1. Please provide your own definition of Philosophical Thinking (200 words or fewer):
Philosophical Thinking in teaching is a way to reflect and think on the basic fundamentals of education, learning and teaching and how these relate to the human experience, our society and the world as a whole. It involves a level of mindfulness that allows thinkers to be conscious of their thoughts and questions. Over time it should develop to become part of one’s own existence, embedded in their conscious and unconscious thinking.
2. What future role do you see for your own philosophical thinking within your professional context?
Philosophical thinking allows us to reflect broadly on our practice and connect it to our human experiences, the world and our society. This is a deeper and larger type of reflection than my typical reflections which are often based on questions of meeting such things as curricular or student needs. The role of philosophical thinking in my context will be to develop personal mindfulness and constantly challenge my practice with philosophical questions. These questions will explore such things as how my practices are: addressing my teaching philosophy; the needs of our society; our world; and how global events/conditions are affecting education. I would like to then use this type of thinking to help me adjust and improve my teaching practices in response to our ever-changing world, which in turn would improve the quality of learning that students receive and will address their overall skill set moving into the world as adult citizens. It will help me look past just the realm of education (i.e. using a history textbook, issues with curriculum) and help me explore concepts from broader perspective (i.e. what is happening in the field of history, sociology and anthropology) and how I can relate this back to my practice.
3. What learning from this course have you found most valuable to you? (250 words or fewer)
The most valuable learning I took from this course was from module 2. Reading the articles regarding Historical Thinking as it pertains to historical teaching led me to deep reflection. The articles were instrumental in helping me develop a new way to look at and view historical perspectives and motives behind them. I especially enjoyed the discussion surrounding how these perspectives and viewpoints are represented by publishers in textbooks. I had always assumed that publishers of textbooks have done their due diligence and based their information on solid foundations of research. I realized that I had never challenge my assumption. Moving forward I will certainly be more mindful when considering use of texts with my students.
4. Please indicate two ways in which you think that you can be innovative and/or creative in your future professional activities:
When I think about adding innovation and creativity to my practice I often jump to thinking about how to make my lessons more innovative or creative. Coming up with innovative lessons collaboratively with my colleagues seems to come more naturally, while coming up with creative ideas is more difficult. I find that my students tend to struggle in the same way with their own work. When exploring how to help my students learn to be more creative and innovative I discovered how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) activities can help students exercise their minds in this new way of thinking. I think that if I challenge myself to include and participate in more STEM based activities, projects and initiatives maybe I too can exercise my innovative and creative mind. Perhaps then this will help me develop more innovation and creativity in my own thinking. I also like the idea of teaching more cross curricular activities using different types of STEM resources and technology.
I use an outcome based assessment method in my classroom. This really allows me to focus only on the intended learning without all the excess. It has taught me how to assess in a more efficient manner which then frees up time for other teaching and learning. However, with grade one the assessment process can still take up an overwhelming amount of time. I would like to explore new technologies, such as student journaling apps, to help me innovate my assessment practices. I also want to be creative in my thinking on what assessment can look like. Perhaps there are ways that I can do assessments that have not been done before. Perhaps by thinking philosophically about assessment I can find new avenues and methods for assessment.