In teacher colleges, the issue of finding exemplary mentor educators to work with student teachers is, unfortunately, a real challenge. More specifically, finding good mentor educators who make their thinking explicit and openly confront the difficulties associated with teaching, warts and all, is even more of a challenge.
It is worth noting that while exemplary environments may be good for the student teacher and mentor, the learning success of the student teacher within this environment is by no means guaranteed. Margolis (2007) argues, “what is also needed is access to and participation in the teacher thinking and reasoning” which can aid in making a particular environment more successful (author's emphasis p. 76).
This notion of thinking aloud started me wondering about the possible advantages afforded by weblogs as a space where an educator could be highly explicit about their thinking and instructional practices. Would a community of educators find value in such a blogging environment? Is this what we are hoping online communities such as Classroom 2.0 or Second Life will provide, i.e., a space where educators can create and build upon their professional knowledge? Is such an environment any different than a highly developed listserv? Hmmm….
Margolis points to a study (Schoenbach, et al., 1999) that describes a “reading apprenticeship” approach where a teacher models strategies employed in reading and decoding texts. For example, “good readers” use many of the following strategies, depending on the form and/or content of a text:
- Posing questions
- Making predictions
- Explaining personal connections to the work
- Connecting to other ideas/situations
- Acknowledging difficulties
- Exploring strategies to mediate difficulties
- Explaining decisions as a reader and results of a decision
As I read through and reflected on these strategies, it struck me that weblogs could serve as a rich medium for demonstrating these “good reader” strategies. After all, what do many edubloggers do on their blogs besides pose questions, make predictions, connect to other ideas, acknowledge difficulties, etc?
While Margolis’s study focused on the mentor-side of the student teaching relationship, his work serves as a launch pad for further research into how and in what ways weblogs (or other digital media) might serve “particular types of explicit mentor-student teacher talk” (p. 77) that could potentially impact teacher and student learning.
The value of vulnerability
If I am being honest, I am often skeptical of people who regularly seem to have all the right answers. Most often I prefer listening or talking to people who are working through various dilemmas. Perhaps this is because as I get older, I find myself stumbling upon more questions than answers.
As a child, I rarely saw a teacher make or admit to a mistake. When I did, I could hear others in the class like myself gasping in awe. It wasn’t until I was a junior in college that I learned that writing was an iterative and cyclical process of writing, reflecting, rewriting, rethinking, and revising. Similarly when I entered teachers college, I learned that good teachers modeled and talked through how they read, wrote, and attempted to solve problems. Research cited throughout How People Learn (Bransford, et al., 2000) shows how exemplary teachers model their own thinking processes involved in unraveling life’s infinite mysteries. This doesn’t mean good teachers are always “right.” What it suggests is that exemplary teachers are open about the complex and often “scary” decisions they make.
Margolis notes, “teaching requires the capacity to make multiple decisions and choose from a multitude of options repeatedly and sometimes immediately—often uncertain as to the outcomes” (p. 79). And it is precisely this level vulnerability that students of all stripes find most useful.
This is why I find myself advocating weblogs as a means of capturing and sharing this side of teaching and learning. Through participation in online communities such as weblog rings, listservs, and a host of other online communities of interest, educators have an opportunity to collectively expand one another’s thinking, investigate and negotiate skills and practices while simultaneously developing repertoires to become more thoughtful, active, and accountable to each other and ultimately with the students with whom they work.
Weblogs and other social media do not offer any guarantees of explicitness, but they can provide a space where one can engage their own thinking as well as the thinking of others, if one so chooses.
I guess I value weblogging mostly because it is a place where I can share my struggles and brainstorm solutions with others. My blog is a space where I can open up my own line of thinking and invite feedback. My blog is a place where valued colleagues and I can reciprocally reflect on dilemmas. It’s a space where we can learn together, a space where I can learn from my mistakes and make adjustments in my personal and professional practice.
Finally, my weblog is a space where I can be vulnerable and yet still feel safe and supported. For some odd reason, I’ve never been maliciously attacked for my points of view. Instead, I have noticed a wonderful sense of decorum among fellow educators that is truly remarkable if you think about it. I guess that’s why I still feel surprised when professional colleagues tell me they are afraid to blog because they are concerned about not being taken seriously or being overly criticized for their thoughts and feelings. Of course, there is no guarantee they won’t be. I guess it’s a matter of trust in the kindness of strangers.
Clearly, there is still much research to be done on the types of knowledge gained through the use of social media on teacher education and its impact on student achievement. And as always, your thoughts and comments are welcomed and encouraged.
References:
Bransford, J.D., et al. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Margolis, J. (2007). Improving relationships between mentor teachers and student teachers: Engaging in a pedagogy of explicitness. The New Educator, 3(1), pp. 75-94.
Schoenbach, R. et al., (1999). Reading for understanding: A guide to improving reading in middle and high school classrooms. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Keywords: access, blogging, blogs, Classroom 2.0, cognition, community, connectivism, decorum, development, education, educators, explicitness, learning, listservs, mentors, modeling, practice, problem solving, reading, research, Second Life, social media, strategies, student achievement, teacher education, teacher professional development, teaching, think-aloud, thinking, value, visibility, vulnerability, weblogging, weblogs, writing
Comments
Here's an interesting article on reading. Silverblatt writes, "reading requires that you develop a beautiful tolerance for incomprehension." I mention this first because, although it may not be a strategy, it is one of the most important traits of a "good reader." I also think the phrase might be better than "the value of vulnerability"
Incomprehension in a learning environment should be the accepted base. Why would a student feel vulnerable not knowing an answer? Shouldn't not knowing be the defining state of students? Shouldn't there be a beautiful tolerance of this state in any learning environment? Without an embodied spirit of experimentation what can we possibly learn? What are we teaching?
I find myself particularly fond of your statement, "My blog is a place where valued colleagues and I can reciprocally reflect on dilemmas".
I too find many of my colleagues reluctant to put their views and ideas to "public scrutiny" However, the "publicness" of social spaces and the type of "scrutiny" they face is also very misunderstood by my colleagues. Often, they don't seem to realize that social web spaces tend to form around and are most perused by people with common interests (ahem "SOCIAL"). In the case of social web spaces that discuss teaching philosopy I find that the community tends to be very encouraging and supportive. New ideas are encouraged. Naive positions or partial solutions are mentored to and "scaffolded" with helpful evidence rather than addressed dismissively or ridiculed.
One thing that I think can go a long way in bringing the academy into view of the positive aspects of the '2.0' movement is what (for now) I am going to call the Sessums EduSpace Guide to Style. --I hope you enjoy the title! The mixture of editorial voice and APA-esque referencing and citation used in your piece (along with using a blog as your distribution point) affected me in these ways 1) invited reader interaction and participation in solution-making 2) illustrated evidence for the problems presented 3)encouraged searching for additional primary sources and 4)let me be my own gatekeeper for entry into the dialog. These things, I think they are good.
Another paper that might interest you (if you haven't already seen it) Jenkins, Henry, et al. “Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century.” 2006. 6 Nov. 2006. <http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.enJLKQNlFiG/b.2108773/ apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id=%7BCD911571-0240-4714- A93B-1D0C07C7B6C1%7D¬oc=1>.
I think you've done well Christopher as you suggest to remain afloat and relatively unscathed.
".....I guess it’s a matter of trust in the kindness of strangers."
That really speaks to the generosity of others who find your writings valuable as I do. That's why I keep coming back however.......
To me your blog posts often read as an assignment would with a lot of "you" included. It's squeaky and clean and polite and well referenced. It plays with first person and the third.
I'm often accused of playing in the rhetorical mudpit once too often or that I'm cutting and sharp in my witless rambles. Sure - all true.
The other fact is that I'm not an edublogger. I'm a educator who has a blog that speaks to many aspects of my life in juxtaposition with others.
When will we see this of you ? When will we get the .......;
"...... educators who make their thinking explicit and openly confront the difficulties associated with teaching, warts and all....."
More mud. Less warts.
Mud washes off.
What's really irking you at the moment ?
I am a home school mom who was referred to your site. I really like what I have read so far.
I struggle with the 'venom' directed towards me because I home school. I am not in competition with public schools, I am just trying to give my children the very best education possible, without so much 'fluff'.
When I write fluff, I mean things that take education away from the fundementals. I constantly reinforce the basics allowing every skill to be mastered before we move on. I also require much research and discovery, so that my children will know how to find an answer to any question.
Thank you for your post.
Jennifer (penofjen.blogspot.com)
"I am often skeptical of people who regularly seem to have all the right answers."
I could hug you for these words! I have recently begun to have serious doubts about someone I have always deeply admired, and I was struggling to explain it to myself. I was really beating myself up about it, but you have said it in a nutshell.
We are all learning from each other, we adjust and adapt our certainties based on new information. But if we set ourselves up as being the person who always gets to say what is true/right and what is false/wrong, how can we ever learn more ourselves?
Very nice post Christopher,
I have been thinking about these concepts for a while. I do Java workshops for companies, and also teach at an institute.
I often tell the participants and my clients that they will get way more benefit, if we stop doing traditional workshops, and start learning by reading the concepts, blogging, reading other's blogs, and commenting. Basically by practicing, and conversing. The blogosphere makes it possible to have really meaningfull conversations with other practitioners, and mentors, in ways that were just not possible before.
I had read this quote sometime back: "A teacher is also a student who is slightly further ahead in the journey". Blogs (or maybe New Media: blogs, podcasts, screencasts, wikis, etc) give us an environment where we all are teachers and students, who learn from each other. Thus helping everyone evolve.
If a teacher steps slightly on the side and becomes a facilitator in this conversation, then some really wonderful results can be obtained.
I truly hope that our education system will someday move beyond the grade based approach to one that values practice and conversations that help the learners move towards greater clarity, in topics of their interest and at a speed that is best for them.
I really like your thoughts on blogging where you mention:
"My blog is a space where I can open up my own line of thinking and invite feedback. My blog is a place where valued colleagues and I can reciprocally reflect on dilemmas. It’s a space where we can learn together, a space where I can learn from my mistakes and make adjustments in my personal and professional practice"
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Regards
Parag
www.adaptivelearningonline.net