culminating blog post

I'm sad this course has to come an end - it was definitely one of my favorites this semester. Looking back through my previous blog posts, I was reminded of all the good times... and was also just pretty surprised about how much writing we did for this class. There were some really interesting readings and activities to guide my thinking and help me develop some ideas. Overall, I love the format of a blog as a space to write semi-informally about my thoughts and where those take me in response to a reading or activity. Along the lines of what worked well: having class out in the garden was an superb experience. I honestly don't think I would at all mind having class there all year round, though I now certainly understand the importance of dressing appropriately for the weather. I don't really have any thorns to offer with regards to the course - it was all berries for me!

Reflection on Inquiry Project pt. 1

I learned a lot from this Inquiry project! I found some answers to a few of my initial questions, but I also found many more questions (as to be expected). More than that, I feel as though this process of conducting research and giving a presentation to my peers got me to develop my own thoughts and opinions on the topic. Of course these are very much informed by what I’ve read and who I’ve spoken to, but I’m also thinking about everything through the lens of my own experience. I appreciate then, that this project wasn’t supposed to be a formal review of academic literature, as the informality gave me lots of space to follow my own curiosity. I will say however, that there’s so much literature on the subject of textbooks, that, during the research phase, I found it difficult to focus on any specific question or idea. As a result, my presentation was somewhat broad and general in scope. As it stands, I’m unsure of the direction I’ll take this project in Inquiry 2, as there are still many avenues to explore. For instance, what do courses without textbooks look like? Is it unreasonable for teachers to rely on them so heavily? Can I leverage this project to begin writing my own textbook?? I’ll also say that I really really enjoyed all of my classmates' presentations. They all chose such interesting topics, and were so perceptibly engaged by their projects, and were all so impressive to listen to - I felt inspired! A recurring theme throughout this program is just how much I have to learn from these people, and this series of presentations very much highlighted that fact.

 

Inquiry Project - annotated bibliography

 

EDUC 450
Mark LeBlanc
Inquiry Project

Annotated Bibliography

Love, E., Pimm, D. (1996). ‘This is so’: a text on texts. In: Bishop, A.J., Clements, K., Keitel, C., Kilpatrick, J., Laborde, C. (eds) International Handbook of Mathematics Education. Kluwer International Handbooks of Education, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1465-0_11 (chapter from book)

This chapter examines many different aspects of textbooks, and more generally, text materials. These aspects include author voice, structure, prevalence and purpose of images, pedagogic functions, and presumptions about the reader. The chapter also offers some criticisms with regards to the production of text materials, their use in classrooms, their perceived authority, and the future of mathematical texts.

            Pinto, L. E. (2007). Textbook Publishing, Textbooks, and Democracy: A Case Study. Journal of Thought, 42(1/2), 99–121. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42589912’

This article discusses the development process of three widely used textbooks in Ontario, as well as how students and teachers interact with those books. The article describes the market of secondary textbooks in Ontario as an oligopoly, criticizing this situation as having resulted in superficial content, promoting closed-mindedness in students.

            DiGiuseppe, M. (2013). Representing Nature of Science in a Science Textbook: Exploring author–editor–publisher interactions. International Journal of Science Education, 36(7), 1061–1082. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.840405

This study explores the representation of the nature of science in a few specific high school textbooks, as well as the developmental process of such textbooks, and the challenges therein. Specifically, the study examines the influence of authors, editors, and publishers in the representation of the nature of science, and the factors which ultimately determine how such ideas are expressed in textbooks.

            Rezat, S., Fan, L. & Pepin, B. Mathematics textbooks and curriculum resources as instruments for change. ZDM Mathematics Education 53, 1189–1206 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01309-3

This survey paper provides examines research on mathematics textbooks, investigating the how textbooks/curriculum resources affect change in instructional goals, instructional practices, and student learning. This paper also discusses the importance of student and teacher interactions with curricular resources, and how these resources serve as a mediator between educational goals and enacted curriculum.

            Rollans, Glenn and Michel de la Chenelière. (2010). Study of the Canadian K to 12 educational book publishing sector. Government of Canada. ISBN 978-1-100-15817-4, https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2010/pc-ch/CH44-139-2010-eng.pdf

This government document outlines the history of the educational publishing sector in Canada. It distinguishes between core resources and supplemental resources and provides an overview of their costs, production, and distribution, while also describing how these relate with BPIDP funding assistance. The document provides a brief overview of the processes for resources approval across different provinces, and also speculates on the future of printed textbooks and digital textbooks. 

            Keeghan, Annie. (2012, March 5). Afraid of your child's math textbook? You should be. Betrayed - Why Public Education Is Failing.
http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com/2012/03/afraid-of-your-childs-math-textbook-you.html

In this post, Keeghan describes her experiences working in educational publishing and offers a relatively pessimistic viewpoint of the process of math textbook development. She describes many of the business related factors influencing production of educational resources, resulting in inferior products, neglectful in their consideration of students’ education.

            Hunt, Nigel. (2016, June 19). Copyright-free material edging out Canadian educational texts. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/copyright-law-educational-books-1.3640331

This news article examines how the sales of educational books is decreasing due to policies regarding copyright and the prevalence of free educational materials which can be easily accessed online.

            Zwaagstra, Michael. (2022, February 15). Why textbooks still matter in our schools. The Hamilton Spectator. https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/why-textbooks-still-matter-in-our-schools/article_8c4e2e9e-696c-5801-a1ba-b768a845028b.html

This article extols the value of textbooks, even in a digital age where students often use the internet as their primary source of information. He describes the importance of having such comprehensive resources for both students and teachers, and how they can be effectively implemented in the classroom, even if they are flawed in some respects. 

butterfly catcher

It's interesting to think about how specific instances in time can really ingrain certain ideas and feelings in our minds. I don't think it's often obvious how past experiences influence us, but I do believe that some memories stick with us more than others because of how deeply they affect us. In "The butterfly catcher," Dr. Ricketts tells several stories involving her dying friend and reflects upon how these personal memories have influenced her artistic ideology. These two people seemed to be kindred spirits in some sense, and having worked together so closely on various projects, Dr. Ricketts was connected to Jorge on a profoundly emotional level. This connection allowed Dr. Ricketts to become "the creative and kinaesthetic channel" for her dear friend during this difficult time. Such intense empathy and emotion is certainly extreme, but I think it also demonstrates how, in general, empathizing with others is a kind of superpower that allows us to develop our own understanding of the world by "channelling" the thoughts, feelings, and perceptions of others. As a teachers, we strive to gain some degree of insight into our students' learning experiences and thought processes. And while we won't ever be in a situation like Dr. Ricketts and Jorge, I like the notion of being some sort of conduit for the thoughts and ideas of students. I think occupying that mindset enables us to help students to a greater degree, shifting the focus from teaching students our ideas, and instead guiding them in developing their own. I feel like that's a bit of a reversal of what was happening between Kathryn and Jorge, but, at the same time, I think reflecting upon moments of empathizing with students will certainly inform our teaching ideologies. Tragically, Jorge's life was cut too short, though I'm certain he gained a lot from his time with Kathryn as well, and those experiences would have undoubtedly shaped him as an artist. Similarly, and I've said this before, but the student-teacher experience is a two-way street, and it's at its best when students and teachers are learning from each other. It feels wrong to draw such a comparison when the emotional weight of this situation is really incomparable to the experience of a teacher in a classroom. So I sincerely hope I'm not coming off as insensitive here. I wonder if perhaps the more important lesson to learn from this article is that there are significant moments in life which have a profound effect on people and we must be sensitive to that. Similar to Dr. Ricketts, we might also find the value in reflecting upon such experiences, to better understand ourselves and others, striving for authentic self-expression, finding our voice within the stories of others.

inquiry topic

The working title of my inquiry project is "The influence of textbooks on course delivery." Generally speaking, I'm interested in learning more about how different teachers and students interact with textbooks - what they like, or don't like about certain textbooks, how much they use them, and for what purposes. I'm of the opinion that textbooks have a disproportionately large impact in terms of dictating how content is taught/learned, especially in upper year math and science courses. And so I'm curious to learn more about where these textbooks come from. Who are the authors of these textbooks, what are their backgrounds, intentions, and teaching philosophies? What does the process of creating textbooks actually look like? How might the popularity of certain textbooks be based on momentum/convenience/compulsion vs. innovation? Is there any chance for an individual, or small group of individuals, who aren't affiliated with large textbook publishers, to have much success in independently writing a new textbook? Is there any evidence to suggest the degree to which textbooks should be employed by teachers? I have a lot of questions at the moment, but I'm sure that reading through some articles and speaking with different people will help inform which questions I investigate more or less.

making rope and braid with foraged plant materials

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this class. It made me want to go out and try making rope out of any old random vegetation I might come across. As mentioned in an earlier post, I had thought it was going to be somewhat difficult, but once you got into a rhythm, it was hard to stop. While we were discussing, I did notice that thing Dr. Gerofsky had mentioned, about how chatting flows a little more easily when our hands are busy working away. As I mentioned in class, it was nifty to think of our distant ancestors busy at rope making within their communities. I was surprised to find some people in the class were thinking more so in terms of the more recent north American Indigenous peoples, and I hope my points didn't come off as a "cultural appropriation" kind of thing. In my head, I was thinking about our ancient homo sapien ancestors of 30,000 years ago. In that sense, the act of rope making is something that's part of the same history shared by all humankind. And then aside from all that, I did enjoy the physics aspect of rope making, and I appreciate that this simple technology could be worked into a physics lesson, discussing the opposing friction forces generated from twisting strands around each other in the opposite directions. In general, it was a cool lesson because it engaged many different senses, involved getting in touch with nature and our shared history, and then also had some math and physics ideas surrounding it.

grades

As a student, I never minded being graded. I’m sure there are teachers who grade unfairly, and maybe I’ve been lucky with my teachers growing up, but I can’t remember ever being surprised with a particularly poor grade. That’s not to say I haven’t received them. My point is that I’ve always had a good sense of my own understanding and the quality of my work. If I ever received, say, 60% on a test or assignment, I may have been disappointed, but only with myself. I would have known that I hadn’t done my best work going into it. Conversely, I think some students live in a bit of denial when they complain about poor grades, potentially refusing to either recognize or acknowledge that they didn’t put in the time and energy required to achieve the grades they wanted. But more than anything else, I think that’s more a symptom of grades being implemented poorly. Grades are probably overemphasized in general, and the culture surrounding them, ie good grades = future success, bad grades = impending doom, is a little ridiculous. We should instead be emphasizing students developing a self awareness of their learning progress for their own sake. At the end of the day, I think we want to educate students on how to pursue their own interests, equipping them with skills to self-assess, direct their own personal growth, and “succeed” in areas of their own choosing. 

There are certainly students who just see school as needlessly judgemental and super transparent in weaponizing grades as the primary means of forcing conformity (or something along those lines). I think that’s pretty valid. Maybe grades should be an opt-in sort of deal? They do seem to do more harm than good in a lot of cases, promoting a negative opinion of schooling. I definitely bought into school growing up. As a result, grades made sense to me as an objective-seeming measure of my effort. But not everyone has that same relationship with school, and I do think we need to be cognizant of the fact that not all students are going to want to engage with grades in this way. A grading system offers some kind of system with which to measure and monitor student effort, ability, and progress. The way we use grades as a society may certainly be flawed, but I don’t think the idea is inherently flawed. Instead, I think the culture surrounding education needs to change. We need to de-emphasize getting into university to get a “good job.” Folks need to realize education is about supporting personal growth and promoting the interests of unique individuals. I believe that if we can do that effectively, the rest will fall into place. I think there is probably a way to repurpose grades to that end. Again, I think it worked for me. That being said, it definitely depends on teachers, schools, parents, and society in general, having a slightly more enlightened attitude about grades.