The Green Movement

Innovative Approaches to Teaching Sustainability 

In a previous post on service learning, I made mention of the fact that I am very passionate about experiential learning opportunities. I was doing to some research on opportunities that lend themselves nicely to service learning, whereby students are giving back to their local, national and global communities in a way that is sustainable. In my search, I came across several websites promoting what is referred to as The Green Movement in education. I see this movement as a very innovative approach to addressing the needs of a community in a way that is efficient and beneficial to all stakeholders.

The objective of this movement is to bring development of environmental literacy, stewardship and an ethic of sustainability to the forefront of practices in education. In an article written by Thomas Schueneman (2013), districts across the US are “beginning to adopt green policies in hopes of lessening the environmental impact of schools while also teaching students the importance of being eco-friendly”.  

This is also happening on a global scale. A school in Indonesia, I feel, has really shown creativity and innovation in their approach to “green schooling”. The Green School in Bali (2017),  is an environmentally conscientious school that seeks to educate students about the importance of community, service and action with respect to local and global sustainability. The program seeks to engage in outreach programs that nurture relationships with local neighbours through “language exchange and environmental education…” and encourages “Students [to] connect with nature, engage with local Balinese villagers, and grow and harvest their own food”(Pg. About). This program serves to increase students personal and social awareness while developing civic mindedness. Students are engaged in hands-on, in context learning, where they can see their direct impact and how both they and the members of the community are benefiting from these interactions.

Check it out and tell me what you think.

Image Retrieved from:

Green Eco Friendly Kitchen Concept from Whirlpool - Freshome.com. (2008, March 17). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from http://freshome.com/2008/03/17/green-eco-friendly-kitchen-concept-from-whirlpool/

References:

Green School Bali. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from https://www.greenschool.org/

Schueneman, T. (2013, September 11). New Green Schools Part of Green Movement in Education. Retrieved February 26, 2017, from http://globalwarmingisreal.com/2013/09/11/new-green-schools-part-green-movement-education/

Fostering a Growth Mindset

Seeing Failure in a Positive Light 

My last post on mindfulness had me thinking about the impacts of emotions on teaching and learning. In working with teenagers, I am often subjected to my students allowing emotions to get the better of them. I generally struggle to provide them with strategies they can employ to decrease or eliminate the negative effects emotions can have on their ability to learn. As mentioned in a blog post I read called Eliminating Emotional Barriers (SR2Learn, 2011), self-efficacy is a key factor contributing to one's perceived success or perceived failure to complete any given task. Often students become stressed or anxious when they believe they are not capable of achieving success. This in turn, causes them to perform poorly. The school in which I teach is within a community that places a large emphasis on final results. Many of my students are strongly  affected by this mentality and are often, as a result,  quite  overwhelmed.  I recently watched a TED Talk by Carol Dweck (2014), wherein she discusses the power that comes from believing that you can improve. Her talk outlines the benefit of fostering a growth mindset within the classroom, whereby students are taught that abilities can improve and that failure is a matter of “not yet” as opposed to not able. She goes on to suggest that teachers can improve self-efficacy of their students by rewarding the process and strategies they use to approach tasks as opposed to the end result - their willingness to think creatively. This, in turn, creates a positive atmosphere within the classroom and an increased amount of effort, focus and reflection from the learners. I like the idea in theory, but am looking for suggestions on how to paint failure in a positive light within a context where failure is viewed very negatively.  

Images retrieved from:

Growth Mindset Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2017, from https://www.pinterest.com/explore/growth-mindset-quotes/

References:

Dweck, C. (2016). The power of believing that you can improve. Ted.com. Retrieved 15 February 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve#t-248175

So you Really want 2 Learn (SR2Learn)?,. (2011). Eliminating Emotional Barriers. Retrieved 15 February 2017, from

Making Mindfulness Part of the Curriculum

Lately, both at work and within this course, I have been engaged in many conversations about the benefits of reflective practices and ‘mindfulness’. My current place of work has just initiated its first ever mindfulness program. At the moment, being involved in this program is entirely up to the individual teacher and is facilitated by our resident mindfulness coach for anyone who is interested in learning more. In my personal life, I value taking the time to ‘quiet the mind’ and have felt the benefits of taking a moment to shut off the overworked brain. I believe it really does help to reduce stress and facilitates focused attention.

What I see as challenging, is motivating my students to get ‘on board’ with mindfulness activities in the classroom. Since not all of our teachers are open to implementing mindfulness activities into their lessons, it is hard to convince students that these practices are worth spending time on. Many students will groan when I mention that we will be doing a breathing activity or a guided meditation and some will go so far as to say “Mr./Ms. ----- thinks that it is a waste of class time”. I sometimes do feel that we are pressed enough for time as it is, but does course content truly outweigh mindfulness? Most educators agree that teaching and learning involves developing competencies that should include teaching students how to manage stress, how to reflect on experiences and how to explore and engage in what is important to them - how can we facilitate development of these competencies, if as an institution, we don’t view mindfulness as a priority? Should we be reforming education so as to include mindfulness in the curriculum?

Image retrieved from:

Mindfulness | University Health Service. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2017, from https://www.uhs.umich.edu/mindfulness

Live Simply

Does 'schooling' encourage conformity?

After reading the article There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers by Hadot (2005), I began reflecting on the values and ideals I stress as important within my classroom. Hadot (2005), discusses the distinction between what it means to be a philosopher as compared to a professor of philosophy. Hadot (2005), argues that professors of philosophy are “content with theoretical discourse [and] encourage men to keep living in an absurd manner” (p.230). He goes on to say that the “life of these philosophers is pure conformity” (p.230), while true philosophers live simply and deeply.

I started to wonder…”am I living the life of pure conformity? Am I encouraging my students to live the life of conformity?”

As a Western teacher, I inadvertently bring the Western ideal of success into the classroom - you need to be highly educated, you need to earn a high salary, you need to be able to afford a house and luxuries such as a car, television, etc. We encourage approaches to teaching and learning that are in line with an individualistic culture, whereby the notion of ‘I’ is emphasized over “we” and success is measured by where you stand in relation to everyone else. We paint a picture that this is not easy work and you must put in the effort to reach the top. This reflective process brought me to this video  Life is Easy. Why do we make it so hard?

Jon Jandai (2012), like Haddot, sees the importance of living simply and deeply. He argues that we should should not conform to Western views of success and instead be philosophers that live simply, reflect and explore creative alternatives to attaining success as defined by ourselves. He mentions that ‘schooling’ was not of value to him, that it was making life harder for him than he thought it needed to be. He believes that ‘schooling’ took time away from the time he should have been spending on himself. He argues that “we need to connect to ourselves and to other people rather than be independent and driven only by money (00:12:30).

This shed light on the importance going back to the basics. What do we need to live simply and deeply. As a teacher we need to afford our students more opportunities to live like philosophers. We need to allow them time to be with themselves and reflect on what is important to them. We need to encourage creative and innovative thought and place less emphasis on conformity.

References:

Hadot, P. (2005). There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers (J. A. Simmons, Trans.). Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 19(3), 229 – 237. Doi: 10.1353/jsp.2005.0021

Life is easy. Why do we make it so hard? | Jon Jandai | TEDxDoiSuthep. (2011). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21j_OCNLuYg

Creativity? Innovation? OR Missing the Point?

As a Health and Physical Education teacher, I am often looking for creative ways to get students more actively involved in sport and fitness. One of the largest challenges I face is how to foster a willingness to participate when there is such a broad range of athletic skill and fitness within any given group of students.

While I spend a lot of time engaging in activities that are not necessarily competitive in nature, I also have my students participate in many activities that are. This element of competition, can at times, cause anxiety and a lack of confidence for some of my students.

While searching for new and innovative ways to encourage participation of my students I came across this article:

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thisisthat/this-is-that-live-in-ottawa-oct-3-1.2843501/to-ensure-every-child-wins-ontario-athletic-association-removes-ball-from-soccer-1.2843504

Summary:

Students now playing soccer without a ball. The idea is to use your imagination. If you imagine you are good at soccer...then you are.

My initial thoughts regarding this creative approach to sport were:

“How does this even work?”

“Are students seriously interested in this version of gameplay?”

“What tips, techniques and strategies should a teacher/coach  provide?”

I am not sure I am sold on this idea being innovative. I understand the merit in eliminating the competitive nature of sport, but what about the other valuable skills that are learned through participation in competition.  If there is no “winner” or “loser” how do students learn to be a good winner and/or looser? How will students learn to navigate the competitive nature of various workplaces? What about the impact competitive sports have on motivation, personal challenge, strategy, teamwork, etc?

What do you think? Is this approach to game play creative? Innovative? Or Missing the point?

Here is an article on removing score as a creative method to focus on skill development rather than winning:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/no-winners-children-still-keeping-score-despite-move-to-end-sports-competition

To Choose or Not To Choose?

Perceptions of Choice

After reading the article The Complexity of Intellectual Currents by Christou (2012), I began to reflect on the concept of CHOICE.  At the forefront of this article is an innovative approach to education. Christou (2012), similar to my working definition of innovation, writes that there was a  need for progressive education as a response to a changing world. Such changes require that students “be given the opportunity to exercise choice, which would build experiences using critical, rational thought” (p.687). He also saw the importance of  subjects being “taught in a relevant manner… and that teachers be allowed freedom to make curriculum interesting for their students” (p.694).

I am someone who is often debilitated by choice. I see the value in having choice, but when faced with making a decision to choose, I get lost in playing out all of the possible ‘if’s’ and ‘buts’,  that in the end, I would rather have never had the choice in the first place. After finishing the article, I was left with the following question:

While students should be given choice, how do we decide which subjects should be among the options? The notion of choice in some cultures is seen as overwhelming and debilitating - how do we address cultural differences with respect to choice and individualisation?

As an international teacher, I am often curious about the various perspectives on topics such as this one. I watched a video titled The Art of Choosing where Sheena Lyengar (2012) explores the various perspectives of choice. She argues that there is a fundamental difference in Western Ideas about choice compared to other parts of the world. Lyengar (2012) asks us to consider three assumptions we make about choice:

1. It is  better to make your own choices

Does the individual as the primary locus of choice benefit everyone? Lyengar (2012),  argues that in some cultures students perform better when they are given autonomy while in other cultures they perform better when the choices are made for them.

2. The more choices we have the more likely we are to make the best choice

Lyengar (2012) argues that in reality, many of the choices we are presented with are not that much different. Perception of choice depends on our ability to differences between options - if we perceive a difference we can attach a value. Not every culture sees choice in the same places or to the same extent.

3. You must never say no to choice

When presented with choice we have a preconceived notion that one option must be better than the other. This can cause unnecessary anxiety and poor performance from our students.

If we have more options/choices for courses that lead to the same goal or objects that perform the same task are these options a form of innovation?

References:

Christou, T. M. (2012). The complexity of intellectual currents: Duncan McArthur and Ontario’s progressivist curriculum reforms. Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 49(5), 677–697. doi: 10.1080/00309230.2012.739181

Sheena Iyengar (2010). “The Art of Choosing”. Retrieved: January 17, 2017 from: https://youtu.be/lDq9-QxvsNU)

Volunteerism Vs. Service Learning

The Importance of Developing Empathy

I am a huge advocate for the benefits of being an engaged member of local, national and global communities. I make a concerted effort every semester to incorporate an experiential learning opportunity into the delivery of my curriculum content. After reading Teaching for Hope by Werner (2008), I was left reflecting upon my approach to experiential learning and weather or not it was in fact doing what I intended for it to do.

The article Teaching for Hope  seeks to provide teachers with strategies for addressing the need to instill a sense of hope in our students. Werner (2008) argues that “schools are in the business of strengthening realistic hope in the future” and that it is the role of the education system to avoid becoming unwitting partners in the potential loss of that hope. Moreover, Werner (2008) reminds us that “ essential to hope is a knowledgeable and reflective confidence in the future and a willingness to engage it” (p.93). To be actively engaged,  Werner (2008) suggests that we as educators participate in strengthening a youth’s sense of hope for the future through understanding the problems and complexities of the world by exploring them with emotion, information, vision  and efficacy.  

I was left with the following question:

Part of our curriculum calls for the completion of community service hours. While this targets your suggestion of introducing students to agencies, partnerships and networks engaged in problem solving, does it effectively work to build efficacy?

In a different course I am taking, I was asked to watch the following videos:

The perspectives taken by the individuals in each video shed some light on the potential disservice we may be doing if we do not properly engage in service learning. All too often we encourage students to participate in volunteer initiatives without first providing them with proper training. Daniela Papi (2012) points out that we need to prepare our students with the appropriate knowledge and tools needed before we can help. If we jump right in, we may be causing more harm than good (this outcome will certainly not help to develop a sense of efficacy). This is what Papi (2012) refers to as “sympathy tourism” when we should be teaching our students to be empathetic. In line with this philosophy, Sirolli (2012), argues that we can’t help others if we don’t take the time to listen first. Students will not build efficacy if engage in volunteer initiatives with their own agenda and consequently do not see any sustainable change. Teachers need to encourage students to listen first and then help those in need to find the knowledge they need to make a change.

Service learning will be my new approach to experiential learning opportunities.

References

Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! (2012). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXsLtHqfdM

Werner, W. (2008). Teaching for hope. In R. Case & P. Clark (Eds.), The anthology of social studies, volume 2: Issues and strategies for secondary teachers (pp. 193–197). Vancouver: Pacific Educational Press.

What’s wrong with volunteer travel?: Daniela Papi at TEDxOxbridge. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYWl6Wz2NB8