PFF Chicago

1. PFF Chicago "Fostering Critical Thinking and Communicative Skills via Intergroup Dialogue and Self-Reflective Writing in the Intercultural Classroom"

2. Structure • Engaged Pedagogy = Creating a Learning Community • Role of Critical Thinking • Everybody’s Voice is Important • Sharing Personal Experience • Primacy of Conversation as Teaching Tool • Integrating Experience with Content of Curriculum • Reflective Writing as Learning Tool • Exercises: creative, general, specific (on difference) • Reflecting on Teaching

3. bell hooks’ Engaged Pedagogy • “The most exciting aspect of critical thinking in the classroom is that it calls for initiative from everyone, actively inviting all students to think passionately and to share ideas in a passionate open manner. When everyone in the classroom, teacher and students, recognizes that they are responsible for creating a learning community together, learning is at its most meaningful and useful. In such a community of learning there is no failure. Everyone is participating and sharing whatever resource is needed at a given moment in time to ensure that we leave the classroom knowing that critical thinking empowers us. “ (11) • Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. Routledge, 2010

4. John Dewey • “Democracy has to be born anew in each generation, and education is its midwife.” • At core, profound, sustained commitment to social justice

5. bell hooks on the Primacy of Conversation • “As a teaching tool, both inside and outside the classroom, conversation is awesomely democratic.” • “The Future of learning lies with the cultivation of conversations, of dialogue. Conversations bring out the wit in others while presentations merely display the wit, or lack of it, of the presenters.” • Teaching Critical Thinking, p. 44.

6. bell hooks on Constructions of Masculinity and Power • “.. to make boys into patriarchal men, society trains them to value silence over speech. They may find themselves becoming people who either cannot talk , or when they talk, can only engage in a monologue. These are the people who talk at us, who by refusing to converse, promote and maintain a hierarchy of domination wherein withholding gives one power over another person.” • Teaching Critical Thinking, p. 45

7. Finding and Having a Voice • Paulo Freire: “…we cannot enter the struggle as objects in order to later become subjects.” • Quote from bell hook’s Teaching Critical Thinking

8. On Conversation • Dennis Rader: “Conversation – true conversation – is the way we cleanse poisons, such as false assumptions, prejudices, ignorance, misinformation, lack of perspective, lack of imagination, and stubbornness from the system.” • Learning Redefined, Building Democracy Press, 2010

9. The Diverse Classroom • “When classrooms are more diverse, there is simply a greater likelihood that conflict and contestation will happen. The more diverse a classroom, the greater the likelihood that there will be different levels of knowing and as a consequence professors cannot rely on a shared knowledge base to build community.” • bell hooks, p.56

10. Conversation cont.’ • “You don’t have to have conflict in class to have a productive conversation about race.” • Jack Shuler in conversation with Denison colleagues

11. Learning by Sharing Experience • The personal is the political (comes out of feminist movement) • Learning about one another creates a foundation for learning in community • Personal experience vs. factual information – Criticism: • Class no longer academic • Not engaging students in intellectual work • “Confessing” • Teacher’s responsibility to integrate the personal into the learning materials (assigned readings, sound research practices.

12. Reflective Writing for sharing experience and staying task focused • Sharing experience should NOT usurp assigned reading • Professors model how to integrate sharing personal experience in assigned material • Our vulnerability helps students take risks • If students lack skills of integrating experience • Personal confession can become a form of exhibitionism • Competition for “best” story • Can become a way to derail class and interfere with learning • Especially if students did not complete reading assignments!

13. Paragraph writing that relates to assignment • Students write a paragraph in response to assignment from a personal perspective/experience • Students share by reading their paragraph to a classmate or small group • Takes up much less time than spontaneous sharing • We (instructors) learn much about our students we would otherwise not know • Consider writing a paragraph yourself as the instructor!

14. Reflexive Writing • originated in the 1980s for literary criticism • also referred to as “self-reflective writing” • by about 1990 also adopted for cultural studies • other disciplines have since adopted reflexive approaches as part of a search for new forms of written discourse • Example: Michael Ashmore articulated self-aware reflexive writing practice addressing issue in scientists' accounts of their practices. • The Reflexive Thesis: Writing Sociology of Scientific Knowledge. University of Chicago Press: 1989.

15. “Reflective writing is evidence of reflective thinking” • “In reflexive (self‐reflective) writing, you couple personal experience with careful observation.” Behrens, Laurence, et al. Writing and Reading Across the Disciplines. Canadian ed. Toronto: Pearson Longman, 2007. 145f.

16. What is reflective writing? • your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information • is an explorative tool often resulting in more questions than answers • your response to thoughts and feelings • a way of thinking to explore your learning • an opportunity to gain self-knowledge • a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning • a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills • a way of making meaning out of what you study

17. What reflective writing is not • just conveying information, instruction or argument • pure description, though there may be descriptive elements • straightforward decision or judgment • simple problem-solving • a summary of course notes • a standard university essay

18. What I tell my students • Before you can begin to assess the words and ideas of others, you need to pause and identify and examine your own thoughts. • This involves revisiting your prior experience and knowledge of the topic you are exploring. • It also involves considering how and why you think the way you do. • The examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions forms the foundation of your understanding.

19. Writing Mode • As it concerns your thoughts, reflective writing is mostly subjective. • Therefore in addition to being reflective and logical, you can be personal, hypothetical, critical and creative. • You can comment based on your experience, rather than limiting yourself to academic evidence. • Genuinely reflective writing often involves ‘revealing’ anxieties, errors and weaknesses, as well as strengths and successes. This is fine (in fact it’s often essential!), as long as you show some understanding of possible causes, and explain how you plan to improve.

20. Some examples of courses that explicitly use reflective writing Medical Education: Teaching Cultural Sensitivity through Literature and Reflective Writing, Ruby Roy, MD Göteborg University, Research School of the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, Course: Reflexive Writing – a Feminist Approach "Building Beloved Community: The Practice of Impartial Love”, bell hooks, Berea College

21. ‘Subjective Research’ Approach • “In disciplines that use qualitative research methods (i.e. interviews, observations), as a writer you [should] often acknowledge and describe your role and your own experiences in the research process. This shows that you’re aware of being part of the process, that it’s impossible to be ‘a disembodied researcher’ … • …. and that your choices of method—even your presence—can and do shape the outcomes of your research. The ‘subjective research’ approach also exposes the relevant social, political, and cultural elements that make up everyone’s experience.” • Giltrow, Janet, et al. Academic Writing: An Introduction. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2005. 209f.

22. Feminist approaches incorporating self-reflective writing • Bridger, Barbara. ”Writing across the Borders of the Self.” European Journal of Women’s Studies vol. 16:4 2009, 337–352. •  Cixous, Hélène. ”Coming to writing” and Other Essays. Transl.SarahCornell, Deborah Jenson, Ann Liddle, Susan Sellers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. •  hooks, bell. ”Racism and Feminism: The Issue of Accountability”, Ain’t I a Woman. Black Women and Feminism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981. 119–158. •  Kristeva, Julia. “Women’s Time.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society vol. 7: 1981, 13–35. •  Livholts, Mona. “To theorize in a more passionate way. Carol Lee Bacchi’s diary of mothering and contemporary post/academic writing strategies.”Feminist Theory. Vol.10:1 2009, 121–131. • Lorde, Audre. ”The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.” Sister Outsider. Essays and Speeches. New York: Crossing Press, 1986.40–44.

23. Types of reflective writing assignments • Journal: • write weekly/daily entries throughout a semester. • may require reflection on course content. • Learning diary: • similar to a journal, but may require group participation. • diary becomes a place to communicate in writing with other group members. (e.g. as blog) • Personal paragraph: • In response to sentence endings • In response to a question • In class – ideally including professor, breaks down hierarchies

24. Types cont.’ • Log book: • often used in disciplines based on experimental work, such as science. • note down or ‘log’ what you have done • log provides an accurate record of a process • helps to reflect on past actions and make better decisions for future actions • Reflective note: • often used in law • encourages you to think about your personal reaction to an issue raised in a course • Also good for in-class use

25. Types cont.’ • Essay diary: • can take the form of an annotated bibliography (where you examine sources of evidence you might include in your essay) • and a critique (where you reflect on your own writing and research processes) • Peer review: • involves students showing their work to their peers for feedback • a rubric can be provided by professor to focus feedback • Self-assessment: • requires you to to comment on your own work.

26. Some Pointers • use full sentences and complete paragraphs • use personal pronouns like ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘we • explain this to your freshman students especially! • keep colloquial language to a minimum • (kid, stuff, dude, cool)

27. Tips to help students in the self-reflective writing process Think of an interaction, event or episode you experienced that can be connected to the topic. • Describe what happened. • What was your role? • What might this experience mean in the context of your course? • What other perspectives, theories or concepts could be applied to the situation? • What feelings and perceptions surrounded the experience? • How would you explain the situation to someone else?

28. Exercise: reflective questions and writing prompt on “not writing” • Questions for Reflection: • What does avoidance mean to you? • How do you react to perfectionism, fear, and change? • Does writing about your process feel passive or active? • Writing Prompts: • “When I notice myself avoiding something, I know ______” (then keep writing) • “Perfectionism to me means ______” (then keep writing) • “I have learned that feeling fearful means ______” (then keep writing) • “When I enter a transition, I usually ______” (then keep writing)

29. Mind-mapping • is a technique that can help you: • expand your thinking • structure your ideas and make connections • 1. Write your topic in the centre of a blank page. • 2. Draw related ideas on ‘branches’ that radiate from the central topic. When you get a new idea, start a new branch from the centre. Include any ideas, topics, authors, theories, experiences associated with your topic. • 3. Map quickly, without pausing, to maintain a flow of ideas. Associate freely and do not self-edit; at this stage anything and everything is fine. • 4. Circle the key points or ideas. Look at each item and consider how it relates to others, and to the topic as a whole. • 5. Map the relationships between the ideas or key points using lines, arrows, colors. Use words or phrases to link them.

30. Creative reflective writing exercise 1 • For each letter of your name write a word that tells something about you. For each of these words, write a paragraph describing that part of yourself. S T E P H A N Self-motivated Tenacious Engaged P+H = F for Fear Adrenaline Negative

31. Reflective writing exercise 2: On Feeling Different • I invite you to take a few minutes to think about one of your earliest experiences of becoming aware that you were “different” in some way from others. This could be a difference of gender, size, skin color, physical ability, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, language, origin, religion, or any other dimension.  • What was this? What happened? How did it feel? • Now take a few minutes to write down some or your reflections in your journal.

32. Dominant or subordinate group identity task • Task: think about different situations in your lives your were either • members of a dominant or privileged group • or a subordinate or oppressed group. • The instructor provides a list of some possible identities in which students place themselves to see in which group they belong to: • the privileged or the oppressed.

33. Reflective Writing Exercise: Experiences with Differences • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias • Using these links on bias, prejudice and oppression, students individually reflect on the first experiences with differences in their lives as a homework assignment. • Alternatively: • One or more articles from class materials • One or more articles or chapters from hand-out list

34. Identity Reflective Exercise Cont.’ • Students work in pairs.  • Each student chooses the person with whom she/he feels more comfortable sharing she/he life. • Students will share with each other entering into dialogue. • The whole class comes together to freely share their work. In sharing, students discover the connections among them.

35. Task-sheet for the Students • There are different identities with which we can identify. In some of these identities we experience what it is like to be a member of a dominant or privileged group, whereas in others we experience what is like to be a member of a subordinate or oppressed group. • From the list below, choose two identities you have personally experienced as a member of a privileged group. Also choose two identities you have experienced as a member of an oppressed group. • Then, for each identity think about the stereotypes and prejudices you may have acquired about members of the opposite group. • In what ways did you learn to think about them as “not fully human”?

36. List of Possible Identities #1: • Taller than average • Physically fit • Thin • White • Urban • Man • Heterosexual • Rich • Non-abusive parents or caretakers • Non-presence of alcoholism in the home

37. List of Possible Identities: #2 • Shorter than average • Physically unfit • Heavy body weight • Person of color • Rural • Woman • Homosexual • Poor • Abusive parents or caretakers • Presence of alcoholism in the home

38. Reflection on Teaching • people naturally reflect on their experiences of teaching • particularly when they are new to it • less confident in their abilities • when an experience has been painful. • after a class: 'that went well or badly,’ in an intuitive sense. • = 'common-sense reflection’

39. Reflecting on Teaching • But how do we know it was good or bad? • and what was good or bad about it? • we need to articulate our reflections in a systematic way • we need to remember what we thought • build on that experience for next time

40. Reflective Teaching Practices cont.’ • self-reflections through keeping a log or journal • may include student feedback • peer observation of teaching (e.g. comments made by your mentor or colleague) • discussions with your mentor or a fellow participant in PFF • reflection in itself, though, is insufficient to promote learning and professional development. • need to act on reflections of ourselves and on the opinions of others

41. Kolb Reflexive Cycle

42. General Resources: • http://www.thereflectivewriter.com/ • The Reflective Writer helps people using writing to find personal-professional balance and to deepen connection and growth http://www.thereflectivewriter.com/what-does-it-mean-when-you-dont-want-to-write/

43. What does it mean to be liberally educated? • They listen and they hear. • They read and they understand. • They can talk with anyone. • They can write clearly and movingly. • They can solve a wide variety of puzzles and problems. • They respect rigor not so much for its own sake but as a way of seeking truth. • They practice humility, tolerance, and self-criticism. • They understand how to get things done in the world. • They nurture and empower the people around them. • They follow E.M. Forster’s injunction from Howard’s End: ‘Only connect…’” • Cronon, William, “’Only connect..’.” The American Scholar. Volume 67, No. 4, Autumn 1998.