{"id":3394,"date":"2016-09-15T16:58:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T16:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamlearner.net\/?p=3394"},"modified":"2016-09-15T17:03:55","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T17:03:55","slug":"professional-self-reflection-teachers-as-philosophers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamlearner.net\/blog\/professional-self-reflection-teachers-as-philosophers\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional Self-Reflection: teachers as philosophers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thinkers\"<\/p>\n

This post belongs to an\u00a0occasional series on teacher professional development. Previous posts include\u00a0The Reflective Teacher as Reflective Learner<\/a>\u00a0and Teacher Professional Development in the UK: North & South<\/a>.<\/h5>\n

If philosophy is the quest for wisdom then every teacher\u00a0who respects the import of their vocation needs to be a philosopher as well as a teacher. The two should be indivisible, since the teacher who seeks to lead\u00a0a\u00a0learner\u00a0to wisdom must have some personal knowledge\u00a0of the possible paths to wisdom. Without such knowledge – a knowledge that must be continuously searched for and renewed, a knowledge\u00a0that can never be fully realized – the teacher will\u00a0never know the true\u00a0value of their teaching to the learner.<\/p>\n

The grade book, the certificates, the diplomas achieved by students can only ever be limited and fragmentary indicators of a teacher’s (and, of course, a learner’s) success. Those who choose to limit their teaching horizons to marks and test scores and qualifications will never know what it truly means to teach. Nor will they ever fully appreciate the full scope of what their students learn.<\/p>\n

\"confucius\"Confucius wrote:<\/p>\n

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His opinion is still valid, of course, although I’m less sure of the order in which he presents the three paths to wisdom. Perhaps imitation is the easiest, but teaching by modelling involves the use of imitation to some extent, and it is through modelling that the teacher can begin to map the routes to wisdom for the learner.\u00a0If modelling and imitation come first, then the path to wisdom is broadened and made firmer under-foot through offering practical experiential learning to students. Learning from experience plays a critical part in combining\u00a0information and skills in context to create knowledge, and the meaning and form that\u00a0such experiences can take are\u00a0as varied as the countless\u00a0subjects and disciplines themselves that comprise the broad sweep of\u00a0human activity.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/h3>\n

\"greek-female-thinker\"Confucius, rightly,\u00a0acclaims\u00a0reflection<\/em>\u00a0as the cardinal route to wisdom. We begin to learn by imitating those who know what we also want to know. We learn even more by trying our new knowledge out in the real world in some sense. But we only truly begin to embed that knowledge within us, we only truly begin to ‘know’, when we set out to cast a critical eye over our practice and we question why we do what we do, how we do it, what works, what does\u00a0not work, and how can we do better.<\/p>\n

In teaching, as in other professions, reflection can take many forms, each as valid as the other, but each bringing a different range and kind of insight to our professional practice. A small subset might include:<\/p>\n