The Last One ("Friends" reference!): Collaboration as a resource for improvement and the maintenance of my mental health

For my final entry of the course, I wanted to reflect upon the benefits of the collaborative process we have undergone in these blog groups over the past couple of months. I wanted to see if I could find additional information for why communal approaches to education are so useful. I came across a video from Pear Tree Education Inc. about the benefits of different collaborative relationships in the school system that touches on a lot of the benefits I believe I have received from my group. The ones discussed in this video focused on student and student collaboration, teacher and student collaboration, and teacher and teacher collaboration. For the purposes of my topic, however, I want to focus specifically on teacher and teacher collaboration.

 So with that being said, you can skip to 4:35: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-12mquzsHl4 

Some of the benefits of collaborating with other teachers in the profession as mentioned in the video were the co-planning of curriculums, discussing classroom and student challenges, sharing different teaching approaches to help improve teaching styles, having a resource for feedback concerning various teaching methods and lesson plans, and finally (and I believe most importantly!) having someone who understands your position and has the same level of expertise and passion.

I say the last point about having someone who understands your position is most important because let’s be honest—teaching is NOT an easy job. And anyone who thinks it’s easy probably isn’t doing it right. Knowing that there are other people around me who are experiencing the same problems and stresses that come with the profession really helps take the edge off. And while I have yet to be given charge of my own classroom as a certified teacher, I feel that I have benefited immensely from my collaboration with other education students. Every time I get together with my blog group, I’m reminded that my concerns are not unique. I am not alone in my stress, I am not alone in my doubt about whether I will be a good teacher or if I even want to be a teacher when all is said and done.

It’s actually quite therapeutic.

 If I did not have the support system that I feel like I have formed not only through my blog group but with all of the incredible people I have gotten to know this year, I also don’t think I would have the sound mental health that I have been able to maintain right now.

Another aspect of the video that really caught my attention was the discussion about deterrents to teacher collaboration. It was mentioned that people often shy away from collaborative work because they feel like they are being forced to compare themselves to other people and thus run the risk of feeling inferior in the presence of someone they believe to be better than themselves. In order to combat this approach, the video talks about the benefits of comparing in that it encourages you to improve your skills and adopt new ones. The video reminds us that life doesn’t always have to be a competition, and if we are able to put pride aside to accept our weaknesses and deficiencies, there’s a much better chance that we will be able to improve as both teachers and human beings more generally.   

In my blog group, we have a nice mixture of different educational backgrounds: some math and science, English, geography, and even a bit of physical education. Everyone brought different strengths to the table and we were able to feed off of each other and think in ways we never would have if we were not given this opportunity.

I come from an English background. As an English student, the bulk of my social interactions at school take place among other English students with similar English brains. While every English student is of course unique in their perspectives, it was really interesting to see how people from math and science approach different tasks and educational issues.

In addition to these differences, I was also really interested in the fact that regardless of these nearly opposite subject areas (math and English), we all seemed to share similar concerns, opinions and anxieties about the teaching profession.

I really would have never guessed that I could get along so well with people who love a subject that I am afraid I can never and will never be able to tolerate.

So with all of this being said, I want to give a big shout-out to my fabulous group members. You guys are awesome. Don’t forget me when you all become amazing teachers and I’m nothing more than a starving no-name writer living on the streets, okay? Or if I do end up teaching by some miracle, I really hope that the teachers I have to work with don’t suck and are as cool as you.

PS: GOOD LUCK and GOD SPEED with those curriculums! May the force be with you, the odds be ever in your favour, and whatever other encouraging words you can think of. THE BLOGS ARE DONE!  

Here is the final picture of my educational journey: a fragment of my graduating class in grade 12 French. I'm the shy, awkward-looking one in the back row, second from the right.  If I'm connecting this to collaboration, it's impossible to learn a new language without others. As many "others" as there are in this picture though, I still don't know French.

To master, or not to master: The potential tragedy of integrated curriculums

Chapter 5 of the text asks: “In a science essay, for example, should the English teacher be considered a valid assessor of the science content?” (147)

But what I want to know is: should a science essay be considered a valid demonstration of prowess in English?

I have created a little dialogue to illustrate my skepticism:

Professor: Just to get us started with our study of Julius Caesar, can anyone tell me some of the common themes of Shakespearian tragedies? 

First-year English class: …

Professor: *Looks around the room at one hundred blank faces* No one can think of anything?

First-year English student: *Raises hand*

Professor: Yes, you sir in the back!

First-year English student: I’m sorry Professor, but we never learned about Shakespeare in our school. We just learned to write essays and stuff in our science and history classes.

Professor: *Drops dead*

Okay, so my example might be a little exaggerated, but this is a real concern! If you’ve decided to implement an integrated curriculum, how are you going to make sure that this messy laundry pile of subjects are all given the same amount of attention when thrown together in the machine we call education?

Alright, I’m done with analogies and metaphors now, I swear.

What my little dialogue was trying to illustrate is that teachers have to be really careful with how they attempt an integrated curriculum to avoid creating subject hierarchies. If you’re trying to teach literacy skills by integrating them into a science unit, how can you make sure that one subject isn’t overpowering the other?

In Chapter 5 of the textbook, the issue of assessing various subjects in an integrated curriculum is addressed: “How do you make a distinction between social studies and science, for example, when teaching the concept of cause and effect? For many teachers the answer is that they do not differentiate. Rather they give a ‘mark’ for concept development in both science and social studies.” (146).

I have a big problem with this framework. Sure, the students are coming away with knowledge about how “cause and effect” work, but the concepts of “cause and effect” in social studies compared with “cause and effect” in the sciences is a completely different animal. How can you possibly give students the same mark in both subjects when you think about trying to understand, for example, a “cause and effect” principle in physics (not even going to attempt a detailed example here, I’ve blocked grade eleven physics permanently from my memory) and a “cause and effect” principle in sociology? One is based on a rigid framework of mathematical equations and formulae, while the other is based on research and data collection. But hey, if you understand what “cause and effect” means in general, that’s all you need! Here’s your A+, now run along and be whatever you want to be!

I can assure you that my competencies in the idea of “cause and effect” in sociology is leaps and bounds ahead of my understanding of “cause and effect” in physics. It just doesn’t work.

Based on the positive results that seemed to have come out of most of the research we found on integrated curriculums in our class discussion, I’m not dismissing it altogether. I would just argue that integrated curriculums belong only in elementary schools where learning strategies and thinking skills are more important than actual in-depth concepts. If I’m in grade twelve and I’m hoping to pursue English post-secondary, I don’t want to be getting my English curriculum through writing an essay about science. When you get to high school, you’re bordering on specialization. It’s way too risky to attempt an integrated curriculum when it’s becoming increasingly important for bodies of knowledge to transcend to upper years.  There’s too great of a chance that subjects will be slighted or undermined in the mix.

And as much as I would have rather studied different texts in replace of Shakespeare, I’m extremely grateful for the knowledge I attained (no matter how painful it was at times). And I’m even more grateful that my English competencies were never judged through my science, or history, or math, or physical education competencies.

Gym teacher: I would like you to do as many laps around this gym as there are lines in Hamlet’s soliloquy!

Me: See? It just doesn’t work. 

Since this week's entry talks specifically about high school, I thought I would speed up my educational journey a little bit to the secondary years. I'm pretty sure this was that physics class I've mentioned. I'm smiling here but I'm actually crying on the inside, I assure you.