Critical Reflection for Teachers

This semester I have been taking a paper a AU called 'Critical Reflection for Teachers' with John Roder.  I have found the paper has given me a whole new lens in which to view my role as a teacher and manager of a school.  Since leaving teachers college all those years ago, I never went back to formal learning outside of professional learning development received in schools I have taught in.  The critical reflection paper has given me the tools to delve into 'why' and 'how' I think and act in my role as a teacher.  

When I first started the paper, we had an 'on campus' day where all of the participants met on a Saturday and John Roder took us through the purpose of the paper.  At the end of that day, I came out with my mind spinning...I didn't have a clue what he was talking about and found it very difficult to connect with his messages of gazes, lenses, either/or...AND.  It was a all a little overwhelming, but exciting at the same time.  Flashes of interest were coming on and a lot of tiny connections between how I think and why I think that way was beginning to filter through.  

The many theorists and readings we have studied in the past few months have introduced me to the idea of 'governmentality' - the idea that we are compelled to stick to the rules and do the right thing (democracy) where we believe we have rights and freedom but within an unspoken dimension.  We think we have 'freedom' but we are in fact restrained without actually knowing it. An interesting and challenging space to be in is a 'liminal space', a space that isn't sitting on the fence, but one which is fluid and allows for investigation and reflection where thoughts and opinions change with learning. 

The theorists I have most enjoyed getting to know are:

•  Diti Hill, who introduced me to personal narratives - being able to convey the complexity of ones thoughts and actions where the focus of practice is for people who have not yet developed advocacy skills of their own.  Hill talks in terms of 'early childhood' but reading her article through my lens as a teacher in a low decile, multicultural school, the connection I had with this reading was very strong.  Her explanation of the four areas of sedimented theory and looking for connectedness through new ideas resonated with me as I was able to reflect on how I use and develop these areas in my own practice. 
• John Codd and his reading around neo-liberalism and globalisation was another I connected with through my involvement in the Manaiakalani Education Programme.  The reading showed me the political aspects of education and how strongly politics influences what and how we teach.   It was mostly through this paper that I realised how much of a conformist I was.  Not that there is anything wrong with Manaianakalani, but that I did need to step back and view the programme as a whole which is what I did when I focused my first assignment on the affects the programme has on not only the educational outcomes of our students, but on the social outcomes as well. Carrying out this assignment gave me opportunity to view  Manaiakalani as a socio/political issue and problematise it.  I had never closely examined the programme through this lens before.  I learned that it is ethical to recognise complex spaces and that questioning the policy makers and programme creators doesn't necessarily need to be viewed as 'cynicism' but 'professional skepticism'.  
• Joe Kincheloe's paper about 'teachers as researchers' reiterated the need for teachers to look deeply into our practice and recognise and understand the principals of 'good' and 'bad' teaching.  It also opens up the idea that teachers have been 'deskilled' into teaching pre-packaged programmes forced upon the profession through politically encouraged public perception that teachers are incompetent.  While I think that this is more heavily directed at the American system, we need to observe and learn through their mistakes and be wary of the same political influence here in New Zealand.  In reflecting on this, I made connections with this reading through our own history of tomorrows schools, national standards and now performance pay.  I recognised the debatable issues in this article, but after discussion in our 'on campus' day in May, I changed my lens to look at the 'good' aspects of these things and realised there are some good things that have come out of these policies.  Tomorrows schools gave schools autonomy, national standards gave teachers expectations and clear pathways, performance pay - the jurys still out on that one!

I could go on and on about each theorist we covered though out this course so far, I have learned something from everyone of them...but I don't want this blog to take days to read!

The most important thing that I have learned so far on this course is that being a reflective practitioner allows me to develop my 'power' through self-care, advocacy and open mindedness.  Not just accept, but reflect and question through different 'gazes' not just the one tunneled lens which I think I've always used.  I know I have reflected through out my career, but I now understand and have identified 'how' I reflect and can develop my reflection further through the different stances, lenses and gazes I have been introduced to...in short, I have developed my tool box in thinking and reflecting more 'critically' than ever before.