It is evident that coherent and consistent messaging was absent in the school with the BT holding on to her views and beliefs about Ryan, while the school and colleagues had their own, and the difference is exemplified in the handling of the “mirror incident”. While it is normal that people look at matters from different perspective, one question that still lingers is how should educators approach situations when personal beliefs contradicts with the school (rules)?

One area of improvement for me could be to remain calm in such a situation that the main character faced. It is easy to let our personal values and emotions guide us but I need to be mindful that there are two sides to a story and to listen to it in a neutral manner as we act in a role which is a teacher to Ryan as well as a colleague to the NIE trainee. 

1. What are your thoughts about 

2. ­What questions or puzzles do you have?

3. What do you want to explore further?

One thing I felt could have been done better was to sit both the NIE trainee and student down to discuss the issues at play and come to a consensus that would allow all parties to better deal with such situations in the future. I believe  the “teacher is always right” stance is dangerous. While we “demand” respect from our students, we also need to provide students with respect as it is a basic need. Overall, I truly commend the efforts of the BT in providing Ryan with the best care and educational experience she can provide him. Her reflections were very inciteful and I think many of us can resonate with her struggles. 

I appreciate that the BT was able to be a trusted adult in his life, especially in a stressful year for Ryan. While it may take time for Ryan to truly blossom into a more thoughtful and less impulsive student, provision of a caring and enabling school environment is vital for him to progress towards that. I believe that a caring and enabling school environment begins with one teacher. However, it’s very disheartening to see how the Teachers reacted towards Ryan but it’s not far from reality. It’s not uncommon to hear Teachers “warning” others about specific classes or students. But I feel like there’s a difference between “Hey you might want to keep an eye out for this student” and “Hey don’t even try with him. He’s lost cause.” Or “Oh he’s good in your class? Give it time. He’ll show his true colours.” The latter brings down the morale of the Teachers and students who are trying to be better. It was a good story for me to reflect on how my words, even if not said directly to the student, can affect him/her.

The lesson covered the theoretical aspect of things, and I hope to explore the application of these strategies in the context of authentic school situations or the CCE package that would be introduced. 

Something I would like to explore further would be explicit teaching of discussion skills, so that students can carry out more in-depth discussions about moral dilemmas. I feel t he ability to discuss real world issues is lacking in our current curriculum and is an indictment of the examination-based school system.

Direct teaching could be used to explicitly teach certain values. Even if we think some values are “common sense”, different upbringing may not result in them being so. It hence equips students with the understanding. They can then go through role plays or even practice the skills through experiential learning in subsequent lessons. Actions that were taken can then be reviewed through self-reflection with the teacher through the narrative method. These methods when used in tandem allow the teacher to evaluate if students have progressed to the higher stages of moral development.

 

A lot of these strategies focus on facilitation skills. I would like to be able to be able to guide students towards learning certain values rather than directly instructing them.

Thus, we will need to properly assess our students capacities, and determine if such strategies will be suitable. In addition, we need to introduce the necessary skills first and guide them in utilising the skills in different situations in order for us to inculcate our students with the skills to help them succeed in learning in different situations.

- Among the 4 guiding principles for facilitating CCE, which do you find most challenging? How come? 

- Which basic facilitation skill would you need further strengthening? Why so?

- What are some insights you have gained from the session today that you can apply in your daily life?

One of my biggest takeaway from the lesson was the importance of reflection from the learning experiences that students go through. For this reflection to occur, the narrative approach is very important. Once students have the vocabulary(through the narrative approach) and they are taught the appropriate skills (through explicit teaching), when students go through an experience, they are more likely to reflect. With the teacher’s help, reflection, through discussion, can become richer. 

2 things I want to explore further about CCE facilitation

1 burning question I have about CCE facilitation

I think paraphrasing might be the hardest skill. While during the lesson I felt that it wasn’t necessary, on reflecting, I realized that it was a skill I used a lot during my contract teaching. Since us teachers are proficient speakers, paraphrasing didn’t seem necessary when we were role playing. But students tend to be less proficient and some may not be able to put their thoughts into words efficiently or accurately. So being that to paraphrase is important. Paraphrasing in s way that makes it easier to understand for students and at the same time carry the accurate meaning might be difficult and I might need to strengthen that skill. 

I found it interesting how intuitive some skills are and how awkward others were for me. For example, I found acknowledging the speaker’s feelings by nodding and using silent gestures pretty normal but intentionally paraphrasing a little awkward. Seeing these skills individually made me realize the work that goes into being a good facilitator. 

2 things to explore further

1 burning question