Reflective Instruction
Our Better Angels: Education for Personal and Social Transformation
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Deborah Natoli
“What does psychoanalysis offer education?” In "Lost Subjects, Contested Objects: Toward a Psychoanalytic Inquiry of Learning" (1998), curriculum theorist Deborah Britzman claimed a classroom provides means to “craft and alter the self” (p. 3). Our time of social turbulence calls for reframing how educators promote knowledge and design learning experiences for greater collective moral accountability. Research conducted on “how leaders think” grounded theory and model for successful implementation of curriculum in K-12 and university systems and validates the importance of incorporating psychoanalytic and depth psychological principles in our pedagogies across the curriculum. Content and instruction about how human beings think, act, learn, and grow as mental agents enhances personal development and promotes social consciousness in a global world where ethno-nationalist intolerance is becoming more pervasive. Virtues such as empathy, good judgment, and moral living are represented in the mind as higher-order self-states and reorganize personal identity with greater integrity. Learning programs can support students to recognize and regulate emotions, check interpretations and biases, and be mindful about decisions and actions for an improved quality of life. Our public, political, and policy sectors are not necessarily cognizant of a psychic reality: "to change the world, we change our minds."
Indigenizing Resilience through Alternative Education
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karen Sacdalan
The provision of alternative education is a desirable opportunity for children and youth who are at-risk. It gives students the aspiration and drive to achieve their dreams and goals in life. But establishing an educational system with curriculum flexibility may not necessarily be the only influencing factor that these children and youth at-risk need in order to be educated in their pursuit of a successful career. There are certain issues unexamined from the sociological point of view. Alternative education becomes the means, but ultimately the course of finishing a life goal substantially requires a great deal of resilience on the part of the learner. The layering of unique realities was explored in this study which unpacked cultural values transmitted through course of social relationships. The lived experience through narratives of five social actors using thematic analysis presented deeper meaning and understanding of education. Evidence revealed that there is the indigenization of resilience which became the central point of argument. The realized issues of poignant realities in the learning process have permeated within the social structures that is being dealt upon by alternative education.
What Does It Take Using Digital Tools to Improve Student Writing
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sweety Law
Employers have continually indicated that writing instruction is much needed in higher education across all majors. It has become more imperative to better prepare our graduates for professional success in an age of increasing writing necessity, data analytics and reporting, and technical sophistication. Writing assessment in a class setting has learning goals and needs to be differentiated from a mass testing approach. When learning to write well, especially relating to subject-specific content, feedback is necessary. Performing analysis and evaluation, then providing explanation and recommendations takes time. Newer digital tools can allow for providing formative feedback; and therefore transparency about grading as well. Among teaching tasks, grading assignments consumes the majority of online faculty time. This study identifies what type of online grading could take up the majority of faculty time and specifies estimates of time needed for such grading. In adopting an optimal combined formative and summative assessment model, faculty workload remains high. Results of the study might help develop more sound policies of academic support. Faculty might use the study’s information for better curricula planning and improved support of student assistants.
