Untitled Document<\/title> \n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=iso-8859-1\"> \n<\/meta><\/head><\/p>\n<body><\/p>\nBlogger’s Note<\/strong>: This reflection was written in response to \n a <a href=\"http:\/\/english.sxu.edu\/%7Emedrano\/blog\/?postid=7\">class reflection \n written by Carol Medrano for one of her courses in the graduate reading program. Carol’s essay may be read by clicking this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\nCarol–I appreciate this opportunity to engage in a little dialectical discussion \n with you here, so thanks for asking me to take a look at your reflection. Several \n thoughts . . . I’ll share a few (ah, summer, when I can play hookey from the \n required task, whatever it is, and diverge a bit in some side roads of thinking \n and discussion):\n<\/p>\n \nYou do a wonderful job countering the myth that reflection is solely a private \nactivity. It’s social. You summarize many other features from the analysis of \nDewey, but the social aspect is your main focus.<\/p>\n\nAs teachers, the challenge is, "How do we create spaces, opportunities, requirements\/threats\/cajolings\/pleadings \nfor reflective action? for reflective dialectical action?" It’s challenging, \nbut I’m beginning to see ways whereby the whole class can be organized–at the \npoint of conception–around the needs\/rewards\/dynamics of reflection.\n<\/p>\n The challenge becomes not merely one of having a single "reflective action" \n added on at the end of something, but to have the reflective attitude guide \n the process of learning from the onset and throughout. Part of this can’t be \n taught, of course. Some people are "naturally" more prone to reflective \n stances than others, etc. But reflectiveness can certainly be coached in all…. \n And therein is the challenge.\n<\/p>\n There’s a similar problem with group work. How do you shift from an ineffective \n and rather typical use of small groups (I’ll characterize this ineffective use \n as isolated instances of small group work thrown in randomly from time to time \n to address certain lesson needs) to a more effective practice in which the teacher \n perpetually supports and coaches collaborative interaction as a genuine social\/intellectual \n skill and disposition? One solution, I think, is to start your pedagogical planning \n (in July) with the principles of "group" in mind rather than the task \n they’ll be doing. Our usual procedure is to start with the lesson, and from \n there proceed to the method of group work for engaging in the lesson. I’m suggesting \n we turn the planning around. Why not start all our planning with the idea of \n the group as the pincipal thing? We then ask in our day-to-day planning, "What \n activities support, challenge, grow the group….?" We design learning \n goals, curricular approaches, activities, etc. with the idea of the group impact\/dynamics \n invovled. In essence, the group becomes the organizing principle of our teaching \n rather than the lesson itself.\n<\/p>\n\nThe same holds true for reflection. How do we organize things if our main objectives \nare rooted in the processes of reflection rather than the external learning standards, <\/p>\ncurricula, etc. that are handed over to the teacher (often with a flick and a \nthreat)?\n<\/p>\n I’m beginning to see ways of doing this kind of reversal of prioritization. \n But it’s really more than merely making a "priority" of reflection \n or collaboration. It’s deeper; it’s starting with reflection and collaboration \n as founding principles that give rise to all else. And at this point, I’ll close, \n and only suggest that yes, I’ve begun to glimpse ways of organizing this way \n (and relegating standards, goals, curricula, and other externals to afterthoughts<\/em>—serious<\/em> \n afterthoughts that exert powerful shaping influences, but that keep their place, \n too :).\n<\/p>\n But I have an exit analogy–on a somewhat negative slope. I’m reminded of \n other highly effective organizations that might serve as models for the planner \n of reflective\/collabortive pedagogies: the military, cults, and gangs. They \n start out with organizing principles of the "group," the "unit," \n "loyalty," "obedience," "duty," etc. They build \n the organization first, and then apply actions to this or that situation. But \n there is nothing "ad hoc" about these groups (unlike us in school \n who are often so perilously ad hoc). These organizations are modes of being<\/em>; \n they are so un-ad hoc that, on their surface, their routines apppear to be the \n antithesis of pragmatic, efficient action. Rather than dealing with the specific \n issue at hand ("today’s lesson") they deal with the organizaiton \n itself<\/em>–its needs, its values, its code. But ultimately pragmatism and \n efficiency do get nailed, and big time. But what if–in thinking about how to \n coach reflection and collaboration–we look to the rituals and principled modes \n of organization of the military, cults, and gangs?\n<\/p>\n<\/body> \n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Untitled Document Blogger’s Note: This reflection was written in response to a class reflection written by Carol Medrano for one of her courses in the graduate reading program. Carol’s essay may be read by clicking this link. Carol–I appreciate this opportunity to engage in a little dialectical discussion with you here, so thanks for asking … <a href=\"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/archives\/43\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading Reflective Action or Reflective Living?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reform-in-education","category-thoughts-on-teaching-and-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":43,"date":"2005-07-26T10:52:29","date_gmt":"2005-07-26T15:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.sxu.edu\/bonadonna\/blog1\/?p=43"},"modified":"2005-09-18T07:23:58","modified_gmt":"2005-09-18T12:23:58","slug":"reflective-action-or-reflective-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/archives\/43","title":{"rendered":"Reflective Action or Reflective Living?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n
\nUntitled Document<\/title> \n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=iso-8859-1\"> \n<\/meta><\/head><\/p>\n<body><\/p>\nBlogger’s Note<\/strong>: This reflection was written in response to \n a <a href=\"http:\/\/english.sxu.edu\/%7Emedrano\/blog\/?postid=7\">class reflection \n written by Carol Medrano for one of her courses in the graduate reading program. Carol’s essay may be read by clicking this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\nCarol–I appreciate this opportunity to engage in a little dialectical discussion \n with you here, so thanks for asking me to take a look at your reflection. Several \n thoughts . . . I’ll share a few (ah, summer, when I can play hookey from the \n required task, whatever it is, and diverge a bit in some side roads of thinking \n and discussion):\n<\/p>\n \nYou do a wonderful job countering the myth that reflection is solely a private \nactivity. It’s social. You summarize many other features from the analysis of \nDewey, but the social aspect is your main focus.<\/p>\n\nAs teachers, the challenge is, "How do we create spaces, opportunities, requirements\/threats\/cajolings\/pleadings \nfor reflective action? for reflective dialectical action?" It’s challenging, \nbut I’m beginning to see ways whereby the whole class can be organized–at the \npoint of conception–around the needs\/rewards\/dynamics of reflection.\n<\/p>\n The challenge becomes not merely one of having a single "reflective action" \n added on at the end of something, but to have the reflective attitude guide \n the process of learning from the onset and throughout. Part of this can’t be \n taught, of course. Some people are "naturally" more prone to reflective \n stances than others, etc. But reflectiveness can certainly be coached in all…. \n And therein is the challenge.\n<\/p>\n There’s a similar problem with group work. How do you shift from an ineffective \n and rather typical use of small groups (I’ll characterize this ineffective use \n as isolated instances of small group work thrown in randomly from time to time \n to address certain lesson needs) to a more effective practice in which the teacher \n perpetually supports and coaches collaborative interaction as a genuine social\/intellectual \n skill and disposition? One solution, I think, is to start your pedagogical planning \n (in July) with the principles of "group" in mind rather than the task \n they’ll be doing. Our usual procedure is to start with the lesson, and from \n there proceed to the method of group work for engaging in the lesson. I’m suggesting \n we turn the planning around. Why not start all our planning with the idea of \n the group as the pincipal thing? We then ask in our day-to-day planning, "What \n activities support, challenge, grow the group….?" We design learning \n goals, curricular approaches, activities, etc. with the idea of the group impact\/dynamics \n invovled. In essence, the group becomes the organizing principle of our teaching \n rather than the lesson itself.\n<\/p>\n\nThe same holds true for reflection. How do we organize things if our main objectives \nare rooted in the processes of reflection rather than the external learning standards, <\/p>\ncurricula, etc. that are handed over to the teacher (often with a flick and a \nthreat)?\n<\/p>\n I’m beginning to see ways of doing this kind of reversal of prioritization. \n But it’s really more than merely making a "priority" of reflection \n or collaboration. It’s deeper; it’s starting with reflection and collaboration \n as founding principles that give rise to all else. And at this point, I’ll close, \n and only suggest that yes, I’ve begun to glimpse ways of organizing this way \n (and relegating standards, goals, curricula, and other externals to afterthoughts<\/em>—serious<\/em> \n afterthoughts that exert powerful shaping influences, but that keep their place, \n too :).\n<\/p>\n But I have an exit analogy–on a somewhat negative slope. I’m reminded of \n other highly effective organizations that might serve as models for the planner \n of reflective\/collabortive pedagogies: the military, cults, and gangs. They \n start out with organizing principles of the "group," the "unit," \n "loyalty," "obedience," "duty," etc. They build \n the organization first, and then apply actions to this or that situation. But \n there is nothing "ad hoc" about these groups (unlike us in school \n who are often so perilously ad hoc). These organizations are modes of being<\/em>; \n they are so un-ad hoc that, on their surface, their routines apppear to be the \n antithesis of pragmatic, efficient action. Rather than dealing with the specific \n issue at hand ("today’s lesson") they deal with the organizaiton \n itself<\/em>–its needs, its values, its code. But ultimately pragmatism and \n efficiency do get nailed, and big time. But what if–in thinking about how to \n coach reflection and collaboration–we look to the rituals and principled modes \n of organization of the military, cults, and gangs?\n<\/p>\n<\/body> \n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Untitled Document Blogger’s Note: This reflection was written in response to a class reflection written by Carol Medrano for one of her courses in the graduate reading program. Carol’s essay may be read by clicking this link. Carol–I appreciate this opportunity to engage in a little dialectical discussion with you here, so thanks for asking … <a href=\"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/archives\/43\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading Reflective Action or Reflective Living?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reform-in-education","category-thoughts-on-teaching-and-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonadonna.org\/sites\/wordpress\/bonadonna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}