Dr. Christine Ho Younghusband

November 17, 2024 – Healing with the Land

I am so grateful that a former student, now colleague asked me to go out for a walk. What a good reminder about being out on the land and going outside. I’ve been so spooked to go outside from last year when there were so many bears out and about the neighbourhood. It’s more about not trusting me rather than the bears. I am definitely not “bear-aware” but I love going outside and walking. I have not been doing either as much as I would like to and it’s having an impact.

I mentioned in my last blog post about health and not being ashamed of it if it’s not going well. The goal is to do something about it. I have been struggling for the last couple of weeks and trying my best to get better while being productive. Seems like an unrealistic ask, but I am ok that I am not as productive as I could be. Slowly but surely, I’ve been trying to get back to “regular speed.” I’m not quite there yet, but I am feeling a bit better. That’s what matters. PROGRESS.

We went to the trails near the Forests of the World. We walked by the pit house and I was so enamoured by the environment. I took a lot of photos and none of them are as good as the real thing. The air was crisp and the sun was shining. Walking through the snow was like walking on the sand on the beach. It was pristine. I enjoyed our conversation and it was good to catch up. I was grateful. It was also great to see other people on the trail, walking or mountain biking.

I never thought I would be a “snow-person” but I really enjoyed going out today. Being on the land, being in good company, and appreciating this place so close ot my home was a wonderful and healing experience. Although I was not 100%, I tried my best to be in the moment and to be present. After, we went for coffee, then I went home to rest and take care of myself. Listening to my body takes intentionality, slowness, and patience. I needed to rest… and I was ok with that.

The “old Christine”…. Maybe “Christine 4″… would have just ignored myself physical symptoms and just plowed forward driven by guilt and fear. This behaviour is sadly common for teachers. It’s not a good one and I’ve done this self-neglect for a long time. Nothing is more important than your health. Without it, you have nothing, so take care of it. Being out on the land today was a wonderful reminder that I’m not alone on this journey. Going outside helps.

November 11, 2024 – Rudely Reminded

There has been a tonne of things happening this term. Great things!! First, I’m adjusting to teaching and trying doing research (on the side of my desk). LOL. I find that the demands are up and down and lately, I’ve been finding time to get back in a place that is “more mindful, more demure.” I found myself running around and trying to make things happen. Taking it SLOW is not a bad thing.

The irony does not escape me when I just came back from a conference in Kelowna and presenting with a few teacher candidates about educator wellness. Most times, I am modelling what not to do. I tend to work late nights and often unreasonable hours. In return, this work output is complemented with extreme REST. When sleep is a luxury, then one needs to re-evaluate the pace of life.

On October 31, 2024, the purchase of my new home was finalized and I got the call from the surgeon regarding my gallbladder. I have a date. I’ve been waiting for months to get this call and I am learning over time the seriousness of my condition. Admittedly, it’s a condition that has developed over time that I created for myself. The horror knowing how I’ve lived my life, negatively impacted me.

Anyway, the gallbladder attacks are extremely painful and will only get worse over time. I remember chatting with the surgeon in the spring and he wondered why I did not get the operation earlier (after hearing my story). The truth is, I was not taking care of myself. My health and wellness was not a priority. What a horrible thing to say, but I put everyone else’s needs and wants before mine.

A long story made short, my health was in question more than 5-years ago. I never paid attention to these physical signs of “un-wellness” until someone brings it to your attention. It started with one dental hygienist refusing to serve me due to my blood pressure, to getting my wisdom teeth removed, to getting blood pressure pills, to getting gallbladder attacks that put me in the hospital.

This blog post might be perceived as TMI, but it’s something that myself as an educator should not be ashamed or afraid to speak of (or blog about). We need to talk about our health and wellness. Seek help, when needed. The goal is to learn from these experiences. Sadly, we are creatures of habit and denial can be easily ignored. This weekend, I had another gall badder attack. It was bad.

I am so grateful that my surgery date is coming soon. This last attack entailed three stones (in sequence) that tried to pass. It was 9-hours of hoping that the pain will cease. Something that started as something that was similar heartburn to something that is so painful that you can’t do anything about it and resist the notion of going to the hospital because it’s easier to suffer in silence… is sad.

In such pain, I was unable to do work. Nothing mattered. I feel better now, but I have taken the time to recover. That took about a day and I’m just getting back into things (one step or task at a time). I’m not 100% yet but I am being gentle and kind to myself. I need to. I’m just getting back into things, like work, one step or task at a time. Time and effort must be spent on one’s health and wellness.

Post operation, I have to eat well and exercise. Again, the solutions are known and easily ignored. Part of being “happy” (my #oneword2024), is not just mental and spiritual wellness, but also the physical. I took my health for granted and now that I am getting older and experiencing symptoms (of which I’ve ignored before my gall bladder attack), I am rudely reminded of what’s really important.

October 27, 2024 – Allow and Accept

First, I am accepting that I missed out on writing last week’s weekly blog and I am allowing myself to pick up where I left off and write this week’s blog post without worrying about having to make up a blog post because I had committed to a weekly blog. It’s ok to skip a week (or two). I missed a couple during the summer and now I have missed another one. It’s all good. Last weekend I was recovering from a very intensive week supporting a colleague with a grant application and this week I went out of town to attend and co-present at a conference. Life is getting full with many things to do for my work and personal life, and I am very grateful. I can only do what I can do. Onwards and upwards.

Second, I don’t think this is going to be a very long blog post. As much as I think it might be, it’s already tomorrow (aka., 1am) and I have an early start tomorrow. I am super excited about what I am doing and I feel very lucky to do the work that I do. I have so much to catch up on as well, but I think that’s the nature of my work, but also I have chosen to take “Saturdays off” to “be a person” on that day. I have now mastered my “be a person day” such that I take the day off guilt free. I cannot believe how much of a difference it makes to my sense of being and well-being. I feel HUMAN when I take Saturdays off. It’s now lending itself to Friday nights and most of Sundays. I’m ok with that. Doing the laundry is good.

Third, the consequence of “being a person,” however, are very full work weeks and days. My days get very long and I’m in front of a computer for hours. Sleep becomes essential and I need to insert some outdoor time or daily exercise to balance these days. This “educator wellbeing” will be a scaffolded process. I just came back from Kelowna co-presenting with three teacher candidates at the “Research Forum on Educator Wellness” about student/teacher wellness and land-based pedagogies. There is something about being on the land. The presentation went well and I enjoy working with this crew on this lesson study.

The inquiry is ongoing and we hope to be writing about our experiences. The project started with four teacher candidates presenting at WestCAST 2024. Now, three teacher candidates are continuing with the work during practicum. I was coaching and mentoring this crew from the beginning and joined them in co-presenting at the research forum. We’ve applied for another national conference in Toronto and hope to write a chapter or article about this action research. I am convinced about our message of teaching curriculum outside and that student wellness equates to teacher wellness. This work also aligns to BC’s Curriculum, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Standard 9, and the TRC.

What I am learning in on of the classes I’m teaching is, the obstacles are the opportunities. I could not agree more. It’s like when learning happens when we make mistakes. The light shines through the cracks. I love that metaphor or imagery. It reminds me of the Japanese term, “komorebi,” that is, sunshine filtering through the trees. The word describes visible light, but its often known for its feeling. Feelings of hope, wonder, and curiosity come to mind when I think about what learning, leading, and living is all about. I said many times during our Kelowna trip to the teacher candidates, whatever is meant to happen will happen. Keep moving forward, but you can’t control others or the details.

I am grateful for my friend who drove me to and from Kelowna to Prince George and for the ongoing commitment, connection, and collaboration with the teacher candidates. This project has taught me a lot and I appreciate how we are able to redesign our presentation to suit the theme of each conference. It amazes me and I am reminded that at teachers, we are learners and leaders. We need to take the time to nourish those qualities in ourselves. It’s not meant to be perfect or scripted, but rather an opportunity to reflect and reimagine to get better at what we do. There is no “best practice” because it’s always changing. So, I think that if we are better at change, the better we can be as learners and teachers.

October 13, 2024 – Place-Based Pedagogies

As I reflect on my teaching practice and where it is going, I am becoming more focused on place. I feel that is is more about developing my “self-knowledge” and learning more about myself in the context of this place. Most of my life I lived and learned with the ocean. I was born and raised in Prince Rupert and then went to post-secondary education in Vancouver. My teaching and school trustee career lasted about 25-years on the Sunshine Coast. My last 5+ years have been in Prince George. Much has changed in my life as well as my relationship with the land. In EDUC 394 in the teacher education program, I like to take the class to different places in Prince George to teach, learn, and collectively sense-make together.

In past, we have gone to West Lake Provincial Park. Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park, to the pit house in the Forest of the World, Cottonwood Island Part, the Prince George Public Library, and Two Rivers Art Gallery. I’ve been so grateful to have been able to take my class to these places and in other courses in the following term, I like to take my class into elementary schools to do “real-life” work in teaching and learning in context. When I was a sessional instructor at Simon Fraser University, I also took the class outside (as best I could). My week ended with my EDUC 394 class at Cottonwood Island Park to lesson plan using BC’s Curriculum. Although it was a bit cold (but not snowing), learning outside is magical. There is something about being outside that makes learning better.

In EDUC 394, I love the pace of learning outside and how we can use the land as teacher and inspiration. For me, teaching and learning outside is grounding. Being on the land helps me to learn more about who I am and where I am. The signature pedagogy of the program is People, Place, and Land. Although I was part of the curriculum redesign team for the program, I believe all faculty members and students are continually learning and figuring out what our signature pedagogy means. If anything, there is an interrelationship amongst all three aspects such that the intersection of People, Place, and Land is ME. The more that I am making and deepening my relations with people, place, and land, in the Central Interior of BC, I learn more about me and become a better me. Thank You Lheidli T’enneh.

October 6, 2024 – Celebrating with Community

On October 4th, we gathered in Vanderhoof to celebrate the conclusion of the Koh-Learning Research Project, a collaboration with UNBC and School District No. 91 (Nechako Lakes). I joined this group during the latter half of the project. The project lasted for 6-years with different graduate students, faculty and teachers like myself, and K-12 students. The project leader, Dr. Margot Parkes, had a vision about connecting health, the watershed, and student learning and leadership together to engage in a community-based research project. The project was land-based, student-centered, and culturally responsive.

I played more of a “supporting-actor” role and eventually a person who enjoyed taking pictures. I attended a few summer gathering events and participated in the bimonthly meetings online. The celebratory event was super well and I appreciated all those who were able to attend the event, but also for all those who were a part of the Koh-Learning project in some way. I loved hanging out with the two UNBC students, were were former SD91 student voice students, that night to help facilitate the evening event and to get to know them a bit better. I love their ambition, hope, and connection to this place and land.

In some ways, I wished that I had the capacity to be involved more with Koh-Learning, but on the other hand, I feel that things happen exactly the way it should. You can’t force things to happen, but you can open the window or door to make things happen. That’s what I appreciated about this research group. I loved that their willingness to create and innovate, to discover and explore, and to implement with all hands (i.e., K-12 students, graduate students, teachers, faculty, researchers, local experts, and community members). Knowingly or not knowing, overtime I am more inspired and willing to go outside, to explore, and push boundaries so that we can understand the land, place, and ourselves.

I am also working with a group of teacher candidates investigating the value of land-based pedagogies and student wellness… and teacher wellness. Although not exactly like the Koh-Learning in Our Watersheds, but this project can learn a lot from what Koh-Learning has achieved over the last 6-years. I’ve met so many wonderful people from this project and I am grateful that I was able to celebrate part of my birthday week with friends. What’s looming in the horizon is what’s next? I hope to share the seasonal rounds video created, that is, a digital story to conclude the project, but what will Koh-Learning 2.0 look like? There is definitely some interest from folks from UNBC and SD91. I guess it’s TBD.

September 29, 2024 – Truth and Reconciliation

Look at this day… a beautiful sunny day… as if the skies had opened up for us this day. It was raining almost every day (including September 26, 2024 in the afternoon) but this morning was gorgeous. I could not believe it. I felt lucky!! For EDUC 394, I have designed the first few weeks of the course to scaffold to the fourth week of the course to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (on September 30th) and Orange Shirt Day to create a foundation of understanding of “the hard work” required to comprehend BC’s Curriculum, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Professional Standard 9, and the TRC.

We started the class with the Blanket Exercise with Dr. Daniel Sims from the First Nations Studies department. We’ve collaborated on the Blanket Exercise for the last few years with teacher candidates. I appreciate his willingness to offer his time, knowledge, and expertise with teacher candidates in this exercise. It’s not an easy topic but it makes the history of Canada visible and experiential. As a consequence, the learning experience can be very difficult and challenging. I was proud of the courage and vulnerability these cohorts had expressed in the morning. I regret the sadness it provokes and the heaviness it creates, but the morning’s class was planned with intentionality having September 30th in mind.

The morning was difficult and challenging and to complement the Blanket Exercise, the UHNBC Traditional Drummers joined the class outside at the university’s Ceremonial Fire Circle where the teacher candidates built a fire. Thank you to the UHNBC Traditional Drummers of whom I shared our morning’s activity with the blanket exercise and how the teacher candidates were feeling. I am so grateful to the UHNBC Traditional Drummers for holding the space for the teacher candidates and sharing their compassion, kindness, and joy with us. The drumming session started with much heaviness such that one teacher candidate was brave to share their vulnerability, sadness, and gratitude. With each song and opportunity to participate in drumming and sing, the class ended with the eagle dance. Thank you EDUC 394 (Fall 2024) for doing the (hard) work. It’s not easy.

September 21, 2024 – Nope. A new site.

What I have decided to do (intentionally or not intentionally) was to create a new site to model for students in EDUC 394. The portfolio platform has changed from EDUC 405. First, for reasons that the learning intentions are different. Second, I am thinking that the portfolio will be more teacher directed rather than student directed. We had our first class on this topic and I realized that the easier I can make this experience, the better. And, leave space for those who want to extend.

Classic teaching. You don’t know, until you know. I also have high expectations for this crew and sadly (or not sadly) I want to do a lot in this sampler course. But, it sounds like much of what people are doing are similar in other classes, so I can step back. There is no need to do “everything.” When I say everything, I mean everything that I would like to do. Sometimes taking it slow has its merit. I’ve been loving my #OneWord2024 of HAPPY, and part of that is to take things slow. 🙂

This week has been a whirlwind and it’s finally slowing down as I am writing this blog post at YVR, the Vancouver Airport. I’m between flights… from Prince Rupert to Vancouver then to Vancouver to Prince George. I have a few hour wait at YVR. My wait started with a big pasta dinner and now with resting at my gate, blogging, and listening to an audiobook. I can take a deep breath. My friend and I presented at School District No. 52 (Prince Rupert) for the district’s implementation day.

We presented on “Un-colonizing Assessment: Shifting Our Practice.” We spent HOURS planning and prepping for this presentation. We’ve presented together before for FNESC, but it was fun to present on September 20, 2024. My friend invited me to co-present with her. I am so grateful. The experience was a true confidence boost for me but also a rekindling of my love for Assessment. I love talking about assessment, but also helping or encouraging others to change.

Presenting provided a meta-moment for me. Reflecting in-action and on-action are elements of the reflective practitioner by Schön and I was reflecting during the presentation and after. Mid-presentation after just talking about recognizing our “unconscious bias” as part of the Professional Standards for BC Educators #9. After sharing my story about the salmon and assessment, my friend give me some feedback and I realized I was caught in my own unconscious bias and I shared that.

Being wholehearted during the presentation in the morning, then being myself in the afternoon with the high school teachers led to a very successful and fulfilling day. A colleague of mine from the university also came out to part of the morning and to the afternoon session to help me out. That worked out splendidly and I appreciated his feedback too. I can see how the world works when I am being authentic and doing what I love. I had a great few days in Prince Rupert and thankful for my EDUC 394 class for being flexible and adaptable. Feeling lucky.

September 14, 2024 – Modelling is Important

I am reminded this week that I will be returning back to this blog on a somewhat regular way with my EDUC 394 class. The use of e-portfolios have taken a journey with me from EDUC 431 to EDUC 490/491 to EDUC 405 and ow EDUC 394. There is some part of me that is somewhat attached to e-portfolios as a platform for reflection, but also used as a platform to learn more about digital literacy and citizenship, to design a website, and to demonstrate the professional standards. This year in EDUC 394, the learning intentions are different from the former. The e-portfolio is now serving as an assessment tool and vehicle to store student work.

I am super excited about this concept. The e-portfolio has a different application and limited to the content found in the EDUC 394 course. I can still embed edtech into my classes by using portfolio, but now I can pick and choose different blog posts and webpages that directly reflect the student’s learning from the course. The image above is taken at West Lake Park. We went there for our second week of classes. The first week was on campus to discuss the course syllabus. This week, we were on the land learning about land as co-teacher. The class included land acknowledgements, teaching/learning metaphor, and walking curriculum.

Next week, we will be working online for EDUC 394 and adding content to our WordPress sites, adding our location statements and teaching/learning metaphor. We will also spend some time with design, personalization, and a blog post that reflects on our learning experience at West Lake. By the end of next week, they would have completed 3 of 10 items. The work is ongoing, not an event. What does it look like to have the same learning target, the same success criteria, but different outcomes because personalizing the learning experience is emphasized. This framework of teaching and learning is embedded in BC’s Curriculum.

I also love iterating ideas too. We talked about personalization and assessment with the teaching/learning metaphor at West Lake, and we are also going to see personalization in our portfolios. If anything, looking at the bright side, they will have a completed (mini) portfolio ready to share prior to their first teaching practicum. I will have to think about who the audience is for their portfolios. We will discuss this during our class next week. In writing this blog post, I am thinking that it will be a professional portfolio that reflects who they are as learners. But, the portfolio is an assessment tool for me in EDUC 394 and I’m pretty stoked.

September 8, 2024 – Our Final Class Together

We had a 5-hour class together, with one-hour afterwards held for office hours. Here we are… our final class together. I am not going to be super sentimental, but I am very grateful for the willingness and ability of this crew to arrive together on this day to conclude the course of EDUC 405 (Reflective Practice through Inquiry and Portfolio). It’s not only the last in-person with this class before they fully embark into Block 5 and final practicum, but it’s the last term this version of this course will be offered. EDUC 405 in its next iteration will focus more on inquiry with a different instructor. Admittedly, I have mixed feelings. EDUC 405 came from my experience teaching EDUC 431 (Educational Technology) almost 5-years ago and the implementation of portfolio along with TRIADS and the single point rubric during practicum was an initiative a colleague and myself made together.

Prior to the Redesigned Teacher Education Program was implemented in 2020, portfolios were embedded into practicum courses to reflect on practice. It was hoped (at least from myself) that portfolio, reflective practice, and inquiry would continue in an interwoven course called EDUC 405 in the redesigned program. Over time, with different leadership, instructors, and imaginations, EDUC 405 could not sustain itself. Although some or many of the students may have enjoyed and understood the learning intentions of the course, what I have realized is, everyone had to be on the same page. Nonetheless, I wanted to make our last day together instructional, experiential, and purposeful. We focused on peer- and self-assessments and then we participated in a fishbowl discussion (see image above) to reflect on the course but also share our hopes and dreams for the last term.

We ended the course outside at the ceremonial fire circle. I feel like this place was when we first bonded as a combined cohort almost one-year ago. At that time, we were acknowledging the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation with Artist Clayton Gauthier and learning songs with the UHNBC Drummers. That day was wet, cold, and stormy… yet we persisted and we were resilient. We stayed outside. On Friday, the day was hot, humid, and sunny. What a wonderful metaphor to symbolize change, growth, and transformation. I had also incorporated the lessons learned from my drum that I had recently made at the Two Rivers Art Gallery and my relationship with the water. The intention was to correlate the drum and water to the portfolio course and their upcoming final practicum. I hope it made sense.

What I am coming to terms with right now is the end of my regular contributions to this WordPress site. I am going to introduce e-portfolios with my EDUC 394 class this year, but the learning intentions would be different from EDUC 405. I am having second thoughts on modelling the importance of regular reflection when I am also maintaining another WordPress site and doing the same. It almost feels like a baton toss (much like the Olympics relay) and I am hoping the transition is smooth. I looked to this platform (and course) when I was unable to access my other WordPress site. I shifted my weekly reflections to this blog. However, now that I have access to my former WordPress site, I was maintaining both sites. Maybe, as part of the change, I will start writing “my book” and journal articles.

I will continue contributing to my other WordPress site. I may also come back to this one to update information, contribute a blog or two, and add something new as a platform for my professional learning with web design and technology. I am not sad, but I am happy that this class has been an inspiration to me, change is a constant, and I am always positioning myself as the learner. Often with change, it does feel better when I am able to choose and exercise my agency versus having to respond to change. Either way, I am adopting the imagery and metaphor I shared with my class last week about moving through life like the river or stream. I will meander. I will go with the flow. I will move where I am suppose to be. There will be slow times and there will be fast times. Sometimes, there might be a rock in the way. Don’t get stalled, just go around and keep moving. Keep learning. Be happy.

So, this is not “goodbye” but more like… “see you later.” I loved EDUC 405. TY. 🙂

August 31, 2024 – Do what you love.

I am savouring the last days of the summer and my first non-teaching term. I spent parts of the spring/summer term attending conferences, travelling to meetings, and presenting at conferences. I’ve done other things like visit friends, rest, and did some writing as well. Slowly but surely, I’m taking things off the “things to do” list but I feel very satisfied with my progress. I have lots to learn about what it means to be an academic/scholar, but I what I am appreciating is the learning.

I have connected with so many people this term such that I have involved myself in a few new research projects that get me very excited. I am also understanding the strengths and limitations of my position, but I am very grateful that I get to do the work that I do. What I am learning is, I am responsible for making my path. I have no one to blame, but I am always curious. If anything, what I notice is feedback and what I do with that feedback is up to me. I cannot control others, but only myself.

What I have learned in the last few months is that I love to travel, connect with people, and present/share ideas at conferences. These things are interrelated. What’s also exciting is, my work can contribute and manifest more of what I love. If I love to travel, meet new people, and present at conferences, I need to create material so that I can do all of those things, meaning read, write, and research. This aha is not mind blowing or profound, but it definitely provides some fuel to my fire.

In the photo is me presenting at the UNBC Teaching and Learning Conference. My students were willing to take photos of me. I am really grateful that they did. They got some good images like this one in the picture above. It was a 7-minute IGNITE or Lightning Talk about one of my classes of which we participated in “in-situ” learning at Harwin Elementary for EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation). I spent HOURS on the PowerPoint, what I was going to say, and practicing. I could have spent more time on practicing, but I feel satisfied with my performance. 🙂

The time invested in that presentation showed me that I was very invested in presenting at the conference, I wanted to share my practice with others, and I really enjoyed being in front of people to hone this craft and want to get better. I am 100% convinced that my research program is in the Scholarship of Teaching, and possibly the Scholarship of Discovery (related to teaching and learning). I love taking my work at my own pace and I am beginning to see and feel my rhythm. I will continue to read, write, publish, and apply for grants. Today, it feels good.