Embedded Files
Inner Stillness 心灵宁静
I would like to share an important characteristics, Inner Stillness 心灵宁静 in Chinese, that I learned and developed during the process of engaging in action research. It means listening from silence, listening for and receiving the meanings that well up from deep within us. These creative pulses may move in us, but often we are too busy to pay attention. We need to stand still.
There are many traditions worldwide that encourage people to cultivate inner silence. In the book Tao Monitoring - the Tao of Giving and Receiving Wisdom, the author talks about the Chinese virtues, and one of the virtues is inner stillness. A person cannot see his or her own image in running water but sees it in water that is at rest. Only when one has realized growth and potential through inner stillness can one experience meaningful relationships and understand the universal laws of self-expansion. We all deserve sanctuary and time out along the way, a place where openness and wonder truly exist.
What I learned About Myself and My Practice Through Action Research
Although I have completed this action research project, I feel the learning is continuing. The school where I work asked me to introduce my action research process to the whole school faculty. I feel there is a lot to share and there is a long way for me to go.
Looking back on the process of my learning from the beginning of Pepperdine Masters Program, I think this Action Research Project has been an eye-opening, enjoyable, and positive learning experience for me.
This project has actually changed me. I went from a behaviorist to a constructivist learning approach, from a didactic teaching style to one encouraging a social learning style. My role has shifted from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side". I have learned that students should actively search for and explore answers instead of receiving standard interpretations. In applying the educational theories in my classroom I experienced social constructivism and learning by doing. I have witnessed the effects of the change in my students and myself. My students are happy with how they learn and are delighted with what they have learned. My job was made easier and more effective. I am enjoying the process of facilitating, and role of "Guide on the Side." I am teaching less but my students are learning more through discovery and through the help of their fellow students, and their peers in China. I feel students have never learned so much and so enthusiastically without me walking them through it. I was able to set up the learning environment in such a way that they took charge of their own process. My practice has improved and my students' process of learning and understanding has improved as evidenced in their own reflections and actions.
Technology integration has helped this shifting process for me and for my students. Computer technologies and the Internet are powerful tools for assisting these approaches to language teaching. Even though constructivism is not a theory associated with using technology, constructivist assumptions are guideposts for developing a vision for integrating technology into the language curriculum.
For the first time, I have discovered that digital portfolio is so powerful. When students present their portfolios to their parents, parents are able to see so much more about their learning than a grade marked on a paper would have told them. The data collected have shown me that the projects students designed allowed them to get a new sense of themselves as learners - that setting a goal and working together to achieve it was something valuable to them. Self-knowledge and reflections have deepened their learning.
The Pepperdine Masters program provided me with new lenses in which to see and understand how people learn and the applicable theories on which to base actions. What a worthy and productive experience!
Where to go from here...
I will continue my exploration and use of new technologies that would allow my students to communicate in real-time and real-world over the Internet with their peers in China. I will explore the possibility of using real-time conversation technology such as SKYPE for my students to talk to their Chinese peers. I believe the use of the real-time conversation technology that allows free phone service over the Internet will enhance students' speaking ability. I will continue to develop the use of project-based learning techniques and to bring more of these activities to my other Chinese classes including the lower levels.
Ongoing feedback and metacognition will continue to be emphasized. In order for student reflections to be more meaningful, I will have them share their thoughts with others. I think this kind of dialogue can help them learn more. I also became aware that the parents need to see what their students have really learned and not just a grade on a paper. Formative assessment (coaching for success) allows students to review, revise, and redeem themselves to make better grades and learn more. Although student reflections still lack the depth that I had envisioned, students made major strides in thinking about their learning. Revealing their perceptions and thoughts can be a catalyst for more learning.
I am requested by the School to share my learning experience from the Master's Degree program at Pepperdine with my colleagues because so much of what I have been doing is representative of the approach that the school would like to encourage more teachers to explore. I want to encourage and help my peers integrate technologies into their classrooms.
Finally, to be a leader in Educational Technology, I am striving. Always remember: "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse