Tuesday, 14 September 2021

Entrance Slip - On Becoming a Reflective Teacher

 "Becoming a reflective teacher is a continual process of growth."

This quote here is the one that stood out for me the most, probably because it connects with another similar concept that I already practice deeply: the Growth Mindset. I could go on and on about how adopting a Growth Mindset has absolutely changed my life, and how I've integrated it into all areas of my teaching life, but I'll spare you all the preaching. This discussion of being reflective, however, had a piece that I hadn't really thought too much about: wholeheartedness. In my own life, I try to focus my attention on the things I truly want to do wholeheartedly (by the colloquial meaning of the word). Doing things half-a$$ed or without intention can make them feel like empty and pointless pursuits. I like that the idea of being a reflective teacher brings in this idea. 

"There is no such thing as a neutral educational activity."

This quote definitely got me thinking about bias in math and math education. I mean, math is purely factual, right? Objective, even? We are teaching neutral content here, right? RIGHT?! Well, yes and no. We decide to focus on or omit certain topics in what this reading calls "value governed selections", even under a standardized curriculum. I wonder how we can teach our students to question what we teach in math education the same way we teach them to question teachings of, say, history. 

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