Boot Camp
2008 —Educating in Fractal Patterns
Exercises in Introspective Reflection
©Edward B. Nuhfer
Module 1
– Development of Introspective Reflection
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We recognize
ourselves as educators, but what does it mean to become educated? The results of education are not merely
what students gain in content and skills, but more importantly what students
gain in their ability to think. Bringing students to mastery of content and
skills is challenge enough, and mentoring them to higher levels of thinking —the
intellectual and ethical development deduced by William Perry—is far more
difficult. We can achieve some goals and certain outcomes through our own
efforts, but others we cannot achieve through anything less than a curriculum
that is well planned and coordinated with our colleagues. Faculty development
provides support to succeed in those efforts.
When I first
attended faculty development workshops at POD, AAHE and Lilly over twenty years
ago, I was fascinated by the variation that existed between institutions in
support of faculty to succeed. I was extremely grateful for the exceptional
training workshops that were provided at each of these events. The first
"Boot Camps" in the early 90s focused on bringing such workshops to
faculty in an intense retreat setting. Soon, we began to realize that as good
as workshops may be, they are still isolated workshops that provided no central
unifying framework for practice. In the mid 90s, we conveyed the importance of
an operational framework through the concept of "teaching systems."
This meant that an individual constructed her/his own system based upon
recognized interconnections between course products, lessons and a
sophisticated teaching philosophy. A successful system manifests when a sound
philosophy is enacted with consistence through every action of our teaching.
Further, a system
contains specific self-tests and benchmarks that allow us to monitor the
consistence of application. A teaching system is a close parallel to the
concept of instructional alignment proposed during the early 80s and now
achieving prominent emphasis in higher education. That approach brought forth
more successful outcomes than any program of isolated workshops had done.
Before one can "think in fractal patterns," one needs to develop at least
a crude personal teaching system.
Over time,
however, we realized that even an emphasis only on success in one's own
classroom was not enough. The research on how the brain changes through
learning, and the research on critical thinking confirmed that no individual
could produce certain outcomes through any single course. "Critical
thinking," which is something of a holy grail for educators, seemed to be
occurring in a few schools but not in "critical thinking courses"
that we hoped might deliver the grail. The research told us why—simply
that a single course designed to elicit high level thinking does not occur over
sufficient time or within a context needed to produce the neural network
necessary for the highest levels of thinking. For this to occur, it became
obvious that any teaching system had to be practiced at unit levels--ideally
through a curriculum of several courses that was purposely designed to produce
high-level outcomes. It did not take huge change to begin thinking of applying
a teaching system at a different scale. At we began thinking more adeptly in
scales, that thinking became very analogous to the understanding of complex
systems in nature. These complex systems in both shape and time had an order in
apparent chaos, and it was order seen in a branch of mathematics termed
"fractals." Thus we began to see that "success" in the
educational profession that involved teaching, learning and thinking had some
recognizable character of order, just as did other natural complex systems. In
the Boot Camps of the late 90's and early 2000's, we began to stress that
educational efforts could be made effective at all scales from lesson to
curricula if one kept in mind the order within. This perception was certainly
aided by being able to think rapidly between varied scales-- to think of
education that actually occurs in terms of fractal patterns.
Faculty
development, at its best, involves getting each faculty member to consider what
it is she/he most wants to do, and then helping that faculty member to fulfill
her/his own aspirations. The central reason for doing introspective reflection
is that, as teachers, we will never be truly satisfied until we actually do
what we most want to do. Good
development never involves telling any faculty member how to teach or what to
teach, because this will result in the unsatisfactory saddling of the faculty
member with the aspirations of others. What development and "Boot
Camp" should do is to widen the possibilities of aspirations brought by
opening new choices. We should judiciously select those options that best fit
what we want and need to accomplish. With rare exceptions, most of us have
never taken the time to have the conversation with ourselves that is required
to deduce what our values really are, how we obtained these values, and whether
what we are doing now is actually what we most want to do. We teach best by
making the informed choices that enable us to do exactly what we want and to
avoid producing results we donÕt want. When students learn something new, they
construct new understanding by building upon acquired skills and
experience—so do we. If we are going to use our week to make the changes
that better enable us to do what we want to do, we really need to start by
understanding what acquired experiences have already been most influential in
the decisions we have made.
Therefore, the
first module of reflection provides a guided experience to bring about the
required conversation with self. Insights will arise from this reflection, and
these insights are both profoundly important and continually negotiable.
ÒNegotiableÓ means that a day, week, month, or year from now, your reflections
back on these insights may indicate new or changed priorities. The single
caveat is that it is important in any such negotiation to make such changes
based only on what you most want to do, not on what you are merely willing to
settle for. The latter choice will simply throw you back into the practice of
doing something other than what you want to do.
An interesting
way to start is to get a profile of where we are now. A convenient tool to see
some priorities that concern the issue of our present aspirations is provided
by Tom Angelo and K. Patricia Cross through the University of IowaÕs Center for
Teaching at http://centeach.uiowa.edu/tools.shtml.
Go to the above web site now, complete the Teaching Goals Inventory and print out your results. Keep the
results, bring these to Boot Camp, and consider the Teaching Goals Inventory as a tool capable of eliciting an
expression of some of your important aspirations. The survey is only a good
start; we want to reflect on the journey that caused you to make particular
choices in the inventory.
The responses to
the queries below are important because ultimately they form the foundation
that will help you to actually do what you most want to do. These are Òbig
pictureÓ items. You might want to refer to your answers in the Teaching
Goals Inventory
periodically as you formulate your responses. You can choose to change your
goals or remain guided by them at any time.
Give the next
two items some thought. You may want to spend a couple of days reflecting here.
Once you have given these issues sufficient thought to provide a clear response,
produce responses, preferably in a word processor, save the files and print the
results.
1. Reflect on
your choice of career, and express why you gravitated originally, toward
becoming a university professor. Consider what generated the greatest enthusiasm
for you, and what provided the core attraction(s).
2. Consider
your present status and situation, and note any contrasts with your reflections
in "1" above. What changes, if any, have occurred? Don't look for causes -just note
"how things are;" consider what gives you satisfaction at this time
and how that compares with when you began.
Module 2
Introspective Reflections – Origins
Most of us donÕt
get pedagogical training; we get our initial ideas about good teaching based
upon our perception of experiences that worked for us when we were students.
This leads to a common default: "to teach as we were taught."
Hopefully, each of us had inspirational role models in teachers, and they
probably influenced both our initial aspirations to teach and how we initially
taught. Their influence may still be very great, even after we have taught for
decades. You will now investigate origins of your perceptions of Ògood
teachingÓ based upon a particularly influential teacher.
Recall an
influential teacher who had a positive impact on you. As you form this memory,
recall the setting in which the most vivid memory took place. Below are some key words that others have
used to describe their influential teacher. Pick only three that most apply to
the memory of your former teacher. If you know better terms that apply, write
these in under ÒotherÓ in the final three entries. You may want to take some
time in your consideration.
SOME KEY WORDS
m accessible
m adventuresome
m approachable
m authoritative
m available
m balanced
m caring
m challenging
m clear
m committed
m communicative
m competent
m concerned
m creative
m dedicated
m demanding
m dignified
m disciplined
m eccentric
m effective
m encouraging
m energetic
m enthusiastic
m exciting
m expressive
m fair (just)
m focused
m friendly
m fun
m helpful
m humorous
m inspiring
m interesting
m knowledgeable
m motivating
m neat
m nurturing
m organized
m patient
m personable
m prepared
m professional
m research - oriented
m respected
m respectful
m rigorous
m stimulating
m student - oriented
m understanding
m warm
m __________________ (other 1)
m __________________ (other 2)
m __________________ (other 3)
In what setting
did your most memorable experience occur? Select the option below that best
describes the setting.
m In a K-12 environment
m With a parent, relative or friend
m In a small (less than 30) class environment in college
m In a large class environment in college
m In college at some site outside the classroom
m Other not covered above
In
the space below, describe the setting, your teacher, and the feelings you had
at that time.
In
the space below, describe why you think this particular moment was the one that
you recalled.
Do you
believe that your teacher present at the event you have just described realized
that this moment was of such importance that you might recall it years later?
Why or why not might that have been the case? Give your best analysis to
these questions in the space below.
Finally,
consider the effects of this memory and how it might have influenced the way
you teach or work with students today. Please provide your best analysis of
this influence in the space below.
An
optional assignment: If the teacher you recalled is still alive, go to http://www.peoplefinders.com/ and
find the address or email of this mentor.
Send her/him a thank-you note or card. After completing the above exercise, you wonÕt be at any
loss for words. This is one of those rare chances to repay your very memorable
good moment. You can bet that person will remember this as one of their richest
moments!
Module 3 – Introspective Reflection
-Who we are and what we want
In the past
module, we explored the influence of our influential mentor. Now we are going
to go through a parallel exercise for ourselves.
In the future
one of your students may recall you, in an exercise similar to Module 2, as an
outstanding mentor. What 3 key words would you most like them to use for
their memory of you? Repeated
again are the same list of key words. Pick only three by shading the bubbles
that you deduce correspond to the terms that capture your most dearly held
traits. If other terms apply better, write these in under ÒotherÓ in the final
three entries.
SOME KEY WORDS
m accessible
m adventuresome
m approachable
m authoritative
m available
m balanced
m caring
m challenging
m clear
m committed
m communicative
m competent
m concerned
m creative
m dedicated
m demanding
m dignified
m disciplined
m eccentric
m effective
m encouraging
m energetic
m enthusiastic
m exciting
m expressive
m fair (just)
m focused
m friendly
m fun
m helpful
m humorous
m inspiring
m interesting
m knowledgeable
m motivating
m neat
m nurturing
m organized
m patient
m personable
m prepared
m professional
m research - oriented
m respected
m respectful
m rigorous
m stimulating
m student - oriented
m understanding
m warm
m __________________ (other 1)
m __________________ (other 2)
m __________________ (other 3)
You may want to
take some time in your consideration. This is no trivial exercise, because
through these thoughts you are actually beginning to express the kind of
teacher you want to be; they will influence what you want to do. When
you have a true teaching system, you will use your core aspirations to
deliberately influence every action you take and every course product you
construct. It is important that you minimize doing and/or creating anything
that will lead you to a result you donÕt aspire to achieve.
You have
selected the words that best describe the traits you want to exemplify. (Did
any of these duplicate any key word you assigned to your mentor? If so, it
confirms how much that mentorÕs influence lives on in you.) Next, you are going
to look at your primary aspirations for the learning outcomes that you want,
once again from the broad perspective of the Òbig picture.Ó
Select a
single course—the one represented by the syllabus youÕll bring with you
in June to the Camp.
Consider only
that single course. Write the name of the course in the space below, and follow
that with a listing of three phrases that capture the three most important
learning outcomes that you wish for your students from that course.
COURSE
NAME--
1.
2.
3.
If you had
trouble in discerning three primary outcomes from a list that you feel included
other indispensable objectives, type the name of the course in the space
below, and follow that with a listing of the objectives in the text space
below.
COURSE
NAME--
We have academic
freedom, but we also have responsibilities to our departmental, college and/or
university units. There may be particular learning outcomes for this course
expected by these units, especially if the course is required as part of a
general university requirement or required for a major or minor in a
discipline. The situation should never exist in which any course is required,
but its educational justification cannot be stated in terms of both learning
goals and intended learning outcomes. If any learning outcomes exist under the
category of unit level responsibilities that you have not addressed already in
the responses to 2a and 2b above, add again the course name in the space below,
and follow with a listing of these additional unit-mandated responsibilities.
COURSE
NAME--
If your course
is required by a unit, but you can find no written educational justification
specified in terms of learning outcomes, a conversation at the unit level is
clearly needed to identify the outcomes and specify these in a written
document.
When professors
teach any course, most certainly have outcomes in mind that they want for their
students. However, instructors seldom specify the learning outcomes they want
for themselves as result
of teaching the course. Specifying some outcomes you want for yourself is far
from a selfish act. Instead, clarifying these in writing will insure your
growth and thus your enthusiastic participation in a class. These outcomes can
take a variety of forms. They could include greater content mastery in a
particular area in which one feels less adequate, but great benefits may also
result from addressing an area other than content knowledge. One may resolve to
learn how to teach a particular unit through an unfamiliar non-lecture
approach; one might resolve to become more patient with students or to know
each student well enough to appreciate each as an individual learner. In
whatever goal we choose, by identifying our own desired area of growth and
making sure that we pursue it, we insure that we improve in some way each time we
teach the course. While course material may become so familiar to us that it
becomes stale, insuring growth by varying what we do with the material and with
our students can insure that a course will always be fresh and inspirational
for us. Having our own desired learning outcomes is a way to keep us sharp.
So finally,
for the same course you have been dealing with, draft two phrases that capture
two major outcomes you desire for yourself as result of your teaching.
COURSE
NAME--
1.
2.
In
these three modules, we have formulated the most critical foundations for our
own teaching philosophy—why we entered our profession, how we obtained
our present ideas about good teaching, what our core values are, what learning
outcomes we want for our students, and how we next plan to grow ourselves. A sound philosophy contains the
personal core tenets we hold dear, and material based on an awareness of the
literature on the pedagogy and assessment of teaching in higher education.
A sophisticated
philosophy is the essential blueprint that enables one to build a teaching
system. No two systems are alike, nor should they be. Writing a philosophy is a
relatively easy exercise in comparison to enacting that philosophy in practice.
At the individual level this introspection should help you to articulate: "What outcomes do I want, and
why?" Once this is formed,
the rest of the camp should help to supply answers to "What are my best
ways to achieve these?Ó and "How can I know the degree to which the
students have reached these?Ó The week of our Boot Camp involves development of
actual products that will produce answers to such questions. This awareness
enables us to select from a variety of sound choices that ultimately best fit
our aspirations. A teaching system
conveys a sound, sophisticated teaching philosophy to both students and peer
reviewers.