School systems are entirely reflexive. The way I see the system is that students sit, listen and passively absorb information that the teacher dishes out. Afterwards we have a lovely probe to see how much of that information they absorbed. Then on to the next subject that is taught and assessed with equal frenzy. I liken it to going to the doctor when they hit you on the knee with that rubber mallet. The response is immediate, expected and if delayed, then there must be something wrong. Students aren’t given many opportunities to process and reflect. There’s no opportunity to even question the material they’re learning or play an active part in their own learning environment.
I’m starting to really get into this reflective practice. It obviously was not valued when I was going through the educational system, because it seemed so foreign to me when I had to start doing it. Reflection is truly something that needs to be practiced and learned through repetition. It’s work, and it takes time. Time of course is the enemy in the classroom. Look at the repercussions though. If students can’t reflect on their own thoughts or feelings about something they’ve learned and have a personal response, they will be at a disadvantage when it comes to processing information long after they leave the classroom. It comes back again to nurturing that sense of self. I love O’Reilly’s idea of creating a “spacious moment” and finding a “spiritual center”. Honing this life long skill will help student’s take accountability for what they’ve learned and process it in a meaningful way. Reflective writing practices can be incorporated into any subject area. Taking this time to process may actually help absorb the material because students perhaps may take the time to make sense of it in a personal way.
Something that will hover around in my brain come September: allow some time for silence to create this contemplative space.
Jax
ReplyDeleteTime for reflection is central to our well being. I believe we need to allow time and space to just “be.” I found that I try to take small moments of space for reflection. Lighting a candle, listening to music, reading poems, watching people, smelling candy…yes, I’m looking for those moments any where that I can find them.
Jax, I hope you do this for your students and for yourself. I loved to journal about what I did at school because it helped me process the events of the week. I was keeping other types of journals this year, so I lost that reflectiveness. It is something I hope to get back, and it is something that I would recommend to every teacher to do.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, once you start doing it, you wonder how you went along so long without it!
ReplyDeleteI think we are all goning to have to keep in contact and share our actual attempts to use contemplative pedagogy in our classrooms. I can't wait to try the same things you were pondering over, yet I'm sure I will fall on my face a few times. I'll be eager to here your thoughts once we get back into the classroom and start doing again!
ReplyDeleteQuestion is: How do you make 1st graders sit silently? Did we just learn more stuff that sounds great in theory, but may never be put into practice. What will I do without this group and all the lovely information?
ReplyDeleteFirst graders can't sit for long...but they can work up to 5-10 minutes. They have just grown up in a culture that doesn't teach them to sit still, so it can be a difficult path. BUT, even 1-2 minutes should be considered a significant step with such young kids.
ReplyDeleteRyan, it would be interesting and fun to have a reflective blog to see how this is working for us in our classrooms and if we are able to implement any of what we have learned this summer- including the leadership and keep all of this going. I definetly want to stay in touch so that I don't feel lost and alone.
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