Hype on Education

Creativity & Creation in the Classroom

Author: hypeonlife (Page 2 of 3)

3. “Where I Am” and “Where I Could Be(come)” as Currere (Parts 3 and 4)

July 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

“Roots”

As I review “where I am” in my teaching focus, a story emerges from my recent past.  Teaching in a small rural town of Lumby for two years, I came away with an interesting experience with one of my male colleagues.  He pulled me aside one day and said, “you know, Deanna.  I think you’re a great teacher.  But you teach too much about Indigenous ways.”  He went on to tell me about how he worked hard for everything he had and wasn’t handed anything in life.  I was left wondering if he will ever see his privilege as a white, male, growing up in an affluent area.  It did not change my course of teaching, in fact, it strengthened my pursuit.

As I read Aoki’s and Thom’s chapters, my own privilege has just dawned on me.  Actually, it kind of struck me as I read your words, “In deep ways these peoples and their (hi)stories touch and impress upon my own [(Japanese)(Chinese)(Canadian)] being and becoming.” (Thom, 2024, p. 4)  Suddenly I recognize that I know my roots, that I know my family history, that I feel embedded in them.  I am privileged to have had this experience to shape me into the person I am today. I don’t question my roots.  They are me.  The Japanese-Canadians had to fight to know themselves, to become.

As Thom describes this familiarity in these stories we hear, I recognize similarities between the Canadian government’s treatment of Indigenous peoples and Japanese-Canadians.  They not only stripped the Japanese of their homes and their belongings, but they stripped them of their identity as Canadian’s.  The government fingerprinted them, imprisoned them and treated them as criminals.  Through these stories, comes the repetition of loss, identity-struggles, voids, irreparable damage to a people and a culture.  Hearing the way the Cumberland people are committed to telling their stories makes me recognize there is room for another word here: Courage.  Courage of the people who are reliving their trauma to share their family history, and speaking the truth.  

The courage of the Japenese-Canadians in Cumberland is profound to me.  One of the Acts of Reconciliation for our Indigenous people of Canada is to not forget their past, and to speak the names of the survivors of Residential Schools.  In Cumberland, the act of creating a museum, sharing photos, names, family trees, stories and history with the future generations, is an act of courage and healing.  The people who suffered are not forgotten when we say their names.

I had a moment of epiphany when Douglas Aoki was walking through the trees they planted to commemorate the loss of a community in Cumberland.  He said, “You still have that living tree there.  To have that literally living connection with all sorts of people, that was extraordinary for me.” (STORYHIVE, 2019)  He even picks an apple from one of the trees and holds it, like it were gold.  

The trees are living.  Their stories are living.  

Reference List:

STORYHIVE (Director). (2019, July 15). Hayashi Studio. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSTkdp9M18s

Thom. (2023). Understanding curriculum amidst doing curriculum research.

1. “Where I Am” and “Where I Could Be” as Currere

July 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Apple Orchards & Experiential Learning

I am a tree.  

Rooted; leaves open to the world; constantly growing.

I was raised in a home with busy parents.  Their hustle to provide often left me alone, but I was gifted with grandparents who lived behind us, and I spent my afternoons with their patience and guidance.  My Papa was kind and warm.  The memory that lives in my heart as brightly as the days we walked, is our afternoon walks in Kidston Orchard.  

The orchard was about twenty steps from our backyard.  Acres of beautiful land overlooking Kalamalka Lake, housed rows of pear and apple trees.  This place was a quiet gift for us to share our day as my Papa and I walked the land.  We had an agreement with the owner of the orchard – we could pick up the apples that had fallen from the trees onto the ground and eat those.  My Papa showed me the value of staying true to your word and honouring people’s wishes, of enjoying and appreciating the land that surrounds us, and that an apple is just as good, even with a few bruises.

In University, I participated in a specialization in Indigenous studies.  It was during this time that I learned about the clash of teaching ideologies with of western with Indigenous views. Indigenous people have historically learned best through experiential learning, by doing and participating in activities that shape their knowledge along the way.  In this program,  I once again was brought back to learning from an elder, as our cohort carved wooden paddles together.  Through this, I noticed I could step away from the usual “when is this due?”  I could relax and enjoy the learning, again, at a walking pace. It wasn’t about a race to the finish or a test at the end; the process was the learning. 

As an Indigenous First People’s English teacher, I use stories of our lands in the Okanagan to give students a strong sense of place.  We learn of the history of the Okanagan Indigenous peoples and the journey that has brought us to today.  I also ask my students to share their stories, through their words or written language.  Through this, I hope to give them the gift of a stronger identity.  Life’s decisions are much easier if we have a strong sense of who we are.  As Pinar describes, “Indeed, currere emphasizes the everyday experience of the individual and one’s capacity to learn from that experience” (2019, p. 2).  

As a teacher, I hope to embark the passion I have for experiential learning into my lessons, to guide my students on their own path of learning and discovery; helping them find their voice in the classroom.  I teach not through just the analysis of the words we read, but through the exploration of the deeper meaning and the connection to oneself.  I aim to give my students the gift of understanding themselves.  

I hope to water the smallest seeds of curiosity to grow.

Reference List:

Pinar, W.F. (2019).  Currere.

Where/Am/I? | Meet Ted Tetsuo Aoki

July 4, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Before starting Emerging Trends and Topics in Curriculum Studies, I was preparing for my school year teaching English First Peoples.  As a part of this preparation, I was re-reading one of my favourite authors, Richard Wagamese.  The novel, Indian Horse, tells the story of a boy ripped from his family and put into Residential School.  He describes the school as, “St. Germ’s scraped away at us, leaving holes in our beings.  I could never understand how the god they proclaimed was watching over us could turn his head and ignore such cruelty and suffering” (Wagamese, 2012, p. 52).  Wagemese describes a sense of loss of identity, and the confusion with mistreatment, cruelty and racism.  

As I make my way through the assigned readings and videos, I can feel the same sense of loss that Wagamese describes, in the stories of the Japanese Canadians.  The same themes of loss of identity, and confusion through the mistreatment of Indigenous and Japanese peoples in our Canadian history.

Aoki describes his experiences with this identity-confusion through a difficulty understanding what it means to be Japanese-Canadian.  When he proclaims he is Canadian and identifies as such, he is confused by the officer’s response.  He does not see himself or his history represented as he goes through school, “That school experience of leaving my ethnic colleagues behind in Grade One was my first “learning” experience of social division by ethnicity—an example of a hidden curriculum at work” (Pinar & Irwin, 2004, p. 8).  He is not provided clarity around his history and culture.  

Reflecting on this as a teacher, it reminds me that it is our responsibility to help students form a sense of identity in school.  To help them identify their roots, and to hear stories of others to help them gain perspective.

I was twenty-two years old when I first learned about residential schools and Indigenous history in Canada.  Today, I’m thirty-eight years old and just learning about the level of cultural atrocity that occurred for Japanese Canadians in our history.  I did not know that we had the same level of segregation in our history that the African American’s faced in America.  As Aoki obtains a teaching job in Calgary and remembers the segregation issue he faced, “Here, I faced an unanticipated problem—a teacher problem for a Japanese Canadian, that of “where to live?” Calgary’s bylaws forbade residence of any Japanese Canadian within the confines of Calgary city proper” (Pinar & Irwin, 2004, p. 8).  Again, to compare, the Indigenous peoples of Canada also faced segregation to Reserves, where they too, were given curfews.  My comparison is not meant to negate either struggle, rather to encapsulate my understanding of these experiences.

These quotes left a strong impact on me, and I have to rewrite them to share the message of the author:

“A British Columbia-born Japanese Canadian in Japan? In Japan I felt that as a Japanese Canadian, I was both Japanese and non-Japanese. I felt I was both insider and outsider, “in” yet not fully in, “out” yet not fully out” (Pinar & Irwin, 2004, p. 3).

“And as a Japanese Canadian, I occasionally felt my humanness crushed or disturbed.”(Pinar & Irwin, 2004, p. 3).

After a horrible experience of racism, Aoki reflects, “I don’t remember anything of the happenings at the teachers’ convention but I do have a strong indelible memory of that ten-second episode at the Marquis” (Pinar & Irwin, 2004, p. 10).

This moment reminds me of the article “Currere” by Pinar we just read, that students need experiences in learning, and connection, not just material that they will forget.  One of my favourite teaching quotes is, “students may not remember what you taught them, but they will remember how you made them feel.”  He vividly remembers the way he was spoken to, how he was treated, and how he was singled out.  He doesn’t remember his classes that day.  This would be a traumatizing experience for someone searching for answers of his culture and to find himself.

Although difficult to read, I loved this piece of writing.  It was poetic and expressed sadness, loss, discovery, and some clarity in the end with his journey towards self-discovery and defining himself as a Japanese Canadian.  I love the ending, as he creates this clarity in his life through his teaching and educating.  He participates with others, “in its very construction” of his lived experiences to come closer to who he feels he is.   Using the metaphors created by a book “Bushido: The Soul of Japan”, he creates possibilities for himself using the relationship between the sakura and the rose.    First, he could see himself in an “either-or” way, making a choice to define himself as one or the other.  He feels this would “cripple” him.  Second, he offers a simultaneous existence, a melting-pot of the two flowers, or his two identities.  He also disregards this approach and views it as, “a metaphor borrowed from another world.”  Lastly, he creates this idea of the two existing as they are, in view, simultaneously, though holding their uniqueness.

After watching “Japanese Internment WW2,”  “Hastings Park: Mary Kitagawa” and “A Degree of Justice, Japanese Canadian UBC Students of 1942”, I’m reflecting that I taught about Japanese internment camps this year in my grade 8 socials class but hadn’t considered it for my English classes next year until watching these documentaries and listening to the stories they told.  That’s a huge oversight, this is part of our history.

I’m left with these final sentiments:

What does it mean to be Canadian?  Do I see my privilege?  Do I really see it?  It inspires me to continue to impart wisdom of cultural history for my students to see different perspectives and have empathy, understanding, and clarity.

The reparations of $20,000 each reminds me of the money given to Indigenous Canadians after their entire culture was demolished.  Why do we think money serves a purpose here?  

And I’m left with one final question: Are there acts of reconciliation for the Japanese Internment Camps?

Reference List:

Legion Magazine (Director). (2016, December 7). Japanese Canadian Internment | Narrated by David Suzuki. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8TQTuMqM9g

       Pinar, W. F., & Irwin, R. L. (2004). Reflections of a Japanese Canadian teacher experiencing         ethnicity 1 (1979). In W. F. Pinar & R. L. Irwin (Eds.), *Curriculum in a new key* (1st ed., pp. 16). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410611390

My Teaching Pedagogy Aligned with Learning Theories

March 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments

“Describe your own experience teaching or learning in the context of learning theory (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, social learning, connectivism). What theory best describes your belief around how learning takes place?”

Experiential Learning:

Participating in the Indigenous Specialization Program at UVic opened my eyes to the power of experiential learning and it’s guided my pedagogical practice.  An example of this in my classroom is my Buddy Reading Program.  I can talk to the students about the concept of “personal and social responsibility,” or, I can take my kids out of the classroom and give them opportunities to connect in their community. I believe this facilitates their identity and how it relates to community and the world.  Students reflect on the experience positively, and self-reflect on ways they could improve their interactions with the Little Buddy’s.

Constructivism:

As discussed on “Most Likely To Succeed”, the school curriculum we follow was created 130 years ago.  Since then, the way we access information has changed drastically.  In my classroom, students are not lectured at or using the entirety of class to do worksheet or gather information without the process of applying it.  Knowledge in my classroom is used as a tool to create, question, apply critical thinking skills or use in effective problem-solving situations. 

An example of this in my classroom would be a recent project in my Social Studies 8 class. Students learned about the Social Hierarchy of the Feudalism System in Ancient times. Students learned from a variety of sources including a documentary, textbooks, and a powerpoint presentation. They then applied their knowledge by creating a “Modern Code of Chivalry” and creating a powerpoint presentation to share their modern day codes with the class. The summative project for the unit was a world in Minecraft Education that conveyed the social hierarchy in a 3D Model. Students created incredible homes and farms of the peasants, including farm animals in the homes for warmth, as was reflective of the time. Students conveyed their creativity by constructing detailed buildings for each aspect of the social hierarchy. Some highlights include moats around the castles, specific weapons in the Knights homes, and artwork on the walls in the castles. In my opinion, these two examples demonstrate social constructivism, as students worked collaboratively with others to create these projects.

These projects also remind me of earlier research we learned about around the “SAMR Model” of integrating classroom technology. In my opinion, these two projects are examples of high level thinking, and using technology through the process of redefinition. The students are creating new worlds that reflect their knowledge acquisition, and no two worlds that they create, are the same. They can diversify their and create visual representations of their learning.

“The SAMR model, represented as a ladder, is a four-level approach to selecting, using, and evaluating technology in K-12 education. According to Puentedura (2006), the SAMR model is intended to be a tool through which one may describe and categorize K-12 teachers’ uses of classroom technology (see Fig. 1). The model encourages teachers to Bmove up^ from lower to higher levels of teaching with technology, which according to Puentedura, leads to higher (i.e., enhanced) levels of teaching and learning.” (Hamilton et al., 2016, p. 434)”
(Hamilton et al., 2016, p. 434)


(Hamilton et al., 2016, p. 434)

Scaffolding:

Scaffolding has always been an ongoing practice in my classroom and pedagogy.  Guided practice, modeling, graphic organizers, and chunking information are all part of my daily practice.

Community of Practice:

I have two consistent community of practice groups.  One in technology innovation and another that gets together quarterly to discuss how to support our grade 8 learners in their transition from elementary school to high school.  I enjoy getting together with other professionals so that I can enhance my perspectives, be reflective on my teaching practice, and enhance my knowledge base.

Progressive Assessment Practices

March 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I’m fortunate to share my educative space with teachers who are implementing progressive practices in their classroom. I met with Connor Podmorrow in March of 2024 to inquire about his progressive assessment practices. Connor and I share a passion for integrating project-based learning, self-directed learning, and e-portfolio’s. In this interview, I am most interested in how he applies formative and summative assessment practices in his classroom. Here are the questions and videos of our interview:

Question 1: Tell us a little bit more about how you use student directed self-assessments, and with students helping with creating assessment in your practice. I’ll get you to start by telling us a little bit it was teaching philosophy and how you use it in assessment.

Dynamic Assessment Practices

Connor highlights many of the challenges we face as teachers, including being able to communicate effectively to the parents and guardians. Communicating home is one of the fundamental reasons I also use digital portfolio’s. I have my students email their parents their digital portfolio links, within in the first weeks of school, to practice writing professional emails and to learn to embed hyperlinks. My hope is that this facilitates parent and guardian involvement and that those at home can share in the students progress and success in the classroom.

Question 2:

How is assessment integrated with students? Would you do it at the beginning so that they can have an idea of what the formative process looks like or do you wait for at the end and then sit down with them and create a summative assessment rubric or like how does that look?

 

Connor responds by saying, “Again it’s very reflexive on the the kids that I’m working with so if I’m working with say like a group of grade 10, 11, 12s there will be I will usually have a group of curricular competencies based on that course whether it’s social 10 or social justice and I’ll have kids circle and take those curriculum pieces and place them into their own rubric and then from there.” He then goes on to describe that students will reflect directly on how their project highlights the strengths of that competency. He also has them address their growth in the project. He works collaboratively in a verbal conversation with each student in a conference setting. This is something I have been hearing more about in the classroom and I’m glad teachers are giving their 1-1 support to students in this way. In my opinion, this is much more comparable to how people get feedback in the workforce. They don’t get an “A+” on their work, they get feedback, suggestions, praise, or otherwise, and they have to digest that feedback and make changes accordingly.

Question #3

If someone is interested in the philosophies and the methodologies that you’re using could you suggest any books or resources?

Connor: “3 big ones that I lean on hard:

1 – Curse to Teach – Parker Palmer

2 – Seven Fixes – movement from summative assessment 

3 – Ungrading  (shown below)

https://studio.youtube.com/video/kXD7hzVlbIU/edit

https://studio.youtube.com/video/kXD7hzVlbIU/edit

Question #4

Okay, hypothetically, you’re sitting down with a student and you’re asking them about what they think their grade should be. What is some language that you use around that what’s the conversation piece if they feel like they got a certain grade, and you feel like it’s a different direction either better or worse?

https://studio.youtube.com/video/0x3WHcIhv2I/edit

Connor says he uses a visual representation of proficiency scale with, with engagement as the measurement. He says, “I lean more now to more of a visual representation of that great determination piece so I’ll have a piece of paper here and I would say like like an amber, a green, or a red and for proficiency scale that would be like extending, proficient, developing and emerging. Then, I’ll have an axel versus engagement, and then we’ll use that as a way to reference where they are.”

I appreciate that Connor has considered a visual component to the conferencing with his students. It’s important to have clarity around assessment and students are familiar with the proficiency scale, but often have difficulty understanding the association with their core or curricular competencies goals.

Overall, I appreciated sitting down with Connor and hearing his passion about assessment practices in his classroom. I gained some new insight into the practical application of conferencing with students, I myself have just started to do this in the last semester. I enjoy working one-on-one with students to talk about their perspective on their efforts and I value the formative approach that Connor has in his classroom practice.

“Most Likely to Succeed” & Soft Skills

March 14, 2024 / / 0 Comments

After watching “Most Likely to Succeed” I was reaffirmed in my teaching pedagogy and inspired to continue to focus on skill development in my Careers classes.  I was also inspired to do more research on the development of “soft skills” and how they facilitate career preparation and readiness.

The documentary began by shedding light on the school system in its ‘original state’ which is characterized by cramming material and curriculum content into students and then measuring success with test scores.  As the documentary states, Test scores “show nothing about work, learning, citizenship readiness” (Most LIkely to Succeed, 2015).  

Another perspective of the detriment of this type of structure was learned about in my Specialization in Indigenous Studies that I studied at UVic, as we discussed this idea in great length.  The original structure of the school system is linear, content-heavy, and assessment was primarily in the form of tests.  For many Indigenous cultures, this is a stark contrast from the traditions of learning they are accustomed to.  In traditional Canadian Indigenous cultures, one learns from watching their elders, slowly learning skills through mimicry and daily practice.  Examples include their daily necessary activities: carving, basket weaving, hunting animals, fishing, gathering nuts and berries, and building structures.  The “testing” in these scenarios is highly formative, as kids would learn the mistakes they make along the way by having their elders show them, patiently, and help them correct and navigate their skills.  The ultimate test would be their ability to succeed in the form of creation: can they make a paddle on their own?  Are they able to hunt an animal and skin it?  Are they able to show skill acquisition for the purpose of survival and to thrive as a community member?  As mentioned in the documentary, “Most Likely to Succeed”, the SAT is supposed to test critical thinking as they’ve standardized it.  Students want to answer creatively in multiple approaches and “to do well on the test, you have to answer in a singular way” (Most LIkely to Succeed, 2015).  The idea of content-retention and testing is entirely dichotomous to an Indigenous way of learning and marginalizes our Canadian Indigenous students.

The documentary goes on to provide quantitative data to back their claims that memorization of content does not equate to knowledge retention or skill acquisition.  In a study conducted at the Lawrence Phil Academy, students didn’t remember information three months after a test and “Major concepts that they had “presumably mastered” were gone” (Most LIkely to Succeed, 2015).  As their average grade fell from B+ to an F, the researcher states that 90% of the inert knowledge (information you memorize for a test) is forgotten after one to three months. 

“We’re taught NOT to learn but to MEMORIZE

Nothing could be worse for your future or your soul”

(Most LIkely to Succeed, 2015). 

The documentary highlights the contributors to success aren’t in content-retention and testing but rather in a development of “soft skills”.  I valued their introduction of viewpoints from various successful information technology companies including Google and Khan Academy.  In the documentary, the representative from Google stated that when they’re hiring, they don’t always look at the person with the best grades: “some of the smartest people aren’t necessarily good at working with others” (Most LIkely to Succeed, 2015).  

Khan Academy gave the following skills as their guide for hiring:

  • “giving and receiving feedback
  • what are their logical and critical thinking skills
  • what’s their ability to communicate
  • how curious is this person
  • how self aware is this person”

We shifted the curriculum in 2016 to be more focused on SKILL development, rather than content.  Yet, I walk by classrooms and still see kids sitting, doing worksheets.  I still hear teachers giving quizzes, tests and midterms.  I still see the students being tested on their content knowledge.  There are a couple of teachers I work with that embrace the concepts of skill development and formative assessment with the emphasis on growth rather than perfection.  Many teachers are embracing project-based learning and inquiry.  In the article “Let’s Get Ready For Work – Employability Skills Development in an IS Capstone Project” the researchers solidify that soft skills are preparing graduate students for success in the workplace.  Gafni (2023) states, “The importance of soft skills in the Information Systems industry is not an arguable fact and has been broadly discussed both in the industry and the academic literature. The ability of professionals to collaborate, communicate, manage time, negotiate, solve problems, make decisions, and self-learning, called employability skills, are essential skills needed in today’s industry. The development of these skills during undergraduate studies is essential for graduate students’ readiness for work” (p. 235).  Although they are referencing graduate students in the study, they speak to the same “soft skills” that have been recognized as the focus of our curriculum, by way of our “Core Competencies.”  The core competencies in our British Columbia curriculum are: Communication, Collaboration, Thinking: Creative and Critical, Personality and Social Responsibility.  The “Competency development does not end with school graduation but continues in personal, social, educational, and workplace contexts” (Core Competencies | Building Student Success – B.C. Curriculum, n.d.).  The government perspectives align with the article that states, “The ability of professionals to collaborate, communicate, manage time, negotiate, solve problems, make decisions, and self-learning, called employability skills, are essential skills needed in today’s industry. The development of these skills during undergraduate studies is essential for graduate students’ readiness for work” (Gafni et al., 2023, p. 235). Our students are heading into a dynamic world and an evolving workforce that will require them to have complex critical and creative thinking skills and strong communication skills.  I was enlightened by this documentary and the subsequent research I did to enhance my understanding of soft skills and how they benefit students in their education, workplace, and their futures.

The question that I ask many of my students, often is
 “What defines success?”  For many of my students, they consistently answer with responses like: “To find a job and make lots of money.”  In our current knowledge economy, we don’t “find” jobs; we create them.  It’s possible to go down one particular career path and find yourself doing something else entirely. I am motivated to prepare my students for success and help them navigate their futures.

References:

Core Competencies | Building Student Success—B.C. Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2024, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

Gafni, R., Leiba, M., & Sherman, S. (2023). Let’s Get Ready for Work – Employability Skills Development in an IS Capstone Project. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 22, 235–261. https://doi.org/10.28945/5157

Most LIkely to Succeed. (2015). Retrieved January 14, 2024, from https://webapp.library.uvic.ca/videos/view.php?vfn=Most-Likely-To-Succeed-(2015).mp4

TEDx Talks (Director). (2015, December 16). Strengthening Soft Skills | Andy Wible | TEDxMuskegon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkLsn4ddmTs

Indigenous Education Experience

January 22, 2024 / / 0 Comments

“Describe your best structured learning experience. It may be in a formal
K-12 or higher education school settings, apprenticeship, or experience
through your own teaching. What made it memorable and worth writing
about?”

During my Bachelor of Education, I enrolled in a program called the Post Degree Professional Program in Indigenous Education.  As described on their website, “The Indigenous Education post-degree professional program is designed to enhance relational accountabilities with local Indigenous people and communities. It provides aspiring teachers (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) with a relevant, relational, and transformative education designed to foster a deeper understanding of First Nations, Inuit and MĂ©tis histories, cultures, and ways of knowing and being.” {Updating}

Day one I recognized this program would be different.  It was an enormous change from the style of learning I was used to in University.  Instead of sitting at desks and listening to the Professor lecture, we sat in a circle, facing one another.  Instead of taking notes, we learned through shared readings, stories and by sharing thoughts and reflections.  My reflection after day one was
 this is the first time anyone in my educational career in post-secondary had asked me HOW I was doing, emotionally.  I felt seen, heard, validated, and quite vulnerable.  I wasn’t used to sharing my feelings, in fact, I cried more than anyone in the group when it came time to share.  

Perhaps the most profound thing I realized during my time in this program was that it was the FIRST time I had learned about Residential Schools in my entire life.  I learned about Roman history, World Wars, and Civil Wars in highschool Socials classes – but not once did I hear about the colonization history in Canada and the effects on Indigenous Peoples.  I remember thinking that I was robbed of this knowledge.  I also distinctly remember that I would never let my students go without this knowledge in their lives.  They deserve to know the history of their own country, so they have a clearer understanding and don’t carry biases or racism forward in their lives.

Another take away from the program was the way in which Indigenous Peoples learn and teach their young.  I’m grateful that I learned this at a time when I was about to embark on my teaching career, as it formed and shaped my pedagogy and my belief in teaching in a pragmatic, experiential, and reflective way.  Historically, Indigenous Peoples don’t teach in a linear or analytical way, they teach in a natural, experiential way.  The Elders teach by doing, the young watch and learn, and practice by mimicking their elders.  They teach through storytelling and oral language is how lessons are passed on.  

We had the honour of working with an Indigenous Elder and I noticed many differences between my traditional schooling and the way he taught.  He reminded me of my Papa, who would let me help him in his woodwork shop.  My Papa was calm, patient, and forgiving.  He would let me help him, but much of the time I just watched him work, watched how he slowly moved and carved wood into beautiful shapes.  Pace was one of the biggest differences between my usual lecture-based classes, and the Indigenous ways of learning and teaching.  The Elder seemed to slow time, unaffected by a clock or a regimented schedule.  I was so used to working in a structure that I remember finding this difficult, and thinking, “When is this due?”  

Our elder showed us how to make a paddle.  We each received a large piece of wood and he taught us how to hand carve the wood into a paddle.  The previous year’s class had made a canoe together, and we looked at the beauty of it as we formed our own paddles.  The work we did embodied an Indigenous way of learning.  We sat together, opened our hearts and shared stories, speaking our lives to one another.  There was no checklist of things we needed to accomplish; the act of creating something together was the act of learning. 

Later in my Career, I had the honour of working with two Indigenous Support Workers, one of which is an Indigenous man from our local Okanagan Indian Band.  I gained respect for this man, who again, exemplified this calm, commanding of respect, attitude.  I once again enjoyed this style of teaching he provided my students.  He taught my kids how to use a bow and arrow, and how to play lacrosse, which historically has its roots in Canadian Indigenous culture.  

We learned about reconciliation, and what it means to actually reconcile for Indigenous People.  I learned reconciliation is about action, about creating connections, and healing through sharing stories and culture.  We visited Tribal Schools on the Coast and learned how Indigenous communities are taking back their culture with language revitalization and celebrating culture.

We participated in a Seafood Festival on the Sea, where we hustled and bustled to cook fresh seafood caught by local Indigenous peoples, and served it to their community.  What I noticed was these events weren’t always “glamorous”.  Lying just below the surface of these families was generational-trauma, socio-economic conditions, and issues stemming from dependency on drugs and alcohol.  As a class, we explored the underlying factors contributing to some of the things we saw and the lasting impacts on Indigenous communities.  I felt my preconceived notions melting away and being replaced by empathy, understanding, knowledge, and a voice.  A voice grew for those students who I would teach in the future and I have continued to use it.  One example I will use is from an interaction I had this year with a colleague.  Armed with my arsenal of understanding of Indigenous history and family dynamics, I helped one of our Indigenous students through the year with additional support.  Honestly, it was mostly providing this student with adequate food, and encouraging them to get to school.  Many factors at home were preventing them from attending regularly.  Long story short, another teacher suggested that failing them might be a motivator for this student, and I was able to diplomatically disagree.  I hope I was also able to impart some wisdom about supporting our Indigenous students and the reasons we need to make extra efforts to provide them with guidance.

I think about this program often and smile.  I made strong connections with fellow educators and shaped my pedagogy to be embedded with the following ideas:

Education is not about checking boxes.  

Life shapes us.  Some students need more support than others.

Sharing circles can help us all grow.

Everyone learns in different ways and at different paces.  

My role as an educator is to help students cultivate their strengths.

Learning is not always linear.  

Celebrate Indigenous culture.

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515 Discussion Forum #1:

December 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Why do we do educational research?  What counts as research?

What is the role of personal experience in research?

Think about the main research paradigms and types of methodologies discussed in the readings.  What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each?  Which ones do you think would be of most benefit to you as a classroom teacher?  Why?

As I began reading our Educational Research textbook, the first distinction that resonated with me, was that “proof” is not the word to use.  That you ultimately can’t prove anything in your research; only make hypotheses, correlations, and provide evidence for your theory.  As Robert Burke Johnson states,  “In all cases, the question is one of evidence. As a start, we suggest that you take the word proof and eliminate it from your vocabulary this semester or quarter when you talk about research results. Proof exists in the realms of mathematics and deductive logic, but in science and research, the best we can do is to provide evidence.” (Educational-Research_-Quantitat-r-Robert-Burke-Johnson.Pdf, n.d., p. 47)  This is an important distinction and I’m glad they started the textbook with this viewpoint, as nothing we research will be a definitive, but rather, an exploration and discovery process that can ebb and flow.

Educational research is imperative because it helps create equity and change in education to meet the diverse needs of teachers and students.  Without educational research, education reform would not take place and we need to make change as it’s needed.  I see the needs of students changing in my classroom over the years.  For example, when I started teaching fourteen years ago, cell phones were not in classrooms; those cell phones that did exist certainly didn’t have the capabilities they have today.  In addition to the challenges cell phones have created, we are increasingly aware of the social emotional needs of our students.  I’ve taught in many different schools and the correlation between socio-economic status and the needs of students varies drastically within our small town and is becoming the forefront of our student’s needs.  As inflation makes it more difficult for families, I see the effects this is having on our communities.  In one elementary school in our district, the S.E.S. is low, and students will come to school without proper clothing for the seasons, without having been fed, and with trauma-experiences from home.  My mom taught for thirty years and she says, “life trumps school.”  That is, if things are unstable in the home, we will see this as the primary concern for our student.  How can a student concentrate if they do not have a full belly, a good night’s sleep, or a home that is stable?  These considerations are always on the forefront for me, as the current school I teach at provides lunches, and seemingly more students are in need of counselling and support for anxiety, depression, and trauma.

In Table 1.1 of our textbook, a long list of areas of research is shared.  From that list, I would say my areas of interest are: “Advanced technology for learning.  Design & Technology.  Education Reform.  Motivation in Education. Teaching Educational Psychology.”  {Updating}(Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 49-50) 

I’m interested in Education Reform because I see the needs of our students changing, the economy changing, technology changing access of information, and knowledge itself evolving
 but I don’t think education has changed much fundamentally.  I like the changes our district has made, shifting assessment practice from content-based retention and testing, to skill development.  I appreciate this shift as it helps our students be prepared for the workforce.  I also like the integration and focus on core competencies as our guide to creating students who are more socially-conscious and prepared for conversations, collaboration, critical and creative thinking and are aware of their social surroundings and communities.  I feel passionately that experiential learning helps students create connections between their learning and their lives.  For example, each year, I take my students volunteering in the community.  I can talk all day in class about social and personal responsibility and caring for others, or I can take them into a Little Buddy classroom and watch them form mentorship connections with little ones.  I can talk all day about the needs of our community, or I can take them to our local foodbank and get them to unpack deliveries, stock shelves, and handout food to people in need of that program.

Another part of the textbook that I appreciated was the poem they shared, called, “Elephant in the Dark.”  In my classroom, I talk to students a lot about perspectives.  I share the idea that we all have a certain lens for which we see the world.  The way in which we look out into the world houses our viewpoints that are created from birth.  From the biological makeup we each have that makes us different and unique (nature), to the homes we grow up in and the people that raise us (nurture).  Each of these play a role in how we view others around us, they give us opinions to form of others, and sometimes sway us incorrectly away from critical thinking and into our own patterns.  Here is the poem:

“Some Hindus have an elephant to show.

No one here has ever seen an elephant. 

They bring it at night to a dark room. 

One by one, we go in the dark and come out 

saying how we experience the animal. 

One of us happens to touch the trunk.

 â€œA water-pipe kind of creature.” 

Another, the ear. “A very strong, always moving 

back and forth, fan-animal.” 

Another, the leg. “I find it still, 

like a column on a temple.” 

Another touches the curved back.

“A leathery throne.” 

Another, the cleverest, feels the tusk.

“A rounded sword made of porcelain.”

He’s proud of his description.

Each of us touchces on place 

And understands the whole in that way.

The palm and the fingers feeling in the dark are

How the senses explore the reality of the elephant.

If each of us held a candle there,

And if we went in together,

We could see it.”

(Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 78-79) 

The textbook defines a research paradigm as a “worldview or perspective about research held by a community of researchers that is based on a set of shared assumptions, concepts, values and practices.” (Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 79 )  I think we all have a lens, and will bring forth concerns that we have in our classroom and make that the focus of our research.  To answer the question, “What is the role of personal experience in educational research” I would answer: what we personally experience in the classroom and what we care about is going to make an important research topic.  The issues, concerns or challenges we see in the classroom will help us connect to the research from a fundamental place of care and inquiry.

Lastly, to discuss the different types of methodologies that we are learning about, I would say in my initial understanding of qualitative and quantitative measures drew me towards qualitative research methodology.  This is because I like the idea of empathy, understanding and social psychology playing a role in research.  “Qualitative research uses a wide- and deep-angle lens, examining human choice and behavior as it occurs naturally in all of its detail. (Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 86).  I like this idea of empathetic understanding as seen in our textbook description of qualitative research: “Qualitative researchers argue that it is important to “get close” to their object of study through participant observation so that they can experience for themselves the subjective dimensions of the phenomena they study. In qualitative research, the researcher is said to be the “instrument of data collection.” Rather than using a standardized instrument or measuring device, the qualitative researcher asks the questions, collects the data, makes interpretations, and records what is observed. The qualitative researcher constantly tries to understand the people he or she is observing from the participants’ or “natives’” or “actors’” viewpoints. This is the concept of “empathetic understanding.” (Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 85-86).  Conceptually, I’m drawn to this type of research methodology because I don’t see students as numbers, and I don’t value test scores as highly as I value interactions, discussions, and emotional growth.

I also gravitate towards qualitative research because I enjoy immersing myself in the viewpoints of others, exploring their perspectives.  Phenomenology particularly interests me, looking at how “one or more individuals experience a phenomenon.”  (Johnson, R. B., & Christensen, L. (2014). Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Approaches (5th ed.). Page 102).  For example, how trauma in the home can affect a student in their school life is of interest to me.  I also like ethnography and the concepts of culture playing an important role in research.  Narrative inquiry also creates curiosity for me and it likely would be the way I would conduct my research in the future as I believe we all have a story to tell.

Artificial Intelligence Presentation

November 8, 2023 / / 0 Comments

What does the literature say about the issue, topic, or theme identified?

Presentation Created By: Deanna Fester & Jacquie Bascombe. UVic. 2023.

Research Document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e_P_2eZq46mVg8lXla-0irCsTeHoReweZ-CbVOpbtpU/edit?usp=sharing

Our Process:

We started researching, and found that there wasn’t much on our initial topic. We struggled to find research about how to apply artificial education in education. We wanted to take two different approaches, one for each of us; Jacquie would focus on the benefits of AI from a teacher’s perspective, I would focus on the students’ perspectives. During one of our Zoom sessions, Michael clarified our research project direction and we changed direction.  That is, he defined our project as being based not on the TOPIC of AI, but instead, the RESEARCH behind AI.  We decided that we would let the research guide us.

Initially, I wanted to use this research paper:

Yu, H. (2023). Reflection on whether Chat GPT should be banned by academia from the perspective of education and teaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1181712. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181712

Here was my summary of the empirical evidence gathered:

The emergence of AI has created quite a stir in the educational community and this paper outlines the dichotomous nature of the topic.  While many see the benefits of the technology, others believe it creates more harm than good.  “Some people believe that the development of AI technology should be supported and encouraged rather than restricted and hindered, while others believe that the rapid development of AI technology may bring enormous challenges and risks to humanity, which needs to be handled with caution.” (Yu, 2023, p. 3)  The research paper outlines some specific positives for teachers, including: keeping up with social demands, providing students with more “efficient, interesting and practical learning experiences (Else, 2023).  The main negative for teachers is they are struggling to differentiate between what was authentically made by the student, and what was created using AI.  Positives of AI for students include time saving, and “increasing users’ interest and motivation for continuous creation.”(Yu, 2023, p. 5) The main concerns around students using AI consistently is that they will become reliant on the technology and lose the ability to think for themselves, “for example, over-reliance on AI technology could weaken students’ independent thinking” (Yu, 2023, p. 5)  Although the article outlines the potential pitfalls of the reliance on AI, the underlying message and theme was that AI is here to stay. Instead of fighting the technology, “it is a better choice to integrate these tools into the education system, allowing students to learn and use them in a correct and responsible environment. However, it is essential to balance the rights of students to independently use these tools with the requirements of academic integrity, so that students can use these tools properly and responsibly. (Yu, 2023, p. 4)

“Plato claimed the use of this more modern technology would create “forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories,” that it would impart “not truth but only the semblance of truth” and that those who adopt it would “appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing,” with “the show of wisdom without the reality.” – Plato


Tufekci, Z. (2022, December 15). Opinion | What Would Plato Say About ChatGPT? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/opinion/chatgpt-education-ai-technology.html

Research context:

The article makes reference to forty-seven different research papers.  One of those papers, titled, “A Comprehensive Survey on Pretrained Foundation Models: A History from BERT to ChatGPT” shares research from nineteen different researchers, spanning a global approach; collecting data from their experiences at nine different universities. 

We then decided to do more exploring, and I discovered the paper I used in our presentation: Choi, E., Kim, J., & Park, N. (2023). A Case Study of SW · AI Education for Multicultural Students in Jeju, Korea: Changes in Perception of SW · AI. Applied Sciences, 13(17), 9844. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13179844

We then changed our presentation question to ask, “What does the research say about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Education?” 

I found the second research article to be more aligned with our requisites for the presentation; as the exploration was not on the purpose of AI, but rather, an in depth analysis of HOW the research was conducted.

I focused on:

  • Creating a Summary
  • Identifying the Research Problem
  • Identifying the Research Methodology
  • Research Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative
  • Research Participants, including Background Variables such as Gender & Grade
  • Summary of Empirical Evidence
  • Conclusion

Jacquie and I worked together, by adding comments to google documents and our google slides presentation. I enjoyed opening our shared documents and seeing our progress. We worked to create thematic cohesion in our presentation. Jacquie was a strong partner, giving me critical and constructive feedback. She has incredible insight, and is brilliant at refocusing our research and letting the curriculum guide us. I am thankful for her insights and contributions.

Overall, I learned that I am more interested in AI than I originally thought. I even emailed my principal over the weekend and suggested the idea of starting a program at our school. Perhaps I can create an “Introduction into AI” course for our school. I am even considering using this direction for my project next year. We need more structure around the integration of AI into our classrooms and I’d like to learn more about how this might look in practical application.

Presenter at Innovate Ed Conference

October 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

What education technology issue, topic, or theme are you most interested in?

I am most interested in Gamification in the classroom. On October 20th, 2023, I presented at the Innovate Ed, Education Technology Conference at Vernon Secondary School.

https://www.innovate-ed.ca/

Event Description:

“The 2023 event will mark the 4th year of hosting Innovate-ED, BC’s premier educational technology conference. We are proud to say that we have welcomed over 1500 participants from across the province and hope build on that success returning to where it all began in Vernon for Innovate-ED23. Our conference tagline remains “Students @ the Centre,” where we will continue our original vision of keeping everything we do focused around innovation and the learning environment’s core participants, our students.” (n.d.). Innovate-ed. Innovate Ed. Retrieved October 1, 2023, from https://www.innovate-ed.ca/

My Presentation on Minecraft EDU

I began my presentation with asking all participants if it was okay that I film the session, and if they had any ethical concerns to please let me know prior, or privately once the session was complete. I then began with a land acknowledgement. We live on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Syilx Nation, an area of land that is plentiful and provides me with joy and appreciation every day. I then showed our agenda for the session. Next, I gave my fellow educators an opportunity to share the grade levels they teach, their subject areas, and / or, any questions they have about Minecraft. Here are some responses:

  • How hard is it to get Minecraft Education on old IPads?
  • Can the students use Minecraft to show the learning in different subject areas?
  • How can we unlock students’ creativity and trick them into learning – using this tool?
  • How can I effectively use it in the classroom?
  • What is its purpose?
  • How do I use it in the classroom?

I was pleased with these questions, as I felt my presentation was setup in a way that would answer these queries.

Next, I embedded the S.A.M.R. Model into my Presentation to enhance understanding around technology use in the classroom. I also believe the definition of “Redefinition” stage of Technology use, contributes to the validity of Minecraft. As I stated in my presentation, I believe Minecraft resides in the “redefinition” category of the model, as I’ve seen students apply their content knowledge to create incredibly creative worlds. One example of this was in my Social Studies Grade 8 class, recently. Students learned about the social hierarchy of the “Feudalism System” during the Middle Ages. They applied their content knowledge to build the physical representation of the manorialism, including castles, manors, churches, homes for the peasants and serfs, as well as the outlying forests, and livestock spaces. Students created entire villages, in this example, students are using “technology to create novel tasks.”

Next, I integrated some important perspectives from a research paper, titled, “Investigating the role of Minecraft in educational learning environments” by Noelene Callaghan. The main point I hoped to convey was the increase in engagement and interaction of gamification in the classroom. She stated, “Interaction is considered one of the most important aspects related to optimal experience with computer games” (Callaghan, 2016, p. 246)

I went on to demonstrate how to use Minecraft Education and how to access the “Subject Kits” in the program. Educators asked questions and we navigated how to use the technology.

Reflecting, here are some things I would have done differently:

  • Many teachers mentioned that they wanted to know HOW to “play” Minecraft themselves. I do not possess these skills – it was not the focus of my presentation. I wanted to teach them how to get their students using it; however, it would be helpful in the future.
  • I would have taken them through a lesson from the start, and had them “play / build” for a small amount of time.

Overall, I am happy with how the presentation went. I had 23 participants, of all different grade levels and subject areas. Some teachers came from Vancouver for the conference and I appreciated the diversity of classroom teachers we had. Of 23 participants, only 7 completed my exit survey, but here are the results:

Gamification is something I’m interested in learning more about. I wonder about:

  • Being able to quantify what I view as the most important part of gamification in the classroom: engagement. How would I measure engagement, if I were to use this as an area of research?
  • How can I collaborate with other teachers / would they be willing to partake in an explorative approach to Minecraft Education in the classroom and measuring the subsequent success of it?

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