Author: christine (Page 9 of 11)

Weeks 161 to 164 – May 7, 2023 – The last weekly blog

I am back. It’s been awhile since I have been attending to my weekly blog. I think this might be my last post for my weekly #pandemicreflections. I made a little joke with myself to blog on a weekly basis while we were in the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 5, 2023, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared the end to the COVID global health emergency. The pandemic is “over” and so will these blogs.

Hmm… it’s taken me a week to get back to “normal” after adjusting to the Pacific Time Zone after my 2-week trip in Italy. Although I was “working” during my time away, I did not bring my laptop to blog or write. The week before that, I was in the “hustle” to get my marking done for the end of term. I was reading papers until the very last moment before I departed on April 15, 2023 to YVR and Verona, Italy.

I think that sums up my last for weeks: marking, travel, and recovery (during work). I had full intentions to write a blog for each week missed during my time away, but I did not expect the pandemic to end as well. Seems timely. As a result, this blog post will be a fairly lengthy one, but hopefully succinct enough for folks to read. I had incredible time in Italy and I think that I’ve returned home a different person.

First, I would like to mention that I am very proud of the Elementary Cohort and I greatly enjoyed my time and work this these teacher candidates. The last two terms with this crew exceeded my expectations. It’s amazing to learn alongside this crew. Although not perfect, I am grateful that they were willing to take risks with me, provide feedback, and find the good in the work that we were achieving.

With last year’s EDUC 491 Elementary Crew and this year’s Elementary Cohort in EDUC 394, EDUC 391, EDUC 421, and EDUC 405, I feel humbled and honoured to have them in my pedagogical journey. They helped me to understand what is possible in my practice, but also develop my teacher efficacy in higher education. They gave me the agency and autonomy to create new learning opportunities.

I am the learner. I love that. I am also grateful to my grad classes as well, EDUC 639 and EDUC 633. They also helped me to delve deep into online learning that is community oriented, collaborative, and co-constructed. It’s not perfect, of course. I’m still learning and developing, but this is the joy of teaching. I never want to give the illusion that teaching is “perfect.” It isn’t. It’s messy, divergent, and creative.

After submitting my grades, to the best of my ability, I was on the first flight out of Prince George, BC and I met up with my twin bro at the Vancouver airport to have fancy breakfast at the Fairmont hotel before meeting up with my friends. This trip was a vision had 23-years ago to celebrate a milestone birthday of my friend. The dream was to make pasta in Italy… and we did. And, I made a new friend too. 🙂

Laugh and giggles throughout. I had no expectations of Italy except that I wanted to bring a block of cheese home as a souvenir. We saw many churches, ate lots of yummy food, and engaged in the local culture when we could. Anna and I regularly attended a local coffee shop near our B & B, and we loved our server, Amber. We loved the cappuccinos and delicious sandwiches. Verona was a great place to be.

Travelling in Italy was amazing. I have never traveled abroad without family. I did once to Hong Kong for a family reunion, but this experience to travel to Europe was a new experience. I had no expectations. I would consider myself a follower in this vacation and enjoyed every minute of it. I cannot believe that I had the chance to ride a gondola. That said, I appreciated more of the local experience better.

It’s easy to get caught in the “tourist trap.” It costs a tonne as well. That said, “you only live once.” That was my mantra for this trip… YOLO! My friends bought some beautiful glassware from a local artist in Venice. Of course, I enjoyed the pasta and the eating experience… LOL. Unfortunately, we were did not make it to Florence to meet David due to a train accident. Instead, we went to Desenzano del Garda.

It was a beautiful lake community. We were already at the train station with hopes of going to Florence, but all the trains were full. This was an excellent alternative. The train took us to Desenzano station and we walked down to the lake. We arrived early so there were not many people around. We had a cappuccino, the skies cleared up, and we walked around through the town. It was a short day trip.

You can imagine that I took a tonne of photos throughout the vacation. I’m finding it somewhat challenging to choose the photos to best depict the trip, but I am really enjoying the scroll through my pics as I write this blog post. We did a lot during this vacation and I’m only highlighting a few points. The highlight of the vacation was going to Castello di Montalero to cook, meet friends, and explore.

Honestly… I must have took hundreds of photos at the castle, before the castle, and after the castle. So many to choose from, but I choose this one with Charlie. He was the youngest son of the owner and our guide throughout our 5-days at the castle. He was super amazing and engaging. He brought us to wineries, local vendors, and places of interest. He kept our group together and entertained.

We cooked a few times as a group of 10. We worked with a couple local chefs to make different types of pasta and other foods like focaccia. Admittedly, it was the best focaccia bread I’ve ever tasted. We are doing it all wrong in Canada. I was so amazed by the quality of food in Italy, but also the way of life. I was so enamoured by one of the chefs and the principles she lived by. I learned so much from her.

We met people from the UK, USA, and Ireland. As different as we were, we were able to get along. That is serendipity. So many laughs. So many giggles. For me, it was a week of humility and humbleness. I was learning so much. I can only laugh at myself. I even adopted a new name during my trip…. “Alice.” It’s my real first name, but how it’s pronounced in Italy was so beautiful (see Google), I opted to go by it.

I soon found out (on my last day at the castle) that “Alice” also means anchovy. Charlie told me this when we were at the market, but I soon learned that the crew all new a couple of days before and didn’t have the heart to share it with me. Huh. I am one small salty fish. Dang. Who knew? LOL. Another thing to laugh about and embrace. I loved my 5-days at Castello di Montalero. We are planning to go back.

The Italy vacation ends with Rome. You’d expect Rome to be a destination place… and it is. But this place was packed and catered to the American tourist. I was continuously fascinated by the scale of the Colosseum and Vatican, but I will admit that I favoured the rural and remote areas of Italy. I appreciated the culture and the straightforwardness of life. Also, folks were generally very well dressed. 🙂

As I reflect on my Italian experience, I can see three clear exemplars of Italy and how they are metaphors to how I would like to approach life. It’s an interesting way to end my #pandemicreflections with what’s really important to me. I can see that I enjoy the simple things in life. I love being with people and I love listening to people’s stories and passions. That is really fuel to my fire. It’s the relationships.

Now, I’m back home in Prince George. I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to fly home the day before I went back to work full time. The transition was not kind but found some solace knowing my travel mates felt the same way. I am grateful to be sitting here at my desk with the sun shining on me typing on my “new” computer (because my old “temporarily died… now gifted to my kid).

I think that I will be returning to the castle. We are already making plans for 2025 and going to Florence as well to meet David and possibly visit Torino. We heard good things about that place too as a good place to visit. I have no regrets and very appreciative to have this weekly blog to reflect on the quality of life and changes over the last 3-years. 164 weeks of blogging. Looking forward to what’s next.

Week 160 – April 7, 2023 – Heartwarming and Validating

It’s the long weekend and this Friday has become my “be a person Saturday” so I enjoyed the day slept in, made breakfast for my kid, and went out with friend for lunch and dinner. Oh… and it’s time to blog. After today, I will need to be an email and marking machine. I have to get all my work done before an leave for a couple of weeks and a treat to myself. I am hoping for deep thinking time, learning, and exploring. Rest and joy is good too. I can’t wait. Until then, I shall write this blog.

The first thing I would like to write about is EDUC 633 and the CHECK portion of the Spiral of Inquiry. It might be a bit early to comment, but our last class on Wednesday was AMAZING. Each person briefly shared their self-study with the class and what they have learned within their inquiry in context to the course. I was so impressed with the diversity, the complexity, and level of care. Along with each presentation was a short commentary on the course and its facilitation.

The EDUC 633 appreciated the autonomy, community, and personalization of the course. Student agency and student voice equates to student ownership. Only good comments and I felt that it was an incredible learning community. At the end of the class during office hours, one student commented on the quality of the course, my authenticity and flexibility, and my ability to hold space for others as a BIPOC instructor/professor. Honoured, humbled, and grateful for the class.

I guess this would be the unofficial CHECK. I am waiting for the final draft of their papers next week. I am looking forward to their self-study inquiry. I loved how their inquiry helped them to identify the implications of Human Development in education. We learned some pertinent and relevant information about each stage to provide perspective on their practice and course of action to improve the learning experiences for students. I love that this learning is a vehicle for change.

The next day was EDUC 391/421. A full day of teaching and my last class with the Elementary Cohort. I would like to mention that it was a full-moon and the very last class before the long weekend and end of the term. I started the class with the Core Competencies, had an awesome guest speaker (aka. Shannon Schinkel) to speak about Standards Based Grading (SBG), and concluded with the EDUC 421 Summative Assessment. It was a soft ending (or landing) for the course and term. When students completed their “making” of their metaphor for assessment, they had the exit slip of taking a photo, taking notes, and emailing their work to me.

Again, the final assessment for EDUC 391/421 will not be complete until next week, but I am looking forward to seeing what videos or written compositions of their “assessment metaphor” will be do demonstrate their learning of the course. I am also looking forward to reading their practicum reports and finalizing their grades in my courses. I will continue with this cohort with EDUC 405, but this course will be mostly asynchronous. I am very lucky to work with a cohort who were so willing to take risks, engage in different learning experiences, and open their hearts and minds to the land as teacher, co-construction, and community.

Working with this cohort for two terms in 3.5 different classes and an incredible teaching and learning opportunity for me (and I hope they felt the same way too). I had the chance to flex the course content between EDUC 394, EDUC 405, EDUC 391, and EDUC 421 to demonstrate the complexity and interconnectedness between these courses and hopefully they can see that with other courses. Throughout the two terms, I had many kind words and compliments shared with me, and for this, I am grateful. I also acknowledge that we could not accomplish this good work without them. Serendipity of us together made this possible.

Gosh. I might do another reflective journal of my two terms with the elementary cohort. They were definitely part of my pedagogical learning journey and they taught me what was possible. I am a little sad to see them go, but they are ready for next steps as well. I wish them all the best in the next 2 terms in the program and I hope they are able to remain a learning community throughout the program. I will make note of serendipitous learning opportunity. I had the chance to make drums at Giscome Elementary. The learning, the love, and the openness of the process helped me to learn that there are not mistakes, but meant to happen.

I learned so much from the elders and I was grateful for the invitation from UNBC Alumni (and superhero) Kelsey MacDonald. We had a wonderful ride together to the school and I enjoyed learning with the Giscome school community and a few of the teacher candidates who were able to visit the school as part of EDUC 405 from the beginning of the term and make drums as well. What a humbling experience and I learned so much of what is possible and about adaptability and problem solving. There is a wholeheartedness to this learning experience. Thank you Bonita, Cheryl, Elders, and Giscome School. I had so much fun with you!!!

The photo below was the deer-hide drum I made for Giscome. I loved that I got to make this drum. Honoured. And I had the opportunity to incorporate weaving to the back of this drum. I just loved that. But dang, I was soooooooo tired after that. Who knew? I also learned that my fingers will remain swollen for the rest of the week as well as the smell of the hide. Wow. This was experiential learning at its finest. I’ve also learned that this is the best way I learn… EXPERIENTIALLY. This is why I can see that I am an “Action Researcher” focused on innovative practices, how teachers learn, decolonization, and self-reflection and self-assessment.

THANK YOU students for your feedback. I could not do this work without you. 🙂

It’s Week 13 of the Winter Term. We have approached the end of EDUC 633. As part of the summative assessment, I’ve asked students to engage in a Spiral of Inquiry (Halbert & Kaser, 2017) Self Study. The task is a derivative of the Spiral of Inquiry as we learn more about Human Development, we are looking at ourselves and our practice to engage in the 6 stages of inquiry (i.e., the Scan, Focus, Hunch, Learn, Take Action, and Check) with a personalized guided question. The inquiry and self-study is the “implications in education” and the hope is, to create a course of action that is research based to improve the learning experiences of students.

The course started with valid and very broad stroked questions about Human Development and the research that contributed to this field of work. Cultural sensitivity, the emphasis and generalizations concerning poverty (or lack there of), the gender and ancestry of the researchers, and how schools operate as whole were questioned. As we moved forward with the course with the opportunity to look at different learning resources and literature, the inquiries started to take life. Readings started to have some relevance to the inquiry question and self-study and conversations in class became more relevant and recognizable.

The students kept an annotation of their readings and shared their learnings during class time as a whole group discussion. Initially, the course started with breakout rooms to sense make the content informally and in small groups. Over time, the small group conversations became whole group conversations and the network of inquiry is the shared experience of learning and discovery as a class while each student embarked on their own self-study and inquiry. Although the class is only 13-weeks, the TAKE ACTION stage and CHECK stage may be written as future action and a description of how they would check their progress or success. The objective of this course design is to wonder, learn, and take action.

I am also a participant in this learning. I am learning about this course design and about Human Development and my own inquiry as a self-study. As I learn more about the Spiral of Inquiry (experientially) I am learning about its complexities and how it is a useful framework for me as an ACTION RESEARCHER. (Sorry, that made me smile… self-discovery is so wonderful). I engaged in this coursework not only as the course instructor, but as a learner. I have my own inquiries and I wanted to model what I was hoping for from the students. I also wanted to experience what they were experiencing to provide some insight and guidance.

Admittedly, my approach to this work was different. I am not doing an annotation or final paper, but I have been blogging about this teaching and learning journey and depending how things go, may write about it as a program evaluation. I love the idea that my work is a form of research. I love learning in and with my classes to hone my practice and it return, this form of Action Research, fuels my love for learning and provide content to my research program. I was told once by one of my mentors that my work is my research. I did not believe it at the time, but now I am realizing in this work with Human Development that this is MY WORK. 🙂

As you can see, this is a reflective blog post anticipating the end of EDUC 633 and our class tonight. I wanted to write a blog post to form my thinking in preparation for tonight’s class. The plan tonight is to share what we have learned about human development and its implications on our practice in education. I am very excited to hear what each person has learned. I have checked in with each of them last week with office hours and it seems that we have arrived to important understandings that will shift their practice and/or mindset, thus would impact student learning. I have learned a lot about Human Development and looked at my practice critically.

In my self-study inquiry, my question was, “How can I be more human in my practice?” The idea was about bringing more humanity back into the classroom. We get caught up in systems and “the rules” and forget that we are in a “people-industry” thus require systems and rules that are best for people. In my practice as a former secondary math teacher, now researcher and teacher educator, I am wondering about what’s best for students. When working with “any student,” the vibe is “What do you want me to know? What do you want me to do? And, am I doing this right?” I wanted to shift the narrative to nourish student agency.

I’ve been working on my inquiry with deliberate practice for a couple of terms. In my SCAN, when critically reflecting, I was trying to be someone that I’m not. I was not only trying to follow the rules, but also trying to be someone that I thought people wanted me to be or expected me to be. I learned early in EDUC 633 that my inquiry stems from infancy. I was a little surprised. Attachment theory, trust vs. shame, and parenting styles led me to a HUNCH about being a second-generation Chinese Canadian, being assimilated, and striving to be a “white man” to succeed in the world. This misalignment in my identity, as developed in Adolescence and Early Adulthood, let to many life decisions that were not authentic to who I am.

This understanding of who I thought I should be also influenced who I was a K-12 teacher. I want to be more myself and design my classes that reflected who I am. This want might be reflective of my Middle Adulthood way of being where my Identity Development from Adolescence entailed “identity foreclosure” and committed to being a particular way because I thought I was expected of me to “be a good Canadian” then moved towards “identity moratorium” in Early Adulthood. I don’t think that I have achieved my identity, really, until Middle Adulthood. Life events during Early Adulthood like my career, marriage, family, and divorce has influenced who I am today but also reflective of the changes in one’s identity.

The FOCUS of my self-study was designing classes that reflected who I really wanted to be and how I wanted my class to operate. I wanted to embrace the 4R’s of (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001) of Relevance, Respect, Responsibility, and Reciprocity as well as the First Peoples Principles of Learning (BC Ministry of Education, 2006). I am a settler and non-Indigenous, but the lack of my ethnic identity and empathy for the history of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Peoples in Canada with respect to cultural genocide and Truth and Reconciliation, I feel this way of being is aligned to who I am and want to be as a person and educator.

My HUNCH is my sense of self and learning more about my ethnic identity and who I am as a person. I live between two worlds and doing this exploration in another collaborative project with a former student. I am fully assimilated to Canadian culture. I have no language or culture that reflect my physical looks of being a Chinese/Cantonese person with exception to food, family dynamics, and birth order. How can I be the teacher I want to be when I am not sure of who I am. This thinking is aligned to Parker Palmer’s Identity and Integrity in Teaching. “You teach who you are”… but who am I? The LEARNING is learning more about myself, and Human Development. The ACTION is to teach who I am and want to be.

In Teacher Education and Graduate Studies, my audience is in Early Adulthood. For Teacher Candidates, many are in Emerging Adulthood where they are in an age of identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between, and possibilities. They are impressionable and it is important to me to model the work of Parker Palmer and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. I wanted to bring this thinking to my graduate classes online, but also I wanted to model what it means to be a “learner” not an expert (even though my expertise in Middle Adulthood is well developed). Community, Connection, and Co-Construction are integral components to my course design and teaching. It was scary, but I needed to act.

I can see the variance amongst the undergraduates of Perry’s Scheme (1970) of Cognitive Development fluctuating between dualism, multiplicity, and relativism based on their age and experience. In my graduate classes, I see students engaged in relativism and are able to reflect on their practice in this self-study and were able to delve into my 3 C’s of Community, Connection, and Co-Construction. There were moments of asking about criteria for the final product, which is expected, but I had to remain consistent with my expectations that was open to student choice and student agency. I hope that students can see what I was trying to create in the learning experiences in my class which is reflective and reflexive.

The CHECK of this self-inquiry will start at the end of this week when the courses end and I can seek feedback from students and I will look at the quality of their final papers and Summative Assessments. I recall one week when I had office hours with one student asking me if my class reflects who I am. I said yes. They proceeded with encouraging words to continue. At this time, I have no regrets and I am not consumed by what I perceive other people in my role do in their classes and I am fully focused on my students, their learning needs, and my expertise. In doing this self-study and taking action, I am more aligned to who I really am. 🙂

Week 159 – April 2, 2023 – Shifting My Mindset

Three times a charm… am I right? I’ve attempted to write this weekly blog post three times. This is the third time. You’re welcome. And, I don’t think it will be a post about Human Development even though it might be representative of my state of being in MIDDLE ADULTHOOD. Today, I went to an open house and it was the perfect house. I was not prepared to make an offer, but wished I was. There was lots of interest in the house and they were taking offers today at 4pm. No can do.

I’m wondering if this was a metaphor of what is. Who knows? I’m not reading into anything. What that little house told me was, BE READY. I’m ready for change. As much as I think that I want routines and the status quo, I am realizing is, I need to keep growing and learning. In doing so, change is inherent. What I am also learning is, I can’t do this on my own. I need help from others and there’s no shame in that. Another thing I am learning is, I did not fail because I could not my house today.

THE LEARNING MINDSET. I read in the Human Development Resource under adolescence describing the difference between growth and fixed mindsets in terms of learning goals versus performance goals. I needed this at the time when I read this a few weeks ago. It took some time to shift my mindset. I was so focused on performance and what other people thought of me. I thought I overcame that when I landed on my chest in curling, slipping on the ice while saving my face.

Nope. Not the case. Falling in front of people (twice) on the curling ice last week was a turning was definitely a turning point. I was not embarrassed or shamed. I was joking around and being myself. That’s the key. I was myself. The testing continued. I needed that falling-catalyst to jump into setting my mindset to applying for a tenure track position. I had to update my CV, teaching statement, and research statement as well as the cover letter, of course. I learned a tonne.

In my application, I was very intentional in terms of what position I was applying for, what evidence I was providing to articulate my teaching and research, and I was not overselling, hiding, or trying to someone else. I was ready to apply and was able to learn from various websites what I needed to do in my application. I loved learning about how to write an academic CV and why it was important. It took me HOURS to revise. I underestimated the time but I am so pleased with it now.

For my teaching and research statements, I saw some examples online and started re-writing each one. Each statement expanded from half a page each to two-pages each. I am so proud of my accomplishments and where I want to go. I’ll admit that I imagined my research program as a three-circled Venn Diagram, but not sure if that came across in a clear way. I’m still thinking of a quick blurb to describe my work. Teaching Innovations Researcher. Hmm… just made that up and it has a ring.

I am proud of myself for investing many, many hours into this application. I’m not too caught up in the outcome, but I was more consumed by the learning and it was wonderful to see my growth over time. I am growing. I am learning. And, this is my job to do so. I am also grateful for my references and mentors for their ongoing support. I am so lucky to have these people in my life. Their wholeheartedness, honesty, and willingness to lift me up is heartwarming and truly humbling.

Despite of some obstacles experienced this week, I am learning to keep my mind, body, and spirit in the LEARNING MINDSET. Otherwise, I’m second guessing, not sure, or scared. I can’t function when I’m in a state of FEAR. I can’t grow or learn. I end up hiding and minimizing who I am as a person. I lose sight of MY WHY and believe that other people are “right.” The only person who knows what’s right for me is me. That’s it. And, I’m ok if people don’t agree with me. It’s not about me.

The week ended horribly. I went to bed early on Friday, enjoyed my “be a person day” on Saturday, and took this day… Sunday… to look at my perfect house, take care of myself, and be the person I am and going to be. I am learning more about who I am with each day and growing into this way of being is truly aligned to who I am. When I made that TEDxWestVancouverED, I was looking for this alignment. I think I’ve found it. No one else has to like it but me. That’s all that matters. 🙂

Week 158 – March 27, 2023 – Feeling Good About Myself

Wow. It’s taken me some time… A LONG TIME… to feel the way that I do. I wonder if I have finally arrived in MIDDLE ADULTHOOD. According to the textbook I’m reading for my Human Development course, I’m halfway through this stage in my lifespan. OY. It’s tough to imagine that it’s taken all of this time to good about who I am. I don’t have to worry about what others think of me and what matters is me.

This way of being is not about narcissism or egocentrism, it’s about understanding who I am and what’s important to me. It’s taken about 158 weeks of the pandemic. Can you believe that? I’ve been carrying a weekly blog ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in my previous website which start with something that brought a smile to myself with my #pandemicreflections. Who knew it could be?

And yes, I’m late with this blog post as I have tried to keep to a routine of reflecting on the weekend, typically on Saturdays. Of course, time when I would write would vary from week to week. This weekend had some defining moments that led to a slight delay on this week’s #pandemicreflection. Good thing that I have developed forgiveness, grace, self-care, and compassion for self and others. Yay. It’s all good.

I do believe in serendipity or maybe it’s more about self-awareness and listening. Things happen for a reason and I believe that it’s our responsibility to learn from those situations. I will admit, I have not been very good at this. I am learning and getting better at responding to situations. On Friday, I fell on my chest while sweeping a rock during my last curling game of the season. It didn’t bother me.

This fall was a TSN Turning Point and something to notice. Aside from being out of shape and feeling the aches and pains of being my age (aka. Middle Adulthood), I lost my footing, slipped, and fell in front of my team, the opponents, and others who were curling. Honestly, it was funny. I joked about it. I appreciated everyone’s concern and care, but I was so grateful for my chest for breaking my fall. LOL.

I had another incident with my kid on Saturday with my kid that triggered me to stand up for myself, value myself, and use my words and actions to create a clear boundary that honours myself. These actions and the why behind these actions were huge for me. I love my kid to bits, but I cannot “give myself away” anymore. I’ve been doing that for most of my life. She is an adult. We are both adjusting.

After dinner and walk that night with a friend and couple of other conversations that day, I was stoked to approach an application for tenure track and taking the process with a learning mindset. As mentioned in the last few blog posts, I’ve been in a place of uncertainty, second-guessing, and discomfort. I understand now that I was in a fixed mindset and too focused on the outcome. Now, I’m ready to learn.

I need to invest the time in me. As a mentor once said to me, “be selfish.” Although I do good work for others and in service to others, not much of what I do is for me. At some level, it is for me because I am in the service to those in my classes or one’s I am supervising, and I do take great joy in creating learning opportunities for others to thrive, learn, and enjoy. But, I need to do the same thing for ME. 🙂

And yes, I started working on my CV… finally. I am learning a tonne. I am googling online about academic CV’s and I am learning and deciding what I need to do to adapt what I have already. It’s been fun to review some my accomplishments over the last 15-years but also finding errors in the CV that I was maintaining to keep track of what I am doing as part of my annual PAR (professional activity report).

I’ve been working on my CV from 10pm to 6am and Saturday night (my tiger time and more) and all day on Sunday. Whew. I’m still working on it and it’s been fun. Gosh. The learning mindset is transformational. Although I am working on a task that I was resisting and dreading for quite some time, I love what I am learning and starting to understand some nuances of higher education but also my strengths.

Although I am applying for one job as part of my pathway towards MY DREAM, I know that working on my CV, cover letter, and teaching/research statement is an opportunity to learn, grow, and reflect on my practice. It keeps me updated and it prepares me for the next advertisement that is of “good fit” for me. It’s not the other way around. I love looking at my research program and I’m feeling excited.

I am proud of who I am. No regrets. This pedagogical journey is about learning more about myself and accepting who I am. I have arrived. I feel that the few “tests” this weekend has proven to me that I’m ready. I am my full self. I am not “perfect” but I am the “perfect me.” This is who I am. I don’t want to forget to mention the conversations I had on Thursday that led me to where I am today.

My life is good. Very good. I have nothing (really) to complain about. This might be the Middle Adulthood way of being. I have landed on my name as well. It will be “Christine Ho Younghusband.” I will maintain all of the permutations with my first name “Alice” and I acknowledge that my name (as much as I hated it and struggled with it) has been a integral part of my journey. I’m keeping it. It’s part of my story.

Look at me… arrival… feels great and a smooth landing. Now… back to my CV.

Week 157 – March 18, 2023 – There are no short cuts.

I need to return back to my EDUC 633 reflections. I’m a few weeks behind. I don’t think that’s a problem, but I make these promises and I want to keep them. I had a moment thinking that I could blend my Human Development reflections with my weekly pandemic reflections, but I found myself in cognitive paralysis. Not helpful. Maybe this is a classic characteristic of being a LIBRA. I’m trying to find a balance with all that is on my plate and I just have to jump in with two feet and do it all.

Let’s return back to my self-study question: How can I be more humanistic in my teaching practice? It’s something like that. I have realized during class this week that I am engaged in all parts of Spiral of Inquiry: Scanning, Focussing, Developing a Hunch, Learning, Taking Action, and Checking. At first, I was scanning with my practice and making a change of who I am as an educator and finding myself again after several major life events. Apparently, identity development is ongoing.

Thank goodness. My life was relatively turbulent over the last few years and the pandemic served a purpose of slowing down and identifying what was important to me. As I read about MIDDLE ADULTHOOD (my current age range), it claims that midlife crisis does not exist, with exception to a study looking at white males who could not live up to “the dream” and physical and mental peaks are declining. I would say I’m part of the 23% who experienced a midlife crisis or unraveling.

My fluid intelligence may be getting a bit slower and my crystallized intelligence is improving over time. My “middle aged brain” is more calm and attempts to deal with my emotions and social interactions more better. LOL. I depend on my tacit knowledge and although I have not returned back to higher education formally as a student, as an academic I’ve realized recently that I get paid to be a learner. I was struck in the ADOLESCENCE chapter that compared growth and fixed mindsets.

I teach in teacher education and speak to growth and fixed mindsets conceptually. Carol Dueck made a distinction between the two but in this chapter it also talked about “performance goals” versus “learning goals” and saying that performance goals represent the fixed mindset. I was jostled and can see that this is true. Performance goals is about seeking approval, worrying about people’s judgement of you, and setting limiting targets. I need to focus on a LEARNER’S MINDSET.

From scanning and looking at my practice with hopes of bringing humanity into schools, the reading from the INFANCY and FAMILY chapters led me to focus on “belonging, acceptance, and authenticity.” My early understandings of being a second generation Chinese Canadian, I grew up trying to achieve the identity of a “white man” while assimilation, marginalization, and racism were social norms. I lived most of my life protecting myself and pretending to be someone I was not.

From the MIDDLE CHILDHOOD chapter, I was drawn to the ideas of PLAY and sense-making. I was left wondering about the role of play in teaching and learning but also for developing social norms and sense of self. Play can bring a child a sense of efficacy and confidence as they start to develop who they are. Also, the topics of gender identity and sexual identity helped me to realize that to bring COMPASSION to my practice, I need to continue to learn more about humanity.

The ADOLESCENCE chapter looked at identity development as well as EARLY ADULTHOOD. I look back at myself to realize that developing my ethnic identity was almost absent. I was too busy looking at “performance goals” to please my parents, to seek approval, and to become the ideal “successful white man” or achieve “the dream.” Hmm… this self-study is coming together. I could relate to the “emerging adult” with my daughter, but now I can see my fixed mindset on me.

My HUNCH connects to my another study I am working on adjacent to this one which is looking at my ethnic identity, decolonization, and being an educator. My hunch is, my busyness of becoming a very privileged setter on the stolen lands of the Lheidli T’enneh, shishalh nation, and Ts’msyen Peoples. I could not be my true self. I was not 100% authentic, wholehearted, or vulnerable with myself or my practice. Play was difficult for me. Trust is something I am always struggling with.

Sigh. That was tough to write, but it’s true. I catch myself in this fixed mindset and always attempt to move towards the growth mindset. I am LEARNING about Human Development, but I am also learning about how to be open, vulnerable, and playful. Making mistakes is OK (at least, that’s what I tell myself), taking risks and trying something new, and having tough (or truthful) conversations with my learners is important to me (and hopefully for them too). I’m not hiding anymore.

Reading through the EARLY ADULTHOOD chapter was somewhat difficult for me. Aside from learning that my child will shift from “emerging adult” to adulthood when she realizes her independence, the other topics endured in the middle adulthood are ones that I wanted to overlook and ignore. LOL. Divorce, family, and figuring out what you want to do with you life are all resonant with me and I spent the last 3-decades wrestling through that angst and the insincerity of success.

So, I’m TAKING ACTION. In my practice (this term and last), I am taking the risk of being myself, designing learning opportunities that are aligned to my philosophy and pedagogical stance, and acting in ways that are wholehearted and vulnerable. I am trying to be true to myself in my practice, not just in the classroom, but also valuing myself as a person (and professor). I feel so fortunate and thankful for the students, colleagues, friends, and family who are helping me to walk this new path.

I am learning lots and I am brought back to the MIDDLE ADULTHOOD chapter (where I am today), my “creativity” while I develop my expertise, motivation, and cognition. The textbook says, “Franken (2001) defines creativity as “the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems… and entertaining ourselves and others.”  I never imagined myself to be a writer (dare I say, researcher) after teaching high school math.

Dang. As you can see, I am trying to catch up on all of my reflections over the last few week in Human Development and my self-study, but as I read through the MIDDLE ADULTHOOD chapter, the topic talking about “expertise” resonates with me as it is something I wrote about in my dissertation with respect to deliberate practice, subject matter acquisition, and teaching out-of-field. I am also brought to my favourite metaphor for life, learning, and leadership, which is CURLING.

Experts are more intuitive, automatic, strategic, and flexible. Expertise takes time to develop and I can see that in my career in curling, but also in teaching. It’s strange to be learning all over again in a (relatively) new career in higher education. I am learning but I am also using my expertise as context. Shifting my mindset back to LEARNING, I have job satisfaction and I remain humble. I’ve experienced burn-out and job discontent. I know now that I’m in the right place.

I will end this VERY LONG blog post with a recent aha and joyful serendipity. I am listening to a new (to me) podcast, ARM CHAIR EXPERT. I just love it. I don’t know why I do, but I would call myself an “arm chairee.” I wake up to this podcast, go to bed listening to this podcast, or have it on while walking. Most times, I’m giggling. Out of curiosity, I looked up it’s website and says this podcast “celebrates the messiness of being human.” It made me smile. Yes it does. Thank you, always.

Week 156 – March 12, 2023 – Don’t lose sight of what’s good

It’s super interesting continued my pedagogical journey and pandemic reflections on this WordPress site but I am totally appreciating the updated platform and the use of my laptop. These are all good things. I do miss my former WordPress site and it remains active, but I’m not just too sure how much I will add to it now.

This has been an interesting week or so. I’ve been deliberating next steps with my career (and life). I am committed to living authentically and wholeheartedly. I’ve been enjoying my practice in the last two terms with both my undergraduate and graduate classes. I’ve been taking some risks, but also finding more alignment.

Admittedly, I am so grateful to have so many critical friends who are willing to offer their help or opinions to offer me the clarity I need to move forward. For example, I just had a recent conversation with a good friend who suggested that I should put my name in brackets. You’ll notice this change on my website header.

I need that guidance (or scaffolding) as I am learning how to take next steps that are best for myself. I’ve been too much in service to others such that I lost myself and what was important to me. Being 156 weeks into the pandemic, this time to reflect was key to helping me to define what’s important to me and live my dream.

As I sought for some support and guidance from those who I trust and respect, I engaged in a few conversations that has shifted my thinking and insecurities to a place of learning and making decisions that are aligned to my dreams. I have a dream and I am so grateful to those who reminded me of it and to stick to it.

I find myself catching my breath and being ok with these next steps. I am brought to some of my learning from the Human Development self-study. There were a few paragraphs committed to “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset” where it differentiated “learning goals” versus “performance goals.” Oh my… I get it.

Anyway, I will be exploring this thinking further in my next blog reflecting on my self-study and some of the aha’s I’m learning about Human Development. Shifting mindsets is key and it’s has been a bit muddled over the last week and a bit. I have the clarity I sought and I’m not losing sight of my dream. It’s one step at a time.

Week 155 – March 5, 2023 – Change is a good thing

Huh. I never thought I would be here blogging on my sample portfolio site that I use with my undergraduate and graduate students. I currently teach a couple of courses at the university that uses portfolio as an integral part of the course: EDUC 405 and EDUC 796. I feel so grateful to be teaching these courses as well as the others that led up to these courses: EDUC 431, EDUC 490, and EDUC 491. I am hoping to complete this portfolio this year (or term). I started this portfolio a few years ago during EDUC 431 with intentions of completing, but here I am.

First, I would like to note, it is Week 155 of the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the sub-title. Second, let me introduce this blog post and “Transitioning from A to B.” I was first introduced to WordPress 10-years ago when I opened a website for my independent consulting business. I left teaching in K-12 and I was working on my dissertation. At first, I thought it would take a year to complete my dissertation, but it took me a lot longer. I became a school trustee and started a consulting business. I tutored math and hired to do workshops and curriculum writing.

A long story made short, I met an entrepreneur at a gathering with other women and hired her to make my website: https://christineyounghusband.com/ The website was much nicer which it was first designed. I’ve added to the WordPress and made some edits as my career changed over time. I served two terms as a school trustee, defended my dissertation, and became an Assistant Professor at the university. Life had shifted again many ways. I moved and I must have threw away the two-authentication codes and bought a new phone with the app.

In end end, I lost access to my WordPress site via my laptop. I locked myself out of my own website because I was spooked by getting cyber attacked. I got lots of email notifications of people or bots wanting to hack my account. I thought that the two step authentication was a good idea, but much like Skype, it’s too secure for me to navigate. I had no idea what I was doing. Still don’t. I guess this is the beauty of learning. I managed to blog since because I had access to a WordPress app. With updates and change in apps, I started to lose good access to my site.

Error 429, long delays to save or update, and the inability to upload photos were only a few symptoms (or reasons) why to change to a new platform. Letting go is so difficult. In some ways, I didn’t want things to change even though I was adapting many time to get to My Last Post. No picture, no editing, and no sense of hope. When do you say goodbye? Last night, I just had to. I could not continue doing what I was doing. As a friend said to me during my dissertation, “to what end?” A strange metaphor, my blog disfunction, but it resonates with me in many ways.

So here I am, continuing my blog post writing on this WordPress platform with Week 155 of my pandemic reflections, thoughts on EDUC 633 Self inquiry and Human Development, and artefacts or memories from teaching and learning. Something to consider is to change the format of my blog. When I started writing it was a means for me to practice writing and reflecting. I appreciated the high stakes nature of blogging and my writing skills have developed over time.

Who knows what’s next. What I am learning is, no one really knows. I am now deciding whether or not to continue paying for my URL for my work blog. If I let that go then I lose all access to my website. Am I willing to have my former work website to be digital debris. Would anyone be able to find it when it doesn’t have it’s URL? Where does all of that data go? And, who really cares? I guess it’s me right now. Another lesson is, it’s one step at a time. All will unravel as it should.

February 15, 2023 – Here is a super cute picture of me and my twin brother. It’s funny to look at this photo. I feel that I have some recollection of this image, that is, the other school photos taken and photos were taken of me alone, when it should have been my older sister. My brother and I were in Kindergarten in this photo, making my sister 9-years old or in Grade 4. Anyway, what I do remember is my mom getting very upset about the mistake and I was just following the rules.

I guess I will take a moment and reflect on this week’s readings from EDUC 633. Everyone is reading different resources, within a scope. I have opted to read the Open Online resource on Human Development while others stayed with the textbook originally chosen by the crew a the beginning of the course or choosing to do directed readings. Admittedly, this creates a very diverse approach to the course. Not all of us are reading the same thing at the same time nor am I lecturing to the class about understanding one way of set of knowledge. It’s a self-study.

What I really enjoy about teaching in higher education is designing courses where the student can choose their end game and how much they want to extend their learning (within reason). I am learning how to be more kind and compassionate to myself and others. It also aligns to my self-study inquiry about becoming “more human” in my classes and looking through the lens of human development. This weeks readings was affirming to my hypothesis of course design that not all chapters will relate or make connections to your inquiry question and self study.

This week, I read the “Early Childhood” chapter and what interested me was the idea of language development and cognitive development. I watched or read something last week week about language being acquired in the womb. That the fetus is listening to sounds and become more acquainted with the rhythm of the language that the mom speaks and the newborn would be more responsive to those sounds. I wonder if this is why my brother and I speak and only understand English and my sister (who was born in Hong Kong) understands Cantonese.

The Early Childhood chapter introduced Piaget and Vygotsky and how at this age, children are learning about initiative versus guilt, self-regulating behaviours, and executive functioning. I think about how compliance is formed and the scaffolded steps to internalized behaviours and standards. Looking back at the image above, I was definitely compliant and following the rules (of the adult) and I was definitely distressed by the response back from the parent who was disappointed and angry. My parent’s response had an impact on me to internalize what was good or bad.

I appreciated the comments in the chapter about parenting and in some cultures focus on the importance of the collective versus autonomy and individualism. I found this helpful as well as Vygotsky’s Zones of Proximal Development and the idea that we are developing from what we learn and can attain versus Piaget’s thoughts of developing first before we learn. This age range of 4-7 has dramatic growth in terms of language acquisition and morality, but cognitive development remains early with limitations like egocentrism, false beliefs, and literal meanings.

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I am catching up with my blog reflections so here I go to speak to the original entry which was last week’s reading on FAMILIES. It was interesting to me to have a bias about this resource, specifically with Chapter 4, but as it turns out, it is the chapter that I believe has a huge impact on my self-study question with respect to why I may have chose it. The chapter begins with parenting and I wrestle between the terms of “authoritative” and “authoritarian.” I feel like I experienced the latter in my childhood. My parents were immigrants who worked very hard to make a living and provide us with the best “future trajectory” as second-generation Canadians.

This section of the chapter also acknowledges the role of culture and parenting styles. Sometimes I think my parents were caught between two paradigms of the Western culture, assimilation, and individualism compared to the strict Chinese culture and collectivism. Sibling relationships has had an impact on who I am in terms of being the unexpected twin child. My sister was the first child and my twin brother was the first boy. I love my siblings dearly and they take care of me as adults in adulthood, but I spent many years living in their shadow and complying to what I perceived was expected of me as the third child. I was definitely #3.

“Higher Order Contexts of Parenting” was a transformative section of the reading for me. The text returns to Brofenbrenner’s macrosystems and the concept of status hierarchies and race, and how macrosystems influence the microsystem. Whew. That was a mouthful. I shared in my class that I hated going food shopping with my mom as a child because she always bought “X” bread (i.e., day old bread). My parents were visible minorities, pressured to assimilate, and we were living in poverty. I remember my mom’s ongoing stress about money and the worry about the pulp mill shutting down (i.e., where my dad worked). Racism was alive and well and much of my life (and suspect my parents’ lives) were about “fitting in.”

My mom worked two full-time jobs (I believe when I was really young). I hear stories about her working a full shift at the cannery (I remember the fishy smell) and then working at the pulp mill cafeteria for a full shift. She didn’t sleep. As she is working, who is taking care of us? My dad worked at the pulp mill (underemployed as a lab technician… he was a gas engineer in Hong Kong) and had a side hustle of being self-employed. All I remember that he did was dry fish. LOL. But I believe that it was related to chemistry and gas engineering. TBH. I’m not really sure.

The idea of class and race plays an integral role in the lives of immigrant families and second-generation Canadian children. I can see that my parents, primarily my mom was parenting under stress. She always put a strong face on, but dang… she wanted to control the situation. She was also self-employed, catered banquets, and led a life trying to achieve the Canadian dream. She kept all of the stories of her culture and her past to herself. The only connection I have to my culture as a Cantonese person is through food. Other concepts like “implicit bias” and I will mention systemic racism and microagressions had/have a huge impact on me.

Cognitively I know that these ideas are socially constructed and much of my existence was focussed through a deficit lens. I am aligned to the author’s calls to action to reinvent the higher-order contexts, minimize disparity and reduce income inequity, and ensure that all families have access to basic conditions. This three acts are an investment in the future and how babies enter into the world and contribute to society. My parents were never divorced, but wonder what impact my divorce has on my kid. That said, I have never been more happy and free. My final comment is the author’s about understanding reliance in all this advsersity.

February 5, 2023 – It’s the 15th day of Lunar New Year (aka. Chinese New Year) celebration and it’s a full moon… the Lantern Festival Day. This is intentional. The first night of the full moon… and here I am blogging about my self-study in Human Development (and implications for education). I struggled the week before with the resource and admittedly, the voice of the textbook chosen could be better. I’m not sure if I’m feeling like there is an inherent bias embedded in the textbook, but I too am biased in my own ways. Anyway, I opted to read the creative commons textbook this week and found it very enlightening. The voice is better and I found the content very relevant to my self-study as I engage in the Spirals of Inquiry.

I am SCANNING and LEARNING from the textbook (regardless of which learning resource I am referring to) and I created a guiding question early in the course to FOCUS my inquiry with hopes narrowing or retrieving information that insightful to my inquiry. At first, I chose my inquiry because of my experience in schools as a teacher, learner, and parent and desire to embed more humanity into the learning experience. What I am understanding is, maybe this need and desire I have for humanity in education originated from when I was first born and lessons learned as an infant. I am a little surprised by this and anticipate that other stages in life has also motivated my self-study, but I believe that I’m developing a HUNCH.

The HUNCH in the Spirals of Inquiry is “What’s leading to this situation?” In the chapter that I’ve read about infancy, the conception section of the reading did not resonate with me as much except for the idea that the fetus can hear and feel before they are born. Also, there is possibility systems and my I am beginning to develop a HUNCH. Even though my self-study is focused on “how to be more human in my practice,” I am realizing that my need for community, acceptance, and belonging in my classes and practice may have started in my early years as an infant and toddler. There seems to be many connections to infancy that I would like to document here as part of my ongoing work in this self-study and readings.

In reflective journals, I asked my students to annotate each weekly reading with content that related to their guiding question and identify any wonderings or curiosities they may have. As mentioned, the textbook can be off-putting so I opted to read the Creative Commons textbook on human development. Similar topics but the textbook is subdivided differently. I appreciated the approach to the content from the online resource, the voice used, and attempts to diversify points of view. What I will reflect on are the topics that resonated with me and my guiding question. I was left thinking about the impacts of Canadian policy to my identity, the role of culture and assimilation to the parenting I received, and my sense of self, identity, and efficacy were imprinted on my psyche at an early age.

“The developmental task of infancy is trust vs. mistrust, and it is negotiated in the establishment of a secure attachment relationship with the caregiver” as cited directed from the text. The theory of attachment resonated with me deeply. I have always struggled with trust. As the third child of the family (aka. the unexpected twin) of immigrant parents who worked around the clock to survive and support us, I wonder how present my mom was in terms of these early years. I hear stories that she worked two full time jobs, one at the fish cannery and the other at the pulp mill cafeteria. I am not sure how old I was when she did worked these two jobs but suspect I was very young. I don’t recall having a caring relationship with my mom or dad. I’m not sure if that was cultural or because they were always working. It might be a bit of both, but I believe that my parents did their best.

Harlow’s research on “contact comfort” as being essential for attachment and Bowlby’s theory on a “secure based” was something I shared with my child when she was growing up. I know that she felt a sense of security and was attached to me when I would take her to drop in at public health and she would be roaming everywhere as a little bub. She was always independent and knew that I was there for her when she needed me. On reflection, I’m not sure if I ever felt that way as an adult. Risk is relative, but I do not stray too far from being comfortable, even though I know I need to step out of my bubble to experience and learn things. I think my kid has a secure attachment style, whereas I see myself as ambivalent.

The “internal working model” developed at 4-months also resonates with me. The infant is taking notes on the reliability and availability of their caregivers. As an adult, I can understand that my parents worked hard to make a living in Canada, being under employed, and creating a life that would be easier for their children. As I reread the text, that these internal working models and inner representations manifest in behaviour. If the experience is negative then it would be difficult for the child to be authentic, and in relationships for insecure-resistant adolescents (aka. me) would be ambivalent to romance, but resentful when needs are not met. Oh my… this scenario describes me (i.e., and my 30-year marriage) precisely.

The developmental task of toddlerhood is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. This is super interesting to me when I compare my kid to myself. She is independent, confident, and autonomous. I would say as her mom when she was small was, “you’re not the boss of me.” She oozed that way of being, even to adulthood. I wanted her to explore, take risks, and be her own person. Me, on the other hand, my mom was “over critical and controlling” or over protective such that I crave safety and security. I am very critical of myself and insecure of my strengths. In terms of temperament, I think I was “slow to warm.” Looking back at old photos, I was not the happiest kid next to my siblings. I was not a crier. I might have been an “easy child” but agree that parenting is bidirectional; we respond to each other. Being a “good match” with parenting and temperament is key to development.

Self-conscious emotions such as shame, guilt, and doubt develop when the toddler is developing their self concept. Toddlers engage in social referencing to gauge the situation and then use that information to act. Different facial expression may attract or withdrawal the toddler. Emotional self-regulation and sense of self occur during this time. I can imagine how development during infancy and toddlerhood could explain my sense of self, temperament, and sense of security or trustworthiness of the world. Infantile amnesia has erased my memories of how I was nurtured during infancy and toddlerhood, but what is being described does not seem unreasonable to explain why and how I think and behave as a adult.

The chapter ends with cognitive development and language acquisition. I wonder about my language acquisition and development being taught English by parents who spoke Cantonese as their first language. I understand the phenomenon of being ESD (English as a Second Dialect) but I also wonder why I was unable to speak or understand any Cantonese. I get suspicious of Canadian policy and the desire for assimilation as a second-generation Chinese child, but you would think that I would have acquired some knowledge or ability as a young child. I have huge difficulties understanding any Chinese or the desire or will to retain the language. I will continue to be curious and see what the next stages of development offers.