Reflections by Part-Time Faculty for 29 Mar 11

Abby Yanow

Plus (positive experiences)
working with working students, so they get to apply the learnings to the real world
students come from a variety of sectors (education, non-profit, health care), so the mix of those is rich for the class
great that this course happens over 3 weekends, so they build relationships, and the second and third class and instructor benefits from the cohesion that they've already accomplished
students are interested in the models that I teach in my class, and some of them work in settings that may lend themselves to using some of them.
two-day class allows for deep-dive; Saturday ends up being OK, as we're so engaged in the material, but they begin to droop in the afternoon - because it's their third class, and the fact that there's no-one else on campus makes it feel a bit strange (but we're still engaged).
facility with technology is great (computer, video)

Delta (things to develop/change)
previously lack of support from CCT on the weekend of the course; students didn't seem to know who to talk to, we, instructors and class, seemed off on our town (that seems fixed with Jeremy on board)
lack of institutional presence on Saturday is sometimes a problem, if we need help with technology, opening the door, or facilities
lack of food on campus on Saturday!!
tech - Internet connection has not been available for many years; I did get it the last 2 years.
from my perspective, not enough oversight of content and delivery of the first 2 workshops.

Delores Gallo

Having taught the creative thinking course for over 25 years in the classroom, I had reservations about the degree to which this course which utilized so many hands-on activities, extensive group work and improvisation could be transferred to an online delivery system. To my surprise and delight, the activities did transfer including in roll biographical presentations,which were a course highlight. Most important, is the fact that the activities produced the kind of transfer of learning that marks a transformative learning experience. The students regularly applied the strategies to their family and work life coming up with new curricula, new ways of mentoring hierarchical subordinates to foster problem-solving, and new ways to encourage imagination and independent thinking in their children.

One way in which the blackboard learning system could be improved, would be to add a function that creates student portfolios to allow for the easy review of all of a student's work.

I look forward to having the opportunity to continue watching students grow and develop through the vehicle of this intellectually challenging and fun creative thinking course.

Postscript
With encouragement, a planful teacher and aspiring writer whose home had been flooded by Spring rain, wrote her first children's book on the experience inviting her seven-year-old son to do the illustrations to help him cope with the dislocation. A Boston High School physical education teacher, having had a moving experience with the Break A Habit challenge, designed and implemented strategies to discourage cliques in two of his classes. Last spring's class included students from across the United States as well as students from Japan, the Czech Republic, Pakistan and Israel. Through Wimba classes, threaded discussions, and lots of e-mails, the class became a genuine community marked by impressive cooperation and mutual support. It was a particularly meaningful and joyful experience.

David Martin

I teach part-time in the CCT program; my professional experiences in critical and creative thinking involve a number of publications including 3 chapters in the current edition of DEVELOPING MINDS (Costa), co-chair of a Committee within the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education on the Infusion of Critical Thinking into Teacher Preparation, research into teacher and student thinking, and training of numerous professionals and parents in the critical thinking program known as Instrumental Enrichment since 1978.

1. A milestone: In one of the times that I served as instructor of the Critical Thinking course in the CCT program, two different students in mid-course approached me after class and related how they had just met with their principals. In each case--separately--they said that their principal now understood what it meant to incorporate critical thinking into the curriculum, and had begun to realize how central that area was to the entire curriculum. This event was rewarding because it illustrated how students(in this case, experienced teachers) can be the ambassadors for the fundamental points in the program and help to disseminate them more widely.

2. Ongoing challenge: It remains a challenge to help experienced teachers--our enrollees in some cases--to make the case at their local schools for the centrality of Critical and Creative Thinking. This problem continues to arise because of the national obsession with high-stakes testing in every state, which gives teachers the wrong impression that they do not have "time" for Thinking Strategies because they must prepare students for the exams--when in reality, a focus on Thinking Strategies would actually HELP their students perform on the exams, even though that area is not the primary rationale for infusing Thinking Strategies. Only when the No Child Left Behind Law is significantly altered, however, and this problem begin to be alleviated on a large scale.