Final Reflections

Week 13 – EDUC454D100 – August 1, 2017

We did it. We finally made it to the end of the course (with exception to your final quantitative inquiry project/paper that is due on August 8th). Wow. Not a bad way to end the course. Thank you Candace Campo for taking our class on the Talking Trees Tour in Stanley Park. It was a beautiful way to end the course (even though a few of us were unable to attend). You captured many of the learning intentions discussed in EDUC454 such as place-based learning, Indigenous education, and strength-based learning. Some of my curiosities and take-aways from the tour included oral history and knowledge of local Indigenous and non-Indigenous plants, oral history and knowledge of one’s ancestry and lineage, and the role of potlatches and communal living. I think that my biggest take-away, which was reiterated during the tour but also in EDUC454, was the importance of RELATIONSHIPS. This is so true in education and integral to Indigenous ways, knowing, and being. You had shared so many great stories and knowledge that my class and I are truly grateful. Thank you Candace!!!

It’s been my deepest pleasure this term to teach EDUC454 at SFU. This was my first time teaching EDUC454 and my second time teaching at SFU as a sessional instructor. It was an incredible teaching and learning experience. THANK YOU EDUC454D100 for being so open and willing to participate in my inquiry, or shall I say “social experiment,” to realize the potential of BC’s New Curriculum. You had given me the opportunity to PLAY, experiment, and learn with you. I am deeply honoured. To do what we have achieved takes vulnerability, courage, and creativity. WE KILLED IT. I cannot express enough my gratitude and pride. As a collective, you have exceeded my expectations over and over again. Collaboration, facilitation, and reflection… we were a stellar class. Best of all, we had the opportunity to dispel some of your beliefs about mathematics (and expose others who were closet math-nerds). I am convinced that teaching outdoors and embedding environmental education into our practice will help us make connections, be inclusive, and create cross-curricular opportunities to co-construct knowledge and develop the Core Competencies.

Thank you all for your final reflections of EDUC454D100. A reflective practice is key to teaching and learning. Your final journal reflection was also an exemplar of personalized learning. You can have one framework that is designed by you… the teacher… and get varying results, which would be expected because we all come with different prior knowledge, perspectives, and Zone of Proximal Development. We also accomplished this with our Philosophy presentations and hopefully with our Inquiry Projects. What I have realized (after reading a few inquiry project/papers prior to this blog entry) that we have walked away from EDUC454 with the same learning intentions and conclusions… but how we got there was different. This is the beauty of teaching. Thank you everyone for this exceptional teaching/learning experience.