching it with the right attitude has made a world of difference. When going through the accreditation process it is important to remember one thing. The regulations are there to protect the students. Yes, they can be difficult to enact and yes, the process is stressful (I will never forget how dry my mouth was for the first meeting with a subject matter expert) but at the end of the day the regulators have the same goal in mind as all of us that choose to stay in education as a career, serve the students. |
Brookfield Chapter six - Lecturing creativelyA major point that has been made throughout the entire PID program has been the importance of moving away from lecturing and towards more discussion based lessons in our teaching. In chapter 6, Brookfield takes the refreshing approach of advocating for lecturing, as longs as it is used responsibly and correctly.
Brookfield makes the point that there does not have to be a black and white model in education where lecturing is viewed as bad and discussion as good. As noted in the Skillful Teacher, there are many instances where a discussion can be manipulated by the teacher and fail in the same way that an authoritarian lecture would. Brookfield outlines some various best practices for incorporating and using lecturing correctly in class but one are that I would like to focus on is that of using silence. Silence can be uncomfortable. As soon as a room goes quiet many teachers will view the situation as lost. The students have either given up or falling asleep. What Brookfield proposes is that silence, especially in a lecture, is something that should be nurtured. Lecturing, when used correctly, is a great way to outline some difficult points that you will be covering. Brookfield makes the analogy that lecturing can be used as a way to mark the trail for a particularly difficult topic. Because it is being used to cover difficult territory it is important to give the students a chance to mull over the information and take it in. Just like being on a difficult hike, it is important to take rest breaks. Brookfield also notes that lecturing should be chunked. No more then 15 minutes of information at a time with breaks interspersed so that students can reflect on what they have learned. This chapter has given me some great tools to incorporate lecturing back into my teaching with the confidence that I am doing it in a student centred way. |
Professional Snapshot - Where I am and where I want to be.I have not had much of a chance to think about this topic since I began the PIDP last year. I have been focused entirely on working and completing this program. Now that I am nearing the end of this program I am finding myself with more time to reflect and to think about where I am currently in my career versus where I want to be. This topic could not have come up at a better time.
Currently I am working in two capacities in education. I am an assistant director of studies for a language school and a program coordinator for a hospitality college. Both of these positions require me to lead educational staff as well as provide guidance for international students in regards to their academic performance and acculturation to their learning environment. I am finding that I truly love both aspects of these jobs. However, I am also finding that I am starting to wear myself a little thin. Filling both of these roles leads to an average day in the office of around 10 or more hours, not to mention the work that gets brought home. I am hoping that on completion of this course I will be able to make time to fully transfer my responsibilities as assistant director to another member of my team and focus solely on developing the hospitality college further. In five years time I would like to be at the director level. I believe this is an attainable goal for me. However, this is predicated on me on continuing my education and taking chances that could be out of my comfort zone. Confidence has always been an issue for me. I am aware that I have the skill set necessary to be successful but I often doubt myself and my ideas. I am feeling more confident with the skills that I have learned in this program and it makes it easier for me suggest new ideas when I know those ideas are backed by thought leaders in the field of higher education. Teaching Naked, (Bowen) has been an eye opener for me and it has absolutely influenced how I approach education and educational leadership. In regards to education, I have been made acutely aware that to be an effective educator you have to have a passion for learning. After this course I would like to take a few months off from learning and then ideally jump into a masters in adult education. Furthermore, as my current position and the positions that I would like to eventually attain require the leadership and implementation of many projects it would be wise for me to take a project management course. This course has given me two things. Confidence in my ability in the classroom and in leading instructors, and tools that I can use to help my students and to guide my staff. What I need to do now is take a step back and balance work, studies and my life as I can be much more effective when I have the chance to focus on excelling in my role rather than trying to cover as many roles as possible. Brookfield - Chapter two - Core Assumptions of Skillful TeachingI am really appreciating this book at the moment as it seems to be anticipating situations that I am facing on a weekly basis.
This chapter dealt with what the author called 'assumptions' of a skillful teacher but what I would call attributes. Three skill sets that effective and engaging instructors use to ensure they remain at the top of their gain and continue to grow to meet their students needs.
I might be wrong but I can see a common theme running through these assumptions. To be effective educators we need to be able to set aside our egos, in this case our firmly held beliefs regarding how we 'should' be instructing and how our students 'should' be learning and truly pay attention to what it is our students need. Did anyone get anything else from this chapter? HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
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Students on Facebook
We live in a world that is increasingly connected. Social media plays a major role in how we interact with each other. Our students have been brought up in this world and they expect us to understand and use social media. However, where is the line? How much do we really want our students to know about our lives outside of school? How much do we want to know about our students lives?
I have found this article published in the Guardian talking about the wide range of policies in schools regarding the use of social media between teachers and students. As this is still a relatively new invention there are a wide range of policies in use across different school boards from boards that ban teachers from having a Facebook account to boards that are ok with teachers 'friending' students. My own school has no policy regarding this as we deal with students 18 and up, however, I do have a personal policy that I try to have my teachers follow this. I will add students to facebook but only after they have graduated. I do not believe that it is best practice to have current students as friends on Facebook. It can put you in an awkward situation and I feel that it can lead to students not respecting you as a teacher. There should be a professional divide between us and our students. As Facebook is meant to bring us closer together it is best to leave the friend request unanswered until graduation. Brookfield - Chapter nine - Teaching in Diverse Classrooms.This was an interesting chapter for me as my entire educational career thus far has been in diverse environments. My first foray into education was as a guest English teacher in South Korea and I have been involved in international education ever since.
Taking into account my students unique needs and the background cultural factors that underlie their educational experiences has been something that I have always been very aware of, however, this chapter has absolutely taught me something new. Brookfield mentions on page 158 that team teaching is a great approach to ensuring that our instruction is meeting our students needs on a cultural level. The interesting part to me is that on reflection the team teaching that I have done and have had my instructors take part in is not actually team teaching but rather, sequential solo instruction. We have absolutely assigned specific parts of courses to instructors and have had them work together to plan their instruction, but have never taken into account that our instructors will each have unique strengths and skills that will likely speak to different students in different ways. The use of the critical incident questionnaire for students is certainly a great way to gauge whether or not our instructors are responding to the diverse needs of our students, however, I would like to introduce the use of CIQ's for our teachers as well. (Brookfield, p. 43) We focus so much on taking the culture of our students into account, we should be doing the same for our instructors. Knowing what works for them will help me to guide and position them in such a way that will have the greatest chance of success in their classrooms, which will in turn create a better environment for our students. Brookfield - Chapter oneThis book is for hard days.
Great opening line for the chapter and something that really spoke to me. What I have noticed in my own professional career is that the further I get into education, the more complicated my days become. As a new teacher, my day was fairly straightforward. Go to class, keep my outcomes in mind, ensure my students meet those outcomes, follow the school policies. Now, as an administrator, my days are much more complex. Do I make an exception for this student? What about the rest of the students? Why has teacher x acted in this way? Was it in the best interest of the student, the school, the teacher themselves? Reading from an experienced educator, someone whom has had to deal with all these situations, and freely admits that teaching is not always easy, that even the best of teachers 'muddle' through from time to time, was refreshing for me. Knowing that it is ok to not have the answer to everything, to essentially give myself the same breathing space that I give to my students and staff, has been a revelation for me. I am looking forward to getting deeper into the course material. Was this a revelation for any of you? HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
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Brookfield - Chapter twelve - Responding to Resistance
I found this chapter to be very interesting and useful. As educators we have all, at one point or another, faced resistance in the classroom. When encountered with this situation I have always tried to reflect on what could be happening, however, this chapter providing some other opinions about why students resist learning that I had not considered before.
I had always considered the difficulty of what I was teaching to be a major reason of why some students were resistant, however, I had never considered that the students having a low image of themselves would have an impact on their resistance to learning. Further, as cutting as it may seem it was refreshing to see someone writing about the fact that sometimes, you will not be liked by all of your students. We have to remember that as adult educators we are always working with diverse groups of adults. Just as in life we will inevitably not get along with everyone. I also really appreciated the advice given on page 228 regarding involving students in my educational planning. This was a useful chapter for me and I look forward to incorporating some of these techniques into my own teaching. Ken Robinson - do Schools Kill Creativity?I can still remember the first time that I watched this video. It was in my 3250 and the instructor was using it to demonstrate two things;
1. The effectiveness of using video to make a point in the classroom (not be the emphasis of it) 2. That education should be about so much more than test scores. I took the video just as above. It was entertaining to me, kept me engaged in the lesson and reaffirmed a closely held belief of mine that education can and should be more. Be more. I understand that that is a vague term that can encompass everything. But that to me is what education can be. It should be a part of everything and should be a focus for everything. The video focuses on the fact that we learn in different ways and that we all have different talents that often times are not expanded on in our traditional education systems. Let me bring the point back to something a little less vague. When we focus solely on test scores, on outcomes in the classroom we end up losing students. They lose interest and we effectively weed them out of the educational system. By making education all encompassing by adapting to our students interests and learning styles we give our students an incredibly valuable tool. We give them a love for education and life long learning. Results of my TPIWhat a great tool!
It was interesting to see where I fell on the scale and contrast it to where I thought I would fall. For those of you that have not taken the chance to go through this tool I will provide a quick rundown. The teaching perspectives inventory is an online tool that provides you with a visual representation of how you approach education. What surprised me was where I fell on the social reform scale. I am one of those of the generation on the cusp. Not quite a millennial, not quite generation x. As such I have always had a drive to change current policies, but have also always wanted a safe environment to do this in. Where I peaked on the scale was in my nurturing, development and apprenticeship indexes. Where I scored lowest was in the social reform index. Evidently I want to nurture my students but am not as concerned with how this nurturing will effect the overall climate of our society. I think this ties in with our first reading of the course, Brookfield chapter 1. In this chapter he touches on the fact that teachers often ignore their own perspectives and focus on what is acceptable and being practised by ones peers in the classroom. Brookfield notes that we need to trust our instincts and not discount our previous experiences. I think it's time that I take this advice and start putting some more thought into how my students fit into the overall picture of bettering society, not just themselves. |