Yup. The SD46 Board of Education is back on the train with our first regular meeting of the year. I think that I enjoyed tonight’s meeting more than I should have. It reminds me of a conversation I had during the summer with a former colleague and friend. I bumped into her at a local event and I love asking people about their pedagogical journey. She is a seasoned teacher who worked in public schools for many years, then at the university for a period of time, and recently returned back to teaching. Soon after, I found out that she left the classroom again in pursuit of another awesome educational opportunity. Twang. My curiosity it peaked, so I asked, “What motivated you to leave the classroom?” She said, “I felt lonely.” Teacher isolation. I get it. Classroom walls create silos. Although you work with so many people as a teacher, there are few opportunities to work with colleagues. So, why do I like being on the SD46 Board of Education? Despite our differences and diverse point of views, expertise, and experiences… I appreciate our teamwork, dialogue, and togetherness… to problem solve, inquire, and provoke… to support our students and their learning. Now that’s cool!!!
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 11th, 2013 | Comments Off on Back on the Train
I love meeting the right people, at the right place, at the right time. Yesterday, I bumped into one of my former colleagues and friend. We chatted about professional learning, learning styles, and the writing process. I adore talking about teacher professional development, systems, and optimizing learning opportunities. In our conversation, what resonated with me was the notion of “titchiness.” I shared with my friend my learning experiences with respect to my dissertation and writing process. I’m provoked by new ideas and forced to learn more about myself and my learning. My professional learning preference is to collaborate and dialogue with others. My friend prefers the opposite, which was kindly referred to as being a bit TICHY… a “quality” that writers and editors have. In essence, they want to do it on their own. They get into a ZONE with their ideas and thoughts. Titchy could mean edgy. I want some of that. I wanna be titchy too.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, September 10th, 2013 | Comments Off on Titchy
I cannot believe that it is August 31st. I had a great summer… attending the CSBA Congress 2013 in Vancouver, camping at Hotel Lake, presenting at the SFU Faculty of Education Summer Institute, writing and submitting a draft proposal for my dissertation, joining the Sunshine Coast Community Futures Board of Directors, transforming my business with FUSE and Leah Goard, visiting family and friends, and going to my first Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. It’s been an awesome summer, but now it’s time for some ACTION. Crazy, I know. Seems like I was busy already. Wrong. More decisions to make, commitments to keep, and goals to achieve. No more waiting for others, seeking for approval, or feeling unworthy. I’m done with that. So… YES… I’m running again for school trustee in 2014. YES… I’m completing my dissertation in 2014. And YES… I’m transforming Younghusband Consulting to be a successful business in 2014. It’s a hat trick of awesomeness… and this is not including my 10K training program. This will be achieved in 2013 at the Granville Island Turkey Trot Run in October. Nothing gets achieved without massive action. Might as well jump in, regardless of everyone else.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 31st, 2013 | Comments Off on ACTION
I have no words to describe what this process is like… except for guessing and checking. Branding myself as a public school teacher seemed somewhat easier than branding myself as an independent educational consultant, academic, or politician. As a public school teacher, it took me several years to establish “my brand” in the school… “aka. resident math/calculus teacher.” I never changed schools within my 16 year career and my reputation precedes me. I suppose I rebranded several times within the school with different job assignments and roles, but I had firmly established “my brand” within the school community. This is why teachers stay at the same school for a period of time or reluctant to change schools over time. Rebranding takes work. I can only imagine what it will take to brand or rebrand myself as “Younghusband Consulting” for the world. Yup. Go big or go home. That is my mantra. There are definitely peaks, valleys, and plateaus in my pedagogical journey, whether it be with my doctoral studies, self-employment, or political career. Overall, my goal is to keep striving towards my vision. Sometimes I will fall… and that’s OK. I just have to get up, learn, reflect, and try again. So far, it has taken me almost three years to step away from the mindset of teaching in public education to advocating for public education, researching about public education, and contributing to public education. Every opportunity influences the direction I am heading. For this, I am grateful.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 29th, 2013 | Comments Off on Rebranding
Affirmed. Life is complicated. Here’s the back seat of my car filled with National Geographic magazines dating back to the 1970’s. My trunk is full too. I’m a little beside myself. These magazines belonged to a good friend of mine, Alby. He was my neighbour. He lived just across the street with his wife and dog, then moved a few blocks away about five years ago. Alby would take Levi, the dog, around the neighbourhood daily to meet and greet the neighbours. Loved this guy!!! I loved his sense of humour, kindness, and wit. He always lifted my spirit and made me laugh. I wondered why I haven’t seen him and Levi around, but never gave it a second thought. Today, I found out that Levi was laid to rest and Alby has been in the hospital since October. That’s almost a year ago. His wife called to see if I could redistribute his collection. I had no idea that their lives turned around. It was out of their control and now faced with what’s next? Honoured to have a little part of Alby.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 16th, 2013 | Comments Off on National Geographic
Life is funny. You can never put your guard down because there is always something just around the corner to surprise you. I thought, decision made… moving forward… and taking the next steps to achieve my goal. Then life takes a turn and asks, “What’s really important to you?” Instead of listening to my heart, I get into my head. In the end, what’s important are mutually exclusive. Apparently, I can’t have it all. This sucks. I can’t please everyone, including myself. I am building the plane as I’m flyingit. That sounds kind of dangerous, but I don’t have all of the answers. I’m learning as I go. What I am learning is, something cannot be gained without losing something. I cannot control what other people choose to do. I can only control what I do. My framework is… be authentic, be honest, and be courageous. My actions may not appease some people. What I do may not meet some people’s expectations. This cannot be a concern of mine. I am trying my best. As much as I want to help, serve, and influence others… what about me? Follow me or not. Either way, I’m good. Do what makes you happy.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 16th, 2013 | Comments Off on What About Me
Well… here it is… the fruits of my labour. It has taken several days (and several recycling bins) to get my home office to look like this. I still have a bit to do. If you take a closer look, on the left and right hand side of the photo, I have several piles of edu-articles to sort through and file. Besides that, I’m liking how my office looks and feels. I’ve procrastinated this “clean & purge” process for quite some time. Teachers are Hoarders. It’s not easy to make decisions, let things go, and move forward. The toughest part of this process was stumbling upon artifacts that highlighted the “good” and the “bad” of my teaching career. From thank you cards to letters to old final exams, they all had to go. I even recycled my Math 100/101 notes from university. Can you believe that those notes were 25 years old? Gasp. Redefining my office space was another “next step.” I was meant to find these artifacts and remind myself of what was and what is. Moving forward.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 13th, 2013 | Comments Off on Artifacts
Here’s Flat Christine hanging out with her caretaker, Kim. Apparently Flat Christine likes driving. Interesting. I did not know that about her. Round Christine prefers someone else driving. Hmm… learning something new everyday… much like the dissertation process. It’s ironic when I’m writing about professional learning and the goods internal to the practice. The goods internal are feelings of joy, satisfaction, and bliss. The practice, in this case, is my dissertation. According to Alasdair McIntyre (1984), you can only achieve the goods internal to the practice by engaging in the practice. Affirmed. As much as I (aka. Round Christine) was challenged by the daunting task of completion, once I had established the goods external to the practice, such as job prospects and future aspirations, I was able to move forward. With extrinsic motivation and engagement, I was able to realize the goods internal to the practice. Making progress. Feels good.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 09th, 2013 | Comments Off on Making Progress
Recently, I’ve been gaining momentum on my dissertation. I’m truly enjoying the work and hope to complete in 2014. Much of this momentum has to do with setting some goals, making decisions, and jumping in. We all have different ready times, moments of clarity, and motivation to move forward. There is no question in my mind that I was scared and uncertain. Over the past few years, I’ve learned so much experientially and met so many wonderful mentors that I am ready. Things are falling into place as if the puzzle pieces are fitting together nicely. It’s a good feeling. My amazing aha occurred to me yesterday after a midnight run and revising my literature review. As much as I was writing about professional learning, I realized that I was writing about myself. After so many attempts to disembed and distantiate myself from my paper, and believe I have done so, I realized that my dissertation is all about me and my professional learning. What a pleasant realization. Looking forward to what else I find out.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 06th, 2013 | Comments Off on Awesome Aha
Is this you? I have several photos, like this, of me with my phone. I’m a bit of a social media junkie. I’ll admit it. Here I am “camping” at Hotel Lake with my phone. Half of the summer is over and July has been absolutely amazing or catalytic to my transformation. CSBA (Canadian School Board Association) Congress 2013, SFU Summer Institute, Community Futures Sunshine Coast, and FUSE Work Party are a few professional learning opportunities I’ve engaged in this summer. I’m a sucker for learning. What I’ve really enjoyed this summer is Twitter Chatting. I’ve been following #bcedchat. With that said, I’m confident there are many other Twitter Chats to belong to that may or may not be education related. You just have to find the hashtag and join. So far on #bcedchat we’ve chatted about teacher education, assessment, and digital literacy. Once a week for an hour I can connect with other educators in BC and beyond about education. We answer questions, share ideas, and dialogue in 140 characters or less. For an extroverted educator writing a dissertation, this kind of teacher professional development is awesome!!! #highlyrecommended #lookingforwardtonextweek #socialemotionallearning
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 02nd, 2013 | Comments Off on Twitter Chat
