2006 update

Up date 2006

From Bradford

I have been enjoying teaching classes with Mount Royal College on the internet. What is unique about this experience is the opportunity to listen to each student as they respond to the material, exercises and reflections with material.

As each student interacts with concepts and materials, I have the opportunity to hear from students from around the globe. Sri Lanka, Japan, Germany, Canada, UK…all areas and people not otherwise accessible in week end courses in Calgary.

My research is going well with my PhD. I am focusing on Transformational Learning in Peace Studies: Reflection and Cooperative Learning Processes.

I am part of a teaching team with an Undergraduate course in Introduction to Conflict Resolution. What is exciting is the opportunity to work wit 85 students and work in a cooperative teaching group as well. At Mount Royal College with the ‘Pay It Forward’ group, Colombia and in Romania, I have had the opportunity of teaching and learning together with fellow instructors. It provides a meaningful process for reflection, unlike the more singular process of being a lone instructor in a course or training.

When you think about your work and reflection on learning, is it a systematized consideration or more of a hap hazard effort to reconcile with the things that keep us up a night? I have been reading about reflection, reflective practice, reflexivity… many names for similar practice.

Reflection also described as reflexivity, involves individual reflection of new or different ways of considering something. “Reflection is the process of critically assessing the content, process or premise of our efforts to interpret and give meaning to an experience.”[1] This refers to the work of Jürgen Habermas, German philosopher well known for his work with critical theory.

For example: One might be reflecting on the suitability of a job. The content reflection looks at the details of salary, hours, and such. A reflection on process might include how one has made decisions about work in the past, has that worked well? Might there be a different way to work through the process of decision making? The third focus of critical reflection is on the premise. There is a difference between problem solving and ‘problem posing’.
In fact one would reflect on whether a job is needed; or renewed focus on studies is the priority. Or perhaps whether it is better to spend less, than to focus on needing more money?

Reflection looks at past patterns and future focus as new learning is integrated with previous experience and beliefs that have been held in an uncontested view in our lives. Learning is often triggered with those teachable moments in our lives when new, different or challenging concepts and views invite reflection.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Socrates- Greek Philosopher 470- 399 BC



“And how is education supposed to make me feel smarter? Besides, every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain. Remember when I took that home winemaking course, and I forgot how to drive?”
Homer Simpson

Whether Homer or Socrates describes your reflective process, I look forward to hearing your process and learning. I am also interested in hearing any thoughts you have on cooperative learning. A major method of instruction here in the UK is lecture. Research describes 16-18 minutes of concentration before the mind wanders, ‘Do I have the right change to do the laundry?’ ‘I must remember to call so and so.’

Cooperative learning provides process of engagement with diverse experience and active participation with theory and practice. Central to the theme of conflict resolution training is an emphasis on context. One would not walk into a community of Blackfoot, Romanians, or Sri Lankan Buddhists all with the same off the shelf material. Cooperative learning builds on participant’s knowledge and experience and honours the diversity of background, ethnicity and experience within a group.

These are all things that I am considering in my research. I welcome any dialogue with you who read this blog.

Set aside June 7-10th for a conference in Winnipeg. Conflict Resolution Network Canada. I will be presenting in two sessions working with trauma and resilience with traumatized communities. I am also doing a session on Whether Peace Education is succeeding in doing what we are trying to accomplish. Here is the conference link:

http://www.crnetwork.ca/conference/index.asp

This is the only group where I maintain a membership; with their excellent source of books, updates, research sources and truly fine people!

I have been negligent in keeping up my blog so I can imagine a few of you no longer check in. I will be more consistent in keeping this site updates. It promises to be interesting as I will travel to Calgary in March, Great Lakes Region and be in Rwanda and DRC Congo for election monitoring and I hope to see the mountain gorillas as well. In May I shall stay put in the UK as we complete our teaching. June will see the conference in Winnipeg. July will be exciting with two weeks in Argentina at the end of the month.

It seems my lads have caught the global travel interest as Michael spend much of his educational time in Kenya, Rob has been in Morocco, Spain, Norway, Europe. And now Ross is about to head out for a two year contract flying in Cameroon.

As I sit here writing this, four PhD students share this office space; JuJin is from Korea, Jai is from Japan, Tunde is from Nigeria and Mari is from Croatia…

I look forward to hearing from all of you. My email is marthamcmanus@hotmail.com




[1] Mezirow, Jack (1991) Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, p.104.