As an educator, we use our knowledge and skills to help our students learn. These skills grow over time and are constantly evolving and changing how we teach students. Our students’ experiences define our classroom culture and how it impacts and develops our professional practice. I believe that personal experiences play an integral role in our professional and personal exchanges with our students. In Autoethnography: An Overview by C. Ellis, T. E. Adams & A. P. Bochner (2011) (“Autoethnography”), the author discussed the importance of how we view our learning environment. By taking a moment and stepping back, it allows us to look at our own biases. It also gives us the opportunity to explore the context of the experiences that shape our own education and how we transfer our knowledge to our students.

 

I was very interested in the discussion in the readings about how differences in experiences can change how people view certain concepts, meaning that one thing might mean two completely different things to separate groups or individuals. I have certainly noticed this in my experiences as a student and as a teacher. I believe that this especially relevant today because of our diverse classrooms. As a result of this diversity our classrooms also have ever changing needs, including: individual student needs, cultural diversity, learning needs, social emotional needs and many more. It is important to recognize that every individual in a classroom has his or her own stories, values and beliefs that form their own individual learning processes.

 

It is imperative as an educator, who is continuing on the educational journey that we re-examine what is essential to the learning process. In the article, Research Diary: A Tool for Scaffolding by M. Engin (2011), they emphasise the importance of reflection in learning and how it allows us to step back and examine learning as a process. Reflection allows us to critically look at our own thought process and see our “repository of own personal reflection.” Throughout my education degree it was instilled in us, that reflections and meaningful feedback are an integral part of learning.

 

I was listening to a podcast episode by Radiolab called “The Miseducation of Larry P” (Miseducation of Larry P) and it had many relevant connections to the articles we read and I wanted to share it with you. The episode discusses how the American education system relies heavily on standardized tests but fails to take cultural differences into account. Instead it relies greatly on the white European male experience. The episode explores how the IQ test was created and how it is still widely used in schools in the USA. It explains the history of the IQ test and how it gave preference to the white students over African American students and how it is still used today. It reminded me of the reading, Autoethnography and how learning and knowledge is interconnected with cultural and social experiences. In the case of the IQ test, the failure to take into account social and cultural experiences played a major role in the disadvantage of minorities.

 

I am looking forward to looking at how technology can bridge those gaps and allow us as teachers to use other individual experiences to help develop our education and instruction.