Educators engage in professional learning.

One of the books that I have read to further my professional learning outside of class work that I would like to highlight under this Standard is “The Courage to Teach” by Parker Palmer. This book was first recommended to our class by my 391 course instructor and has been recommended by many teachers since.

Palmer has many words of wisdom and messages to share with his readers. One such message is not to be fearful. He shares with us an anecdote of an experience he had after many years of teaching where he prioritized one student over the entire class. He admitted feeling horrified after the class, but also noted that that student had been positively impacted and changed by his fixation. So even in the face of failure, there was a moment of success. Among feelings of failure and imposter syndrome, “many of us have another fear that we rarely name: our fear of the judgement of the young” (Palmer, 2017). Palmer acknowledges that a fear he wants to get rid of is his “need to be popular with young people—a need that may be endemic among people who become teachers but one that keeps us from serving our students well” (Palmer, 2017). Pandering to students in order to be “liked” is not the way to successful teaching. Fearing failure is also pointless, as Palmer points out that there will never be a moment where we feel fully confident in what we are doing. He cautions us to not to be our fears. As fear in itself cannot be avoided, what is important is that we do not let our fears smother us or encompass us. “To become a better teacher, I must nurture a sense of self that both does and does not depend on the responses of others—and that is the true paradox” that all teachers face when they stand in front of a class every day. We must be responsive to students and their learning, but we must not let it dictate who we are as educators. To be influenced, but not overrun — this concept is one that inspires much thought. (Palmer, 2017)

Below, I will paraphrase six points written by Palmer in the section of his book titled “Paradox and Pedagogical Design.”

“1. The space should be bounded and open” (Palmer, 2017). There must be a framework in which thought and learning are guided in a specific direction, but learning must also be open so as to allow for discovery.

“2. The space would be hospitable and ‘charged’” (Palmer, 2017). The space in which learning takes place must be inviting, reassuring, safe, and trustworthy, while also not feeling so comfortable as to inspire sleeping.

“3. The space should invite the voice of the individual and the voice of the group” (Palmer, 2017). Without expression of ideas and thoughts, students cannot learn, and without exposure to the thoughts of others, students will stagnate.

”4. The space should honor the ‘little’ stories of the individual and the ‘big’ stories of the disciplines and tradition” (Palmer, 2017). Just as we honour each student’s individual expression and sharing, we must honour and respect the bigger stories that embedded in our learning.

”5. The space should support solitude and surround it with the resources of community” (Palmer, 2017). We must respect the inner worlds of our students, whether they be solitary or communal experiences, and always make community and its resources available tot he students.

”6. The Space should welcome both silence and speech” (Palmer, 2017). Both written and oral communication should be equally valued.

Palmer, Parker. (2017). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. Jossey-Brass.

 

On the PD day that fell within the second Practicum, my coaching teacher had resources to hunt down, so I decided to read “Embedded Formative Assessment” by Dylan Wiliam for my professional development. I got halfway through the book and learned many things. What I found the most shocking, and therefore was the largest take away from this day, was that most of the new systems and money-driven improvements to the education systems that have been studied do not actually show an improvement in student learning. Many private schools do better because they are choosier in who they let into the private school and not necessarily because of the quality of the education itself. In addition, the only variable that seemed to have a long term impact on student learning appeared to be quality of the teacher. Very good teachers improved students’ grades by a marked percentage up to three years past their class. I thought this statistical analysis to be eye opening and interesting to read. I intend to finish the book soon.