Bird Droppings September 1, 2011
Looking at reflection beyond a mirror

I picked up a local paper yesterday morning and have become a fan of one of our local featured columnists. Fred Wehner is a former journalist from the London Daily News, and then he founded and ran the New York News Agency before retiring in our county twenty one years ago. His column Wednesday was entitled; We’re all winners and losers. Last week a letter to the editor blasted his column as being too liberal and socialistic and a few more disparaging words. This week he so eloquently address his critic and our own socio-economic mentality of win at all costs that seems to permeate the pores of many Americans.

“Credits for just attending class even though we dozed through the lessons. Teachers themselves were ruining children’s lives with their greed. We’ve just seen the largest cheating scandal in history right here in Atlanta, with nearly 200 principals and educators for securing big bonuses by falsifying children’s test scores. Performance enhancing drugs on the playing field and in the arena, cheat sheets at school and shady deals on Wall Street and Washington and everyone’s ahead of the game, right? It’s all one big great win-win situation? The way I see it though, only losers favor win-win.” Fred Wehner, Walton County Tribune

I was glancing at a book this morning “Qualities of an effective teacher” by Dr. James H. Stronge, Professor in Educational Policy, Planning, and leadership at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg Virginia. Stronge looked at students and how various aspects of a teacher’s involvement effect the student’s achievement, verbal ability, intellectual ability, content knowledge, certification, and experience. One aspect that was most intriguing to me was, “the Role of reflective practice”. Just by chance James H. Stronge is the man who Georgia has hired to design a teacher evaluation system.

“Reflective teachers portray themselves as students” “Effective teachers are not afraid of feedback; in fact they elicit information and criticism from others.” Thoughtful reflection translates into enhanced teacher efficacy. And a teacher’s sense of efficacy has an impact on how he or she approaches instructional content and students.” Educators confidence in their ability to facilitate the learning and understanding of material by students is observable by others.” James H. Stronge

It might be said that Stronge’s was borrowing his thoughts on reflection from many years ago. Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, Henry David Thoreau walked away from teaching to be a student. Only in being a student himself could he teach.

“I find that the rising generation in this town do not know what an Oak or a pine is, having seen only inferior specimens. Shall we hire a man to lecture on botany, on oaks for instance, our noblest plants-while we permit others to cut down the few best specimens of these trees that are lefty It is like teaching children Latin and Greek while we burn the books printed in those languages.” Henry David Thoreau

Much of Thoreau’s thought process and writing was as he walked through his area of New England, learning about the world and people within. It is introspection and reflection that lead me to my early morning writing and reading. I started looking at a well used journaling of sorts’ website, Myspace.com, where students, teachers, friends and family use the medium to reflect and post thoughts ideas often more trivial and whimsical than introspective yet within the milieu of ideas there is thinking and reflection. For in writing about yourself and views on things, you are offering a view to the world of yourself.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau

I watch lately how we are putting so much emphasis on testing specifically standardized tests. How many facts can an individual hold within a given cranial space? Is there a limit based on some cognitive level indicator as to how much any given person can acquire and retain? IQ has long been used as a determining factor in cognitive ability often just a simple test and we have an IQ score, but of course the bell shaped curve applies and at either end are the exceptions.
So when we look further and find not everyone with a high IQ succeeds, and not everyone with a low IQ fails. Testing perhaps is not an accurate science after all in many situations. We use norms and percentiles and cumulative averages to provide the data for our theorizing. We look for patterns, and we look for trends. Can we really find an indicator of learning or of knowledge?

“Reflection is an essential activity that takes place at key points throughout the work. Teachers and learners engage in conscious and thoughtful consideration of the work and the process. It is this reflective activity that evokes insight and gives rise to revisions and refinements.” The Foxfire Approach to teaching and learning

For several years on another website I have watched and read many students and friends’ journals and daily ponderings. On facebook I have been involved and seen a tool used by literally millions of people to vent, hopefully reflect and or wonder daily. Many offer inner reflections of daily happening in learning and in life. I use it myself as a journal of sorts. In my class through their journals I allow a freedom of speaking out of reviewing and pondering the day’s events often hand written since some have aversion to computers. Some students chose to be very simple and direct, such as, “I went home ate dinner and fell asleep”. Often as I read each day others will offer inroads to their thinking and understanding.
Perhaps as I look back at Stronge’s ideas from his book. This line stood out, “Reflective teachers portray themselves as students”. It is a desire to learn that carries over to students. I have found over the years that simply telling someone to do something often is met with disaster, as in teaching, it is in interacting and in doing that learning occurs. Reflection offers a doing, a chance to look at what we do know and how we believe we can apply it. For several weeks I have been reading graduate student’s reflections, for some it is simply the professor wants this and this and here it is. However others open up and truly reflect on the topic, going into their inner most understanding, rather than simply regurgitating content and information.
One paper I read recently was a reflection on the ten core practices involved in the Foxfire approach and how you as a teacher could have utilized or considered these in your teaching. As I read several teachers numbered one to ten and listed responses, some reflected on the overall impact of just now revealing and how crucial and important some of this information was, not even touching on one principle. Yet as I read what is a reflection continually popped in my mind as a question.
When I look in the mirror I see a close but not exact view. It is depending on the angle and set of the mirror and in that much can be different. However it is still a view. The question was about your involvement now and this person admittedly was not involved but saw the potential in it. So while not addressing one, addressed all indirectly. Reflecting, pondering, and offering a view and views that are open for perspective as well can lead to further discussion and reflection. I am wandering as I write today. It has been a long weekend of driving nearly back and for to Athens and the UGA library several times on Saturday and Sunday and trying not to be lazy during the few hours that were left Sunday has muddled my thoughts. But one key thought for the day; please as always keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts.
namaste
bird