Toast with butter and jam. A Sunday afternoon treat. I love it.
September 7, 2025 – Enjoy the Simple Things
Wow. That was an intense first week back to school. I can only imagine teachers returning back to K-12 schools. I hope they are kind and compassionate to self. As exciting it is to return back to school, it’s easy to “over-do-it” and over-extend oneself to the point where it’s not safe or healthy for one to do or sustain. Do I need to listen to myself and the advice I would share with other educators? Yes, I do… of course.
First of all… July came and went. I think I was fully immersed in RELAX-mode, which is not a bad thing. Rest is a good thing. Unfortunately, August was very full with lots of things to do (if not, over full) preparing for the upcoming the school year. Prior to the first week of school, I was working on addressing some provisos from an ethics application. It was an incredible learning experience, but the revisions were extensive. With my research team, we mutually decided to make some changes in direction of our work, and I was charged to making those changes in our ethics application. I needed to get this application resubmitted before school started… and I did… at 5am on September 2nd. Truth, I am getting too old for all-nighters, but that’s my best work time. It’s a dilemma, but it was submitted. Yay for me because school was starting.
September 2nd started with a morning meeting with another research team then transitioned into Day 1 of the B.Ed. Program Orientation. This event was only for a couple of hours to do some brief introductions to the new incoming cohorts then go outside in small groups to get to know one another. The day ended at 3pm and I went home with high hopes of going to bed, which I did at 7pm, soon after I learned that the book review I committed to do could be completed later in the term for a 2026 publication. I was not disappointed. I was grateful for the time to pause and rest. I needed it. The next day started early with Day 2 of the B.Ed. Orientation. It was a full day with the morning at the Northern Sports Centre and the afternoon at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. The incoming cohorts engage in activities led by the out going cohorts. Somewhere in between, I also met with my research team to update them on the ethics application and to discuss next steps. It was a very full day, but wait…
September 3rd was the start of classes and I taught my first night class after the B.Ed. Orientation. This class is a 3-hour graduate study class, which was originally designed to be an in-person course, but now it’s hybrid. Teaching that night was challenging to say the least because getting well acquainted with either the in-person or online students in hybrid class is minimized due to having two platforms of delivery all at once. I take a deep breath and remember to find some kindness and compassion for self to do the best that I can. That’s all I can offer. I cannot be everything to everyone and I will do my best to accommodate but I know that it will not be the same as a class that is either all in-person or all online. Sadly, the work continues with prepping for my morning class. It’s another 3-hour class, but with the incoming cohort. It’s the first class they will have in the B.Ed. Program. I needed to make a good impression.
September 4th started with an 8:30am class. I am not a morning person to begin with and I stayed up late to prep for this class. I think the class went well, but classic “Christine”… I went over time by 5 minutes and did not do one learning activity. That’s ok. It’s good to be over planned, but also, I had to learn how this class moved and flowed. I feel that they are moving quite swiftly and they are very adaptive and responsive. The learning activity can wait until next week, but dang… I’m already thinking… how can I get everything I have planned done? It’s ok. I’m going with the flow. As you can imagine, I wanted to go home to sleep, but the outgoing crew were sharing their final projects for one of their yearlong courses. I dropped by to say hello and had the opportunity to listen and see some of their work. It was really incredible and creative with some of the outcomes. I was really happy to see this crew, but it did take about a few hours of my time. All is good. As you know, soon after, I went to bed.
September 5th is Fri-YAY and I had no classes to attend to. However, the outgoing cohort had a second yearlong course of which they were also sharing their final projects. Some projects were offered as a gallery walk while others were online or a presentation. The session was scheduled for 6-hours. As much as I wanted to hear, see, and learn from all of the students, I committed to the morning. Again, it was good to hear what students are doing, and it provided me some solace and closure on this course. It used to be one I used to teach, but now it has a new instructor and new learning outcomes. I am happy for the students and grateful to have the opportunity to say hello, once again, with the outgoing cohorts, and head home to get to other aspects of my work… and then rest. But, this day concluded with great news!! The ethics application mentioned earlier… it was APPROVED. Woohoo!!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 07th, 2025 | Comments Off on Week One Is Done
Omg… I cannot believe it’s September. Goodbye summer time!! The summer months flew by… and I enjoyed every moment of it. I was able to take the time to enjoy my place and feel at home. I LOVE BEING AT HOME and I love where I am living. I love the sunsets. I love the space. I love this little community. I feel safe. I feel solace. I feel a lot of gratitude. I am so proud of myself that I am able to have my own place and that I am able take care of my kid as she approaches adulthood. I am super happy with my job and I am grateful for my autonomy, freedom, and agency in my work. It’s truly a dream. I am in a different place and I LOVE what I do, where I am, and who I am.
How lucky am I?
That said, I totally miscalculated how fast that time would go this spring/summer term. This year has been the first spring/summer term where I did not have a course to teach or be responsible for. I had fantasized that I would get a billion things done during this term. Unfortunately, I did achieve everything I wanted to accomplish in four months. If I shared my original ambition to a friend of mine, they would have said it was unreasonable and unrealistic. I’ve taken all summer to understand what SMART goals really mean. It’s ok to spend time resting and appreciating a slower pace to life. I loved it. But now, I find myself cramming to get things done and some things will not get done. Being ambitious is good, but I need to be a bit more reasonable.
What have I accomplished?
First, I have learned how to enjoy quiet time guilt-free and to appreciate taking life at a slow pace. This way of living is 100% refreshing and revitalizing. I am enjoying life as an introvert and feel that I am truly up to my INFP preferences, which is so opposite from being an ESTJ for most of my working life (as a teacher). The transition was gradual to this SLOW-way of being and I’m loving it. Although I did have to partake in a few significant life changes to get here, I have no regrets. I appreciate my own company (with the cat and kid, of course) and the quiet time I have to myself. It’s nourishing. I feel more aligned to the way I want to live my life. I am very thankful that I can do this… and afford this way of being. It’s a privilege I will not take for granted.
Second, I went to a couple of conferences and presented a handful of times. In the spring, I travelled to Toronto, ON to attend CSSE and Congress. I presented a paper at CAARE (Action Research) in collaboration with 3 former teacher candidates (now practicing teachers) about the sit-spot lesson study; I co-presented with the CETE (Climate Education in Teacher Education) research team members at CNIE (Network of Innovation) about the project; I presented (single author) at CATE (Teacher Education) about in-situ learning in my assessment class; and, I presented at a the CASIE (Indigenous Education) roundtable in collaboration with my friend about the 4 R’s and assessment. In the summer, I co-presented with the District Numeracy Teacher and an Elementary Teacher Candidate at the UNBC Teaching and Learning Conference about Numeracy Night at Edgewood. Presenting is a great way to get your work out there and share your interests with others, but also a means to connect with other people, to network, and get inspired for future writing opportunities.
Third, I got some manuscripts, chapters, and a book chapter proposal completed for submission. Although I have a few more manuscripts to attend to (as well as others on the horizon I would like to write about), I am super grateful and thankful for the work and collaborations that was accomplished this spring/summer term. There were two manuscripts submitted by the CETE research team, where I am the third author on both pieces of work. One was resubmitted for publication and the other was recently submitted for a special edition. I submitted two chapters for the Leadership Book to be produced by the School of Education; one chapter was lead by my colleague and the second chapter was led by me. The latter chapter was submitted to be a conference proceeding for a conference from a couple of years ago, but not much had manifested from that. I thought that submitting an updated version to the book would be a better opportunity for the piece to be published. I was glad to return to that piece to make the revisions it needed. Finally, I have submitted another manuscript that needed revisions with another group about cultural adaption of schools. we hope to get a second manuscript out soon to be considered as well. Lastly, I am hoping to get a book review out, but time is running out!! (… or ran out).
It’s September!!
My accomplishments is not an exhaustive list, but rather a list to reflect upon and acknowledge. I have also been working on getting ethics approved for another project I am leading and I hope to be submitting another one for a book chapter proposal I submitted to be co-written with the 3 former teacher candidates mentioned above. We made a submission and then was asked to make some revisions to that proposal to align the work to the theme of the book. They were fair comments and I am greatly appreciating the feedback that has been graciously offered to me during conferences and writing. It’s formative feedback at its finest with the wholehearted intention to make the work (and you) better. I LOVE THAT!! The learning-mindset thrives on it.
OK. Now, it’s back to work on this labour day weekend. Seems counterintuitive, but I would like to get the provisos for this ethics application done. We took a few spins on how the project would proceed (based on the feedback), and it’s taken a few revisions that is taking more time than anticipated to complete. All is good. That is what I am also learning too. If you want to take it SLOW, you have to do a little bit each day to get things done. That’s a difficult lesson for to learn, but a good one. I am finding that taking breaks during your work-span of a project actually is better for the project. I don’t think that the mindset is… it’s taking longer than expected… but rather… it takes time for good things to happen. I’m ok with that. The consequence, I am learning how long it will take to do things and thus, will take on work that I can do. And, that’s it!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 01st, 2025 | Comments Off on You can only control yourself
Oh geez… it’s the end of the winter term. I have such mixed feelings about it. I loved my classes. I was teaching EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation), EDUC 376 (Numeracy Foundations in the Elementary Years), EDUC 201 (Education Theory and Practice), and EDUC 656 (Instructional Leadership). Honestly, I loved all of these courses for different reasons. Two of the courses are in the teacher education and my classes were focused on the Elementary Years Cohort. The other two classes were in the undergraduate and graduate programs respectively. I learned so much from each of those classes, but also I got to share what I love and love to learn with the students as well. What a gift!! I think that I am about 90% there with feeling good about my pedagogy and honing my craft in a way that is authentic to who I am. Looking back at my former teaching practice, many elements are similar upon reflecting on how I taught secondary mathematics near the end of my time in K-12 schools. But what’s different between my two practices in teaching is taking the intentional time to REST.
One of the things I was working on and developing in 2024 is taking Saturdays as “be a person” day. What I mean by that is, do what you want to do to move life forward without feeling any guilt or shame for not doing work on that day. Often, the work for educators is endless and its often in the mind with no off-switch. I practiced this way throughout my time in K-12 education. I worked around the clock. I remembered working at 2-3 am and I was a new mom, but had returned back to work with new prep. In the dark, I heard a thump, thump, thump. It was my kid coming down the stairs with her blanket and she just stared at me wondering… what the??? Then, she hopped on the couch behind me and went to sleep. Of course, I kept on working. All nighters was a “normal” thing for me to do. I can only imagine the quality of my work after an all-nighter. This story does not mention all of the times I went to work sick. A part of me is very thankful for the COVID-19 pandemic that insists that people to STAY HOME with any symptoms that resembled COVID-19. Strangely, it was a blessing.
Admittedly, I did do a couple of all-nighters this term. My schedule was somewhat brutal in the sense that I had 2 courses back-to-back on Mondays (i.e., 8-hours of instruction) and I had conditioned myself to take Saturdays (which often included part of Fridays and Sundays) off to rest and “be a person.” Even though I know the course content, it takes about a 1:1 ratio of time to prep. I like to make the learning relevant for the learners in my class. And as you know, no person and no class is the same from year to year. The intention to cater each class so that it creates a “scope and sequence” that is personalized for those ho are in the room. A full day of teaching on Mondays, then a night class on Tuesdays and another night class on Thursdays made my schedule for the week. To prepare for and teach on Mondays, everything else is parked. I parked so much stuff that I did not catch up on what I wanted to catch up on during the 5-weeks I did not have this class due to practicum, a long weekend, and weeklong break. I’m astounded. There is so much to do and so little time.
I’m not complaining. I loved these classes and I think it took me the whole 13-weeks to figure out my flow for the term. That is so weird, but it’s true. By the time it came to my last class on Thursday nights, I felt like I got my rhythm. Unfortunately, the term ended. What I do commend myself for is recognizing the need for rest. So, what I noticed is, I cannot do any work after I teach. So, no emails, marking, or meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. I just didn’t have the energy. I would make myself a yummy dinner at home, rest on my recliner, watch some TV, and go to bed (at a decent hour). I needed to do that for myself to regulate my time and work output. I also noticed that a 3-minute email the next morning would take 3-hours to write the night before. Moreover, I noticed that my brain could only hand certain things and information when it was ready and had “space” to think about those things. It made for more sound and reasonable take-action and decision making.
If anything, I wanted to not only do this balance between rest and work viable for me to stay sustainable and happy in my work, I wanted to model this way of being for my students, regardless of what program they are in. I also designed my classes so that they would respect student voice, rest, and activity. I think the “old me” wanted to keep ploughing ahead because I thought that was what was expected from me. Now, I understand, I can plough at my own pace. People can provide feedback, but I needed to be very clear about putting the students (and my wellness and wellbeing) at the centre of my practice. So, I took this weekend off. My last teaching day was last Thursday night. Assignments are due this week. I took the weekend to REST… despite the pile of work and timelines that are ahead of me. I didn’t even blog on the weekend. I did enjoy the company of a friend over breakfast and engaged in a few tasks for my home (i.e., recycling, laundry, food shopping, etc.), and I feel great!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, April 07th, 2025 | Comments Off on Valuing Rest
February 16, 2025 – A Photo from the CHY’s archives
I just finished writing my Professional Activity Report (PAR) for 2024 on Friday. It was due that day. Valentine’s Day. I am more convinced that maybe my One Word for 2025 is LOVE. Oy. Let’s not talk about that again. But, on the day of LOVE, I spent about 11 hours working on and finalizing my PAR. I did spend some time collecting information and updating my CV, but I definitely underestimated the time it would take to compose my PAR and send it to the Chair. Thank goodness, from what I noticed, that there was not a time that it needed to be submitted. I could be wrong, but at least I got it in on the day it was due and found it to be a fruitful exercise.
Despite the time it took to summarize what I have accomplished in 2024 in my work, I found it to be an awesome way to look back at my work in a critical and appreciative way. I did not realize how many professional development or professional learning activities I engaged in, which included beading for 4-months at the art gallery. I also did not realize how many conferences I attended and presentations I gave. I was somewhat astounded. I also joined another research group and I am leading another. I am grateful to my peers for collaborating with me on a chapter I led and co-wrote with another research team. I assisted another team with writing an NSERC grant and a participated in course evaluations. It’s been about 8-years since I embarked on that practice wholeheartedly. It’s not easy, and I have been un- and re-learning life again.
Why this photo from 2009 is so important to me is to recognize and understand that my practice has not changed over the last 30-years. Can you believe that? 30-years. I graduated from UBC with my teacher education in 1994. I look back at old photos and I am reminded that I love collaborative work, I love creating community in my classrooms that were centred around formative assessment, and I loved to try new ways to teach was new to me, non-traditional, or student-centred (i.e., the student does most of the work). I was a favourite teacher to some, and not so liked by others. Overall, I loved what I did and took photos of students then too… in class, during grad, or during prom. I had a connection with students and I enjoyed teaching.
Were there ups and downs in my K-12 job teaching secondary mathematics? Absolutely. Are there ups and downs with my current position? Absolutely. What I don’t want to lose is my love for LEARNING, building community, and having a connection. I may not be “the best” teacher where I am winning awards or ranking 5 out of 5 on course evaluations. I love to learn and part of that in my teaching practice is, I sometimes delve into crappy moments where I’m not great, not certain, or not on top of what I am doing. And, guess what? That’s ok. I left teaching for about 8-years to work on my dissertation and during that time I was an elected official, not teaching. Guess what? It was not where my heart is. I love to teach. I love to learn. And I hope, I can and am leading with that LOVE. Here are are again… LOVE. Surprise!! LOL.
My biggest fear is, I’m not perfect. I feared being “wrong.” Guess what? It’s all good.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, February 16th, 2025 | Comments Off on Overcoming My Biggest Fear
January 10, 2025 – What do I really want to accomplish?
Does this sound like a “new year’s resolution” blog post? It has that potential of being one. I have just finished my first week of teaching for the Winter 2025 term and making a conscious effort to get back to familiar routines like writing a weekly reflection in my blog. I just realized from an an email received earlier this week that folks may use this WordPress site to introduce me to others. Of course, I should know that and possibly expect that. But over time, this website has seen some ebbs and tides over time since it’s original conception over 10-years ago when I was using it as a vehicle to promote my edu-consulting business. I have since stepped away from self-employment and have slowly but surely stepped back into teaching and learning more about academia. This website has also followed me into the pandemic and through many life changes that I needed some platform to help me to sense-make though the challenging times, but also the joyful ones. This blog has served me well.
For those who may follow me on Twitter/X, Facebook, or Instagram, I am a bit of a foodie and food-pic fanatic. A part of that LOVE is the joy I seek from a hotel-breakfast, or breakfast in general. Look at it’s simplicity and deliciousness to start off the day. There is nothing I like more than eggs and toast (see image above) complemented with a hot cup of coffee, a glass of water, and a piece of fruit. This image is taken from my new home on my new “fancy” table (it was a splurge). I just love how simple this meal can be and yet it accomplishes everything I want it to achieve. Even the image itself makes me happy. This image serves as a metaphor for 2025. I can see on my landing page for this website that I did not publish anything in 2024, yet I had so many things on the go that had the potential for writing, I was in the middle of writing, or I finished writing and it will not get published until 2025. Guess what? That’s OK, because that’s how 2024 unfolded for me. In 2024, I went to many conferences to present, which brought me a lot of joy, fun, and happiness.
So, what will 2025 bring?
I want to focus on the plate of food. There’s not too much on the plate, but enough on the plate to walk away from the meal feeling satisfied. I know that I will start the year with a publication, a chapter in a book on teacher leadership. This prospect is very exciting and that was a challenge I took on in the fall of 2023, almost burned out in January 2024, but saw through the task by the end of 2024. I learned a tonne from the experience, intended and not intended. I have a book review to complete, a manuscript to revise, two other manuscripts to find a journal to review them, another manuscript to finish writing, two conference proceedings, and a chapter proposal on the horizon. Even describing what I have just listed, it might be 3 different meals (i.e., winter, summer, and fall terms). Nonetheless, there is plenty to do in addition to several research teams I am a part of. There are other publications we are completing and again, many more on the horizon. I feel good about where I am. More is to come.
Avoiding the worm hole means… don’t get caught into things that take you away from this meal. Stay focused. Be content. Do what you love. One thing I do want to do is to pursue the “20 days” research project that is an auto-ethnography on my ethnic identity and how I perceive the world through the lens of being “child number three.” Part of this study is about learning more about my ethnic heritage as a Chinese-Canadian, the role of policy that impacted how I was raised and educated, and how I navigated through my personal and professional life. This study was inspired by my mom. She passed away in 2017 and I spent her last 20-days taking care of her along with other family members. I wanted to write this when she had first passed away, but I was not ready. I had to do so much work on myself such that I needed to see things the way they are before I could even make a commentary of what is (or was). Even when I write this final paragraph, I am self-assessing how I feel, and I feel READY.
Let’s do this!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 10th, 2025 | Comments Off on Avoiding the Worm Hole
August 18, 2017 – A photo taken the day after my doctoral oral defence of me, my mom, and my dad.
December 31, 2024 – Climate Change Education – BLOG 1
I went into the photo archives and pulled out this image of me, my mom, and my dad. This photo was taken the day after I successfully defended my dissertation. My mom could not attend my defence. She was not feeling well, but she was always routing for me. In fact, I think she waited for me. She passed away 6-months later. Writing about my mom was not the intention of the blog post, although, I will be writing about my mom soon. I wanted to write about her ever since she had passed away, but I was not ready. I’ve done a lot of work to get to a place of readiness and 2025 is the the year.
My intention in writing this blog post, and there will be many more for 2025, was to write about my thoughts and reflections as a research team member of the Climate Education in Teacher Education (CETE) research project. We have been working on this project for more than 2-years and a few months into our third year. The project started with a focus on Climate Change Education (CCE) with teacher candidates in the first year as one response to the Association for Canadian Deans in Education (ACDE) Accord on Education for a Sustainable Future (2022). Five of us got together.
The initiative started with one person on our term who has an expertise in climate change education and I helped out to share the ask with colleagues within the School of Education to see who was interested. Our research team of 5 formed and amongst the 5 of us, only one of us was a tenure-track member. The rest of us were either term, lecturer, or adjunct. We did not have the agency, ability, or motivation to get the research project off the ground, so this faculty member became the Principal Investigator. The initial goal was to investigate CCE use with Teacher Candidates.
The methodology chosen for this project is Educational Design-Based Research (EDBR) using Sandoval’s Conjecture Mapping. EDBR uses multiple strategies to unpack a complex problem in practical and doable ways. Conjecture mapping tracks our intentions and changes over time. The method, if anything, is experiential with many opportunities to pivot, when needed. We have pivoted many times, and that’s ok. We also work with a Design Team which is comprised of folks who are experts in the field, locally and nationally, and their role is to help guide our work/project.
Our main intervention of the CETE project is CCE workshops for practicing teachers and teacher candidates with a focus on northern BC. We offer/ed 4-workshops per year and in planning these workshops, we tried to anticipate the needs of the field but also listen to the feedback after each workshop. The preparation and development of these workshops are time intensive and much effort is given by research team members, design team members, and research assistant(s). We have offered and facilitated these workshops online and a few of them in person.
The attendance to these workshops have increased over time and so has the research project. As our dreams and aspirations grew, the research project expanded to 4 REB’s… the first is with Teacher Candidates, the second with practicing teachers from 2 school districts, the third is a self-study involving the research team, and the fourth one is the most recent that is focused on Indigenous knowledge holders and elders. This blog post series will focus on REB3, the Self-Study. We are asked as research team members to reflect on our experience and growth within the project.
Finally, I am back to writing about the picture above from my doctoral oral defence. Why does this image matter? My dissertation was about “out-of-field teachers” teaching secondary mathematics. I have an interest in out-of-field teaching, professional learning, and educational leadership. Lots of what I am interested in is MAKING A CHANGE… in one’s practice, in school/class culture, and in educational policy. I love the idea of agency, influence, and engaging learners to “be the change.” We are learners too. Anyway, this is my interest and motivation for the CETE project.
Moreover, I’m blogging about it as a means to reflect on my role on the research team and how this project is impacting me, as a learner, educator, researcher, and educational leader. We have a framework on MS Teams to record our reflections, however, my brain does not work in that way. I found the template to be a barrier to my reflections, so I have decided to blog about my thoughts in my reflective practice and then unpack my reflection within the framework as part of the analysis. Anyway, I am an “out-of-field” researcher on this project and learning lots on CCE and research.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, December 31st, 2024 | Comments Off on Reflective Practice: A Documentation
Oh boy… I do really try to contribute to my blog (on both WordPress sites) on a weekly basis. There are only a few times where I have not been able to in the last few months, but there are just some times when I am just not able to. I started this blog post last week and I was unable to get to it (amongst many other “things to do”) over the last week. And here we are again at the end of another weekend. I could have compelled myself to write two blog posts to make up the one I just missed, but I’m not going to. I’m just going to let it go and move forward. Last week, I could not make up the time and catch up… and that’s ok. I can only do what I can do… and that’s it.
Although this blog post might be extraordinarily short, I am grateful to take a moment to return to my reflections and the idea of the “imperfect leader.” My EDUC 606 class is reading Andy Hargreaves “Leading from the Middle” and in Chapter 2, he describes the IMPERFECT LEADER. Lots of what he had written resonates with me and knowing that aiming for perfection is unreasonable and unrealistic. Imperfect leaders learn from their mistakes and rely on community to lead (or co-lead). Moreover, to be an imperfect leader, you have be know thy self. Self-knowledge resonates with me deeply, in particular with Parker Palmer’s work in “The Courage to Teach.”
Teachers are leaders. Self-acceptance and knowing your strengths and stretches are key attributes to leadership. I can see how this could test one’s sense of self-efficacy and self-confidence to lead, but humility and vulnerability are also key attributes as well. LEARNING is central to “good” leadership. Learning is not perfect. In fact, learning happens when it’s messy, confusing, and mistake-oriented. You just have be be willing to make those mistakes and learn from them. That’s what matters, but also appreciating the mistake. What a gift!! Admittedly, I may not have thought that way in past, but as I am learning and understanding myself makes me a “good” leader.
Take a look at this image. What a beautiful metaphor. You have a vision. You execute. You do you best, but… it’s not perfect. I love sunny-side up eggs and buttered toast. As you may notice, when transferring the eggs from the pan to plate, it resulted in one of the eggs to flip upside down. Broken. I took a few attempts trying to flip it back up, but opted to just leave it alone. It’s fine the way it is. The breakfast was still delicious. Not perfect, but really, it was perfect. I have been vibing on this breakfast for the last week or two. It tasted just as I had hoped and nothing beat dipping the sour dough toast into the egg yolk. If anything, no added stress and pure satisfaction.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, October 27th, 2024 | Comments Off on Imperfect is PERFECT
What a wonderful day. It was a very hectic week. As much as I love having my weekends, the natural consequence is having a very fulsome work week. The week started with attempting to complete three conference proposals to Congress 2025. Initially, I had no intention of going to Congress next year mainly because I am trying to catch up on my expenditures of travel for work. A long story short, I chose to go to conferences to present my work when the travel costs exceed my annual allotment of professional development funds. This pro-d behaviour is not new. I went to a lot professional development events when I used to teach in K-12 schools. What I have learned in the last year or two is, I love going to conferences. I love connecting and re-connecting with people, I love learning new ideas, and I love to present and travel.
If anything, I underestimated the time it would take to complete these proposals. In all three proposals, I took the lead in writing them. I guess that could be my first problem. The first proposal I completed was with and for a TRIAD of teacher candidates who have been engaged in a program-long inquiry about land-based pedagogies and student wellness. We are presenting in Kelowna in a couple of weeks and we have presented in Calgary and Prince George. They have been honing their presentation and now I have joined the team. We are planning to write about their LESSON STUDY with hopes of publishing it. The second conference proposal was with my colleague and friend about un-colonizing assessment. We’ve been presenting about it a several times as teacher professional development. We are planning to implement some of our ideas during my assessment course next term. It will be PROGRAM EVALUATION. Finally, the third conference proposal was about my work with IN-SITU learning and my assessment course. This paper is single authored.
The due date for these proposals was October 9, 2024. I finished all three proposals by October 8, 2024 and submitted them in on October 9, 2024. Yay. That took many long days to get those proposals completed and folks had to engage in its completion as well. I was so happy to get them done and submitted, and I’m grateful that I was able to meet the goal of getting all three complete and submitted. Each paper went to different associations (i.e., CASIE, CAARE, and CATE). I hope it goes well, but only time will tell. They are now under peer-review. That evening, on October 9, 2024, I had my night class online with graduate students then curriculum class with teacher candidates the next morning. Switching gears from writing and research to teaching (and vice versa) can be tricky and time consuming. I am so grateful for my night class and the work we are accomplishing. We just finished reading and discussing about PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED. That is eye-opening and powerful work written by Paulo Freire. Then, after being on line for 3-hours, I had to prep for my Thursday morning class. I had to update my syllabus and make copies the next morning.
In the end, the hard work is rewarded with learning outside. We went to Cottonwood Island Park. The fall weather as cool and sunny. We spent the morning lesson planning and learning how to navigate BC’s Curriculum. Although it may have been a bit cold, there is something to be said about learning on the land. Unfortunately, I did remove one more outdoor learning experience from the course syllabus as well as a final assignment (that was adapted into something else). The more I am learning about this group and what I want to achieve, sometimes it’s ok to say goodbye to a couple of things so that we can slow down and appreciate what we are learning about. There is so much to learn in teacher education and my one course is only one of many they take during their 16-months within the program. It’s ok to let go and take the learning in stride. There is no question that I was very grateful to head into a long weekend. Although I missed the northern lights on Thursday night due to cloudy weather, I had a fruitful Friday with several online meetings and then LOTS OF SLEEP.
If anything, I am very grateful for the work I get to do. I love the learning and the students. I could not ask for more from this job. I look forward to what’s next.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, October 13th, 2024 | Comments Off on Being My Authentic Self
I’m not really sure what I mean by this. There is no question that I am passionate about coffee and Costco soup dumplings. I would call this image “the breakfast for champions.” I would often eat this meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. If I don’t have a lot of time in the morning to make breakfast… soup dumplings. If I’m feeling down and sad… soup dumplings. If I’m feeling happy and excited… soup dumplings. I hope you can see a clear pattern here. I just love this quick and easy meal. It’s comforting, consistent, and delicious. That’s all I can say about it. It’s my go-to meal. I just love it.
What else do I love?
I love to teach. I may not be an award winning educator or chosen to be a guest speaker for graduation, I love what I do. I was so happy when I returned back to teaching at the university after leaving K-12 education. Although I spent some time professional development workshops and public speaking as a school trustee, nothing beats teaching students. I love the relationships, the reciprocity, and the joy that comes from teaching and learning. It’s hard to describe, but I love the creative process of planning, prepping, and assessment. Trying new things and making things better with each iteration motivate me. I love the learning that comes with teaching.
But I caught myself this week and noticed what “stokes my fire.” I love assessment. That might be somewhat of an understatement. I’m not an assessment researcher, nor am I one to claim numeric precision or accuracy with my assessment practices. What I will say is, assessment frames, drives, and reflects my pedagogy and values. If I could, I am an advocate for and fan of the single point rubric. I love the idea of having a clear learning target, explicit success criteria, and different ways for students to demonstrate their learning. I found myself just capitalizing a Zoom conversation about assessment in an upcoming keynote my friend/colleague and I are preparing for, and everything that I was teaching during one of my classes was framed around my assessment practice and intentions. I just love it. Assessment is important to me.
When I think about my research program, I am drawn to out-of-field teaching, professional learning, and one’s sense of self-efficacy in the context of teacher education, mathematics education, and climate change education. Where does assessment fit into all of this? Self-assessment and formative assessment are critical within these topics as well as identity, agency, and vulnerability. I suppose that I cannot oversimplify my interest in these areas even though I’m encouraged to articulate this agenda in a sentence or two. Indigenous worldviews and knowledge in addition to culture and my ethnic identity are entangled in my research interest along with leadership, power, and policy. The human experience is a complex one. I am creating my own path. If anything, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a colleague recently… do what makes me happy. It takes courage, patience, and trust.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 14th, 2024 | Comments Off on Looking at Myself
Photo from the UNBC School of Education Facebook Page. EDUC 405 – Reflective Practice through Inquiry and Portfolio – Last Class – Course Instructor: Christine Ho Younghusband – September 6, 2024
September 8, 2024 – The end of an era
Welcome back to school. This is my 6th year at the university and each year has been different, exciting, and new. The experience has been a moment for learning and transformation. As I approach the end of another school year, this will be the first time I will not be supervising the 10-week practicum and I did not supervise the 4-week practicum as well during my non-teaching term. Last term was my first non-teaching term with exception to EDUC 405 (Reflective Practice Through Inquiry and Portfolio) asynchronously. What I had opted to do last term for EDUC 405 was to offer office hours, provide feedback on Block 2 (aka., the winter term) blogs and posts, and prepare this crew for Block 5 (aka., the fall term, the final term for this professional teacher education program). I wanted to make the conclusion of EDUC 405, held at the beginning of Block 5, to be instructive, experiential, and purposeful.
Admittedly, the design and implementation of this course was challenging, or shall I say “pivoting,” to be responsive to the needs, feedback, and feelings of those in the program. In Block 2, I opted to redesign the course to conclude the portfolio course on Friday, September 6, 2024 even though I intended the course of reflective practice and inquiry would benefit from the practicum experience that is iterative and scaffolded throughout the entire program. Teacher candidates transform into colleagues during the 10-week practicum and it would have been amazing to include that voice into the portfolio as evidence of change over time. However, the perceived workload, lack of intrinsic value, and misunderstanding of the course intentions inhibited the success of a fulsome portfolio. In the end, I step back and allow. This group will be the last cohorts to use portfolio to document reflections and inquiry within the teacher education program. This day was more about saying goodbye.
My intention… to engage in a fulsome final class together. The class started with a Land Acknowledgement and the lessons I learned from making the drum. I also wanted to make a correlation with my experience with the drum and portfolio. The message… the drum as a product is not the learning, but rather the lessons embedded in making the drum mattered most. We then lunged into the learning intentions of the class and that we would be experiencing summative and formative assessment practices as learners, but these ideas could also be used during their practicum or future teaching practices in K-12 education. I created a system for students to provide peer feedback and present their work. The focus was on formative assessment, student agency, and “the conversation.” We went through three rounds of dialogue. Each student provided 4 presentations, 8 peer-assessments, and 1 self-assessment. Then, we took a moment to try the “fishbowl” discussion framework to reflect on the value of reflective practice and inquiry and hopes and dreams for Block 5. Finally, we went outside to the ceremonial fire circle to provide “two words” to conclude the course. I was really happy how the class ended.
I wish this crew in the photo all the best. Thank you all for an awesome class!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 08th, 2024 | Comments Off on Back to School – Year 6
October 13, 2024 – Do what you love
