Crossing the Bridge: Reflection on Pedagogical Transformation of Graduate Students Life to classroom delivery
Presentation by: Mashael Alharbi, Angela Rutakomozibwa, Stella Maris Namae
Session A | 9:00 – 9:20 | Room 207
Abstract:
Reflection is a natural and familiar process when studying. Reflection is a highly valued and widely applied learning approach for students who graduate from education programs. All through the different levels of our schooling we wrote papers, answered questions, engaged in classroom discussions, and analyzed cases, all as ways to develop new insights. Sometimes, reflection occurs in less formal ways as well. We may have come up with great ideas while showering, in the tending the flowers or mowing the lawn. To reflect is to compare and to ask thoughtful questions about what we are engaging with and learning about in our courses. Dewey views reflection as an active, persistent, and careful consideration of any beliefs or supposed form of knowledge based on what supports it and any future conclusions. Therefore we are also thinking about how these reflections offer possibilities to make future activity both different and possible.
Reflective and reflexive practitioners think about their experiences view them as opportunities to learn. They examine their definitions of knowledge, seek to develop broad and multifaceted types, and recognize that their knowledge is never complete. Reflective and reflexive practitioners are concerned about the contexts of their practices and the implications for action. They reflect on their assumptions and what informs their theories of practice, and take action grounded in self-awareness. While there are many benefits associated with engaging in reflection and reflexive, the process of engaging in critical reflection inherently challenges graduate students who come from different cultural background.
This presentation will explore the reflections from three graduate students who come from different cultural backgrounds but sharing similar classroom pedagogical characteristics. As practitioners, we are engaged in reflecting on teachers’ practices and specifically our own as a way to navigate the profession. The presentation will focus on our reflections and how it informs our reflexive-transformational thinking and how it changes our pedagogical teaching approaches. We will present stories about our experiences in varied cultural contexts and describe our reflections and reflexive thinking about each.
