Wow. It does not take much to trigger me. “Is it me?” A classic question that NO ONE wants to answer. I appreciate that someone is willing to speak to someone face-to-face and inquire if the problem is him or her. Unfortunately, you’re NEVER going to hear the answer that would reflect the truth. So why ask? Is there another way to ask the question? NO ONE is going to say the problem is YOU. That’s just a fact. How can we get around this issue in an educational system that desires and hopes for vulnerability? As you can see, one question provokes me to ask many other questions. It makes me curious.
I just spoke with a student who was faced with this situation. “Is it me?” This student could not confirm or deny that the problem was the teacher. Why would this student do so anyway? Horrifying. If the roles were reversed, we would never say that the problem in our classroom is the student. We would say it’s his/her behaviour, actions, or mindset… SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN CHANGE. It’s a strange phenomenon in education that I question. How can we have a more vulnerable education system that encourages more formative feedback amongst stakeholders to leverage learning when all those involved are somewhat defensive, politically paranoid, or easily hurt? We end up “functioning” in a edu-vacuum where not much is said except for pleasantries and workplace politeness.
Formative feedback is NOT PERSONAL. It should reflect your performance and competencies. Not only should it reflect these attributes, but also should provide you with what to strive for and how to get there. In fact, receiving formative feedback is in your best interest… to be come a better YOU… and those who are providing feedback provide an expertise and want YOU to be a better you. They have your best interest in mind. Formative feedback is about helping each other and the information shared benefits both the evaluator and recipient. It goes beyond collective efficacy… formative feedback is more like COLLECTIVE WINNING. The mantra would be, “we’re in this together.”
But no… “Is it me?” sets people apart… to an US vs. THEM scenario. The power differential is in full play and of course, the subordinate in this relationship would naturally concede and say… “no, no, no… it’s me.” Unbelievable… and in the end, NOTHING CHANGES. There is no opportunity for “real” formative feedback and an opportunity to get better, be better, or make the situation better. All that this scenario perpetuates is the status quo… and if it’s not good??? It remains NOT GOOD. Is this an educational model that we can tolerate? Apparently, the answer is yes. This is disheartening. Education is ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. It’s fragile and resilient at the same time. We need to be asking the right questions. We are the creators of what we see. So, what do you see?
We are constantly immersed in the formative. From the viewpoint of the teacher, are your students engaged, empowered, and passionate about what they are learning? Or are your students disengaged, on their phones, and indifferent? Maybe they are somewhere in between… but guess what? You are creating that behaviour. This is the challenge of teaching. It’s complex and dynamic. There is never THE SAME at any one moment in time… nor should we strive for that. We are not hoping for robot-like students who are homogenous in their thinking or doing. We want to nourish their competencies, strengths, and interests. How do we create a love for learning for all stakeholders? Wouldn’t it be great to develop passionate learners instead of compliant consumers? This is my hope.
The worst part about this question, “Is it me?,” is asking the same question to self. “Is it me?” Self-assessment and self-reflection are integral to the teaching/learning/leading process and when we question self inappropriately or inaccurately because we are functioning in a vacuous silo, then this is when it goes wrong and ugly. How can someone take ownership of something when they don’t know if it’s them or not? It’s a poor assumption. Similarly, one cannot take ownership for something when no one is talking formatively or if one is confronted with “Is it YOU?” No one is winning. Nothing and no one gets “better.” And yes, the status quo persists. Are we really learning in education?
Let’s end this edu-rant with a bit of research. According to John Hattie’s (2016) updated results… factors with the greatest effect size on student learning include feedback (0.73), teacher clarity (0.75), and teacher credibility (0.90). Teacher credibility ranked NUMBER ONE. Do not underestimate the power of the teacher and your influence on student learning. Student looks up to the teacher. It’s important to be a role model but also provide feedback and clarity. It can’t be “Is it me?” anymore. This message goes to all levels in education. We are in this together. It has to be, “It is WE.” Think formative.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, March 12th, 2018 | Comments Off on Is it me?
This may sound cliche but when you realize that your time on earth is limited, it would be in your best interest to do what you love. I had the gift of being away from my life for 20-days and experienced the JOY OF TRANSFORMATION. Admittedly, I’ve changed too. I witnessed people change before my eyes, recalibrating what was important to them and intuitively knowing why. I experienced a type of advocacy and agency that I have never seen before. Clear conviction. I feel lucky to have this opportunity and now I am taking a moment to reflect on what happened and think about what’s important to me.
Before the 20-days, I was participating in a couple of career education workshops at SFU to figure out my next trajectory in life. It’s too easy to look back and consider what I have done before. As much as I have fond memories of teaching secondary mathematics and continue to teach secondary mathematics one-on-one as part of my educational consulting business, I know that I am meant to do something else and my experiences as a math educator will inform and influence me on what I need to do next. I know that my love is in education, even though several times during the 20-days I’ve been asked if I’m in health care or in the medical field. As mentioned, I’m not that kind of doctor.
What I do know for sure is, I love teaching… I love learning… and I love leading. Hence, this is the underpinning of my business. But so what? Most people in education feel the same way. What separates me from other educators and what am I meant to do next? I do know that whatever I choose to do next, I need to be teaching, learning, and leading. I will make no compromise to that. What I also know for sure is, I love data analysis. I love making sense from numbers, I love creating a narrative. That is soooooo fun for me. I just completed the “School Trustee Study” with my research partner (and former senior supervisor) Dr. Dan Laitsch. I just loved playing around with the numbers and making meaning from what we found from the data. I loved the collaboration, critical thinking, and shared expertise. I felt like we accomplished something that is worthwhile.
At the last SFU workshop, I identified 5 core values: (1) integrity and truth; (2) self-respect and pride in my work; (3) having a positive impact on society and others; (4) using creativity, imagination, and being innovative; and (5) autonomy, independence, and freedom. There were many other items to choose from and rank, but this turned out to be my top 5. What amazes me from this list is… I AM COMPLETELY ALIGNED. These 5 core values resonate with me and aligns to what I am doing now… with my business, research, and school trusteeship. This realization is invigorating… knowing that I am doing what I want to be doing. I am on the right trajectory. So, how can I go further?
I am so stoked that I am teaching EDUC454 for a second time this summer. I love that I can take what I have learned from last summer to make this course even better. It’s a time for me to return to my love of teaching and learning, but also find innovative and creative ways to engage and empower adult learners / pre-service teachers. I am driven by my research and the power of experiential learning and reflective practice. I feel honoured to have the opportunity to work with pre-service teachers to influence and encourage them to do what’s right in the K-12 classroom and develop their pedagogy.
I am also thinking about how to expand my business. I am getting new tutoring clientele, I am engaged in research as an affiliate scholar with the Centre for the Study of Educational Leadership and Policy at SFU, and it looks like I will write a book or two as promised in my TEDxWestVancouverED talk. I definitely have one in mind… and another one… and another one. It’s a matter of getting started. I need new material to glean from. I recently guest blogged for McGraw-Hill Education on the “Art of Teaching,” to be published in April. I continue to write about my practice as a secondary mathematics teacher, just like I did for Gillian Judson’s blog ImaginED. It’s been almost 8 years since I left the K-12 classroom and it’s time to write and talk about something else.
Finally, school trusteeship is something to consider. If you look back at previous blog entries, I learned so much from my trusteeship as an educator, parent, and educational leader. Governance plays a huge role in public education and it’s the responsibility of school trustees and boards of education to understand their role, work together with senior management teams, and do what’s best for student learning. I am passionate about this role in education. What we do matters… at all levels in education. Trustees have the responsibility of representing community values, bringing expertise to the table as oversight, and politicizing in a way that leverages learning FOR ALL. This term ends October 2018 and many are deciding whether if they will run or not in the next municipal election. That decision, for me, might come up in my next blog entry. TBA.
Although the “endpoint” is not clear or precise, I am on the right path. It’s reassuring that I am heading towards a vision. I am passionate about education and “finding my place” is important to me… as it should be for all those who are involved in education. Your role matters. Your expertise matters. You competencies matter. And, the right fit matters. We are always changing, so “fit” will also change over time. Be true to yourself and do what’s best for you and the people you serve. There are many opportunities in education where you can make a difference in student learning. You have to find it, then do it well.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, March 09th, 2018 | 1 Comment »
I took this picture on Waikiki beach in Honolulu on the last day of our trip. I saw the tree the night before and was mesmerized by the complexity of its branches. We returned back the next day and I had to take a picture. I never seen a tree like this before. Moreover, it’s one of my favourite images… Light coming through trees. I just love it.
This is a nice image to start 2018. What’s next? We’re in the new year and it’s time to take the next step. My 2018 One-Word is CREATE and I am faced with the challenge of MAKING NEW GOALS. It’s hard to believe that I met my lifelong goals and now I understand that making goals is about achieving them, adapting them, and yes… making new ones. When I was teaching secondary mathematics, I dreamt about speaking in front of a large audience about education and getting my doctorate. I never imagined it would happen. I left teaching in public schools and spoke in front of a large audience about education and became a doctor. Truth… for years, I thought it was only a dream.
I guess this is a great place to be. I’ve met my lifelong goals. It’s absolutely amazing!!! What I have learned is, you take big risks to achieve your goals. You may not realize it at the time. Leaving the classroom was not easy for me, but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. That was 7-years ago. It’s pretty clear that my love for education, teaching, and learning has not stopped. I love the opportunity to teach at the university as a sessional instructor and being a school trustee has helped me to keep in touch with the K-12 system. What’s next? For the last week, I have been chatting with others face-to-face and online about what I will do next. It’s been a question mark and the advice I get in return is to take a break and what you are meant to do next will present itself.
Ahhh yes… back to TRUST. Today I woke with the notion of being open to anything. What I’ve learned about achieving my lifelong dreams mid-career is that anything is possible, if you want it to be and you believe it’s possible. Believe it or not, I got my BIG AHA on what’s next? from the #bcedchat I co-moderated with @DAliceMarsh on TIME SHIFTING. The topic was about big life changes that influenced our careers in education. For me, I named leaving K-12 and my dissertation. As the edu-chat continued, I ended the chat with “A8. I don’t know exactly, but it’s going to be fun, engaging, and transformational. Likely education related and I am deep into my purpose and passion” to answer what I am expecting or hoping for next. The crazy part is, I wrote the #bcedchat questions.
For those who follow my Twitter feed, I also appreciated the learning from BIG LIFE EVENTS and I have much gratitude because I would not know what I know today and have met the people whom I met since leaving the K-12 classroom. Yes, “a plan” would have been ideal but in hindsight, I had a plan: talk to a large audience about education and get my doctorate. DONE. Now it’s time for a NEW PLAN. I am the creator of what’s next and I never perceive “rejection” or “no” as failure or not being worthy. I look at it as a sign that this is not the way to go, it’s not the right time, or my alignment is elsewhere. What I realize is, I cannot have a narrow focus on what’s next and I am able and willing to do more or something different. I met my lifelong goals. It’s time for NEW GOALS and I am open to anything who would benefit from my expertise, mindset, and experience.
Of course, I am not going to stand still. I will be sending out my CV to opportunities that I could contribute to but also learn from. I want to be learning and build on my expertise. In the meantime, I will embark on more research as a post-doctoral experience and hope to publish a few articles. I have more to learn about research as it relates to practice, leadership, and the K-12 system in addition to what it takes to publish research. This is my learning. I would also like to publish a book and what it takes to do that. That said, I am also interested in opportunities where I am teaching and learning, or helping others to engage in teaching and learning. This is the extension. I look forward to what’s next.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, January 22nd, 2018 | Comments Off on New Goals
Wow. I cannot believe that I am at the next step in my dissertation. It seems almost surreal and kind of anti-climatic. Not to overshadow the awesomeness of this feat and all of the wonderful retweets, reposts, and forwards that happened almost immediately after I sent out my invitation email… it’s participation. For some reason I expected “hundreds” to self-identify and participate on first sight of my invitation??? Hmm… this is a poor expectation. It’s about patience and the will to promote.
Of course, I opted to sample teachers in the province instead of a particular group, school, or school district. How does one sample teachers within the province? The “Vital Sassoon” effect… she has two, and he has two friends, and so on and so on and so on. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I am happy to use social media and email to convenience sample teachers who may satisfy my participant profile of a non-mathematics subject specialist teacher. Yup. It is somewhat ambitious.
Worst of all, I have no idea what the population of non-mathematics subject specialist teachers there are who are teaching or who have taught at least one secondary mathematics class in BC schools. This statistic is not recorded or published. Based on my experience as a secondary mathematics teacher in BC school, I imagined as a researcher that this number to be relatively high. I am not referring to any list to acquire participants to for this study and participants must self-identify as non-math specialists. Moreover, this study is limited to those who get access to the study.
Here’s the crazy part… this process is just to get the survey to the desired participant. The survey is about the PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES of these teachers and how they strengthened their knowledge of mathematics as a practicing secondary mathematics teacher in BC schools. Does this sound appealing to you? I’m totally stoked by this. It took me years to narrow my study down to one research question coupled with two sub-questions asking about the effectiveness of the learning activity and if the learning experience improved their teaching practice.
I love being curious. This is my motivation. My purpose is “to enhance the learning experiences of others.” And, my passion is teaching and learning… aka. Education. I don’t think that I am different from many others in the field of education but I am such an edu-junkie. I am always wondering about professional learning as a learner and teacher. I have great hopes for participation. Wouldn’t it be great to figure out what teachers like in terms of learning mathematics? I guess we’ll soon see.
This is only the first day of data collection with 13 more days to go. Truth, I got super excited when I got my first participant within the first few minutes of posting the email invitation on the BCAMT Listserve. A small part of me wanted the rate of participation to maintain itself throughout the day. Again, a poor expectation… but I do hope that there are lots of teachers “out there” who are compelled to tell me (anonymously) about their professional learning experiences. Come on… it sounds like a great way to spend 5 to 20 minutes of your time to contribute to research.
For more information about my study or if you’d like to participate or refer the study to a colleague, go to my webpage www.christineyounghusband.com/research.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, November 23rd, 2015 | Comments Off on Collecting Data
Wow. It does not take much to trigger me. “Is it me?” A classic question that NO ONE wants to answer. I appreciate that someone is willing to speak to someone face-to-face and inquire if the problem is him or her. Unfortunately, you’re NEVER going to hear the answer that would reflect the truth. So why ask? Is there another way to ask the question? NO ONE is going to say the problem is YOU. That’s just a fact. How can we get around this issue in an educational system that desires and hopes for vulnerability? As you can see, one question provokes me to ask many other questions. It makes me curious.
I took this picture on Waikiki beach in Honolulu on the last day of our trip. I saw the tree the night before and was mesmerized by the complexity of its branches. We returned back the next day and I had to take a picture. I never seen a tree like this before. Moreover, it’s one of my favourite images… Light coming through trees. I just love it.