Lifelong Learner

The word "model" is a word that is frequently used in education.

"Model how to have a proper discussion." "Model how to solve this math equation." "Model what washing your hands looks like." "Give the students a mentor text so they can model their writing after it." 

And I wholeheartedly agree that modeling for students can be a powerful act. I think it is also important for teachers to also model for students what a lifelong learner looks like, which became one of the many reasons why I pursued a master degree in literacy education. And since I love learning (which is one of the many reasons why I became a teacher), I thought being a lifelong learner was easy and straightforward.

Only, it wasn't.

As I am wrapping up my Master of Arts in Education (MAED) in 2023 and reflecting the last three years where being a student was a major role, I am reminded of how I realized that being a learner can be hard but also reminded of how different educators have supported me to overcome the challenges of being a lifelong learner.

I encountered challenges from the beginning, which was something I was not expecting! I entered the program fully intending to pursue literacy education, seeing all the different courses that my program offered and trying to find a class that worked for my timeline, I ended up taking Creativity in Teaching and Learning (CEP 818) as my first course in my graduate school career.

I entered this course not knowing what to expect. What does creativity in teaching mean? Are we expected to be creative? How can we express our creativity online? What happens if I'm not tech-savvy? Even the question "what does an online university class look like?" popped up in my head. There was a lot of anxiety prior to beginning this course. And deep down, I was scared of failing.

So you can imagine my surprise and discomfort when I began this course, and my professor, Colin Gallagher, encouraged us to experiment, be creative, and make mistakes. "Be creative" seemed so... vague. I wanted clear-cut, almost fail-proof, ways to succeed. I wanted my "mentor texts." I wanted to know I was on the right track.

However, throughout this course, I was continuously guided, encouraged, and pushed to step out of my comfort zone and to demonstrate my learning in creative ways, and I noticed that as the class progressed, the braver and more confident I got with my creativity. In the beginning, I took tentative small steps, using familiar tools like Canva and Google Slides to demonstrate my understanding in more artistic ways. Through the course, I took bolder steps, such as composing a short song through Flat Io, a music notation platform that I never used before but one that my students have used in music class.I also noticed this boldness in my teaching as I became more confident in trying strategies that were completely foreign to me or taking other coworkers' suggestions and implementing them. In other words, while this course taught me how to be creative, it also gave me the confidence to experiment and to be creative in my teaching. Looking back, this course also prompted me to gain more interest in fields and subjects beyond literacy education.

A year later, in 2022, I moved to a new school in Hong Kong. This meant navigating a whole new school system, curriculums, coworkers, and culture. This was also when I took the course Teaching School Mathematics (TE 855), the only math-related course in my graduate school journey.

Prior to the course, I did not enjoy math due to bad experiences with math in school but was comfortable with how I was teaching math. Whole-class teaching. Worksheet. Assessment. Reflection. "It's not the greatest, but it works" was my train of thought.

However, throughout this course, I learned how to build a math community and create complex group tasks. Many things taught in this course were new to me, and I was eager to learn and implement. I challenged myself weekly to use my school's math curriculum and create a complex group thinking task, such as a task that involved a Christmas read-aloud.

Looking back, this course truly was where I changed and demonstrated myself as a life-long learner. Unlike how I started my graduate school process, I was no longer scared of failing and wanted fail-proof ways or mentor texts to succeed. Instead, I embraced the unknown and the fact that I was completely out of my comfort zone both in the subject as well as the school. I actively took risks by creatively modifying activities to involve more group work and creativity.

Another big change that this course prompted was that my understanding of teaching broadened. Math, like any other subjects, can be a collaborative subject where students work with each other. It does not have to be a worksheet and a pencil but it can be an interactive subject, just like the other subjects that I enjoyed teaching. It changed my perspective of how I view other subjects that I struggle with teaching and made me consider how I can implement my style of teaching and best teaching practices into all subjects, not just the subjects that I enjoyed teaching.

Emboldened, I wanted to learn more about a subject that I had very little confidence or little knowledge in, which was the Adapting Innovative Technology to Education (CEP 811) course this summer. 

This course helped me learn more about technology, especially Artificial Intelligence. In this course, I experienced with an AI art generator called NightCafe. Similarly to my first course, my professor encouraged use to fail and even asked us to explain our failures and reflect on them. 

And I failed. 

So often. 

However, unlike when I took CEP 818, I was not afraid of my failures. Instead, each failure made me take more and more risks and tries to try to succeed. If I didn't find success, I pivoted how I was approaching the tool until I experienced wins, no matter how small they were.

For example, as I was working on my innovative learning experience project, where I was creating a science project that utilized NightCafe, I found it challenging to prompt AI to create an artwork that I was envisioning. I continued to change modify or change the prompts until I realized that there were limitations to the AI art generator and would require for the science project to change instead. Looking back, as someone who started of the program fearing failures and making mistakes, I vastly modified my way of thinking and truly embraced the essence of a learner, which is to learn and to make mistakes.

Overall, these MAED courses impacted my thinking in tremendous and valuable ways. I was able to witness myself grow from a timid learner who was afraid of changes and making mistakes to a bold learner who embraces challenges and views failures as learning opportunities.

This new, braver version of me has trickled into other aspects of who I am. One of these aspects is me as a teacher. While I always tried to support students to view their mistakes as a learning opportunity, students may have been able to feel the ingenuity of my actions and attitude before since I did not embrace the same perspective on myself. However, now, I celebrate and openly share my failures and mistakes with my students. In doing so, I noticed that my students this year have responded to challenges differently. Rather than feeling defeated when facing difficulties, students now actively seek help and/or ways to improve.

This change in attitude has also changed how I interact and respond to challenges given in the workplace. The education system is constantly changing and every year there is a new goal or goals to tackle. Previously, I would have felt reluctant to change and felt uncomfortable. However, now, I embrace the feeling of discomfort, knowing that there will be growth on the other side, and encourage my coworkers to also embrace the discomfort and challenge.

As I reflect on my journey and growth in the last three years, I cannot help but wonder how much I will continue growing with my newfound can-do attitude and mindset of a lifelong learner. I look forward to reflecting in 3 years time...