Mandhir Singh Sambhi

Post-Class Reflection 1 - June 28, 2018

This week’s class presented a very different pace that previous classes, one that

was driven primarily by discussion and had lesser time for individual reflections. Even

the time allotted to work with our teams was mainly discussion-based. Becky’s decision

to lay out the shape of the day in this format kept me aware and mentally present for the

class as I followed the free flow of thoughts. Though I was a bit surprised to see only a

few questions on the boards, I could sympathize with my classmates since I too couldn’t

think of a prompt. I can’t say that I was clear on what was expected of me regarding

upcoming deadlines, but I could not think of any pressing questions at the moment. The

instructions for the final portfolio project had been recently published, and my attention

was focused on it. I could only generate a lousy superficial question about some basic

components of the portfolio. To my relief, someone else had asked a similar question

that was much better articulated. Becky was able to find some very good questions from

the small collection on the board and generated very helpful responses. I found the

answers very helpful, but I also felt that I was demonstrating the student mentality

reflected in the College Fear Factor reading from last week. As much as I claim to be an

independent learner and do not like to ask the teacher for help, I find it a lot easier to

complete a task once the teacher outlines a template or pathway to follow. As a future

educator, I would want my students to be self-driven, but I seem to forget this principle

as a student until I am reminded of it. I knew I had read the instructions for the portfolio,

but I felt clear on the project only once Becky had stated the guidelines again in class.

I realize that there is a difference between seeking clarification and looking for

instructions. I might have been slightly discouraged from last week’s College Fear
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Factor reading, but sitting through today’s class without small tasks in between

discussions meant that I was constantly thinking about my own behaviour in class. Was

I listening productively and actively, or was all the useful information passively going

through my ears? Was Becky saying something that I would need to ask again at a later

date or would I be able to retain that information? Keep recent readings and lessons in

mind, I tried to be an active listener and make the most of Becky’s advice now that she

was playing the role of the educator transmitting information and knowledge.

In the next activity when we shared our group’s curricular culture with the entire

class, I was expecting the jigsaw activity to be in smaller groups rather than with the

entire class. I was not disappointed with this method, but I felt that by working in smaller

groups my group members would have equal responsibility and accountability for

knowing about Educating through Occupation. However, I recognize that reporting out

as a class was very efficient use of valuable time. It also ensured that the entire class

was given the same amount of information. One of the greater advantages of this class

discussion was that I listening to each group with the intent to identify highlighting

characteristics of the curriculum culture. In addition, Becky’s prompts to the class further

encouraged me to make connections to previous readings of Schiro and Joseph. As the

groups presented their perceptions of their subject, I could not help but notice how

similar each of the curriculum cultures were to each other. In essence, it seemed that

each curriculum culture Joseph described was an implementation of some combination

of ideologies that Schiro outlined. Joseph describes the framework of a curriculum, and

each culture that she describes differs in the weight it gives to different aspects of this

framework. So it is likely that of all the curriculum cultures presented by the various
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groups are likely to overlap with others based on how they represent each aspect of the

general framework. I feel that the real task of presenting our projects on curriculum will

be to demonstrate what distinguishes the particular culture we present. We will have to

think about questions like, “How is the idea of Educating through Occupation different

from the concepts of Constructing Understanding?”, or investigate differences between

cultures that may share certain concepts: “If Educating through Occupation shares

beliefs with Confronting to Dominant Order to not conform to misuse of power and

exploitation of the workforce, what makes them distinct?”. Through this project, I

prospect to appreciate and strengthen commonalities between different curriculum

cultures while respect the characteristics that make each curriculum culture more

applicable in some settings than others.

I found an opportunity to identify different Schiro ideologies acting out at different

times in everyday interactions. When our class was given time for group work, I

gathered my team members with the intention to take some lead and lay forth the

structure and next steps for our project. I felt we had spent enough time brainstorming,

during which I let my team members freely express their ideas. I adopted the role of

director for this day’s meeting and aimed to delegate further deadlines for the specific

roles each of us had accepted. Our group had been observing ‘S’ for many days and

tried to create a safe and welcoming space so that she would participate vocally. As I

assumed the team leader's role for the day, I assigned her a task and asked her to

report in a few minutes. In the meantime, the rest of us started working on another

objective. I didn’t feel comfortable following the ideology of the Scholarly Academic

anymore and resumed the discussion in a more democratic fashion. Whereas we

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collectively generated ideas, there was some contribution from my choice to act

decisively and not leave everything up to all members’ agreement. As much as I support

and value the principles of democracy, we weren’t achieving much in this way. I realized

that even while respecting everyone’s input and contribution, someone has to rise a little

above the others and finalize a point of convergence.

Through this day’s activities, I believe Becky sufficed her objectives of allowing

students to analyze curricula through group discussions. We had ample time to listen to

new information and perspectives on various cultures of curriculum and formulate

connections between the cultures that Joseph describes and ideologies that Schiro talks

about. In the process, I felt that making connections between different authors was a big

part of metacognitive reflection and identification of these ideas in my daily interactions.

I became more aware of what I liked in the class activities and what I would have liked

to see done differently. Where I got to know myself a little more, I also recognized how I

should improve my concept of a student as I become a more self-driven and

independent learner. The next step for me is to structure my research and work

progress so that it reflects what I want to show rather than simply present what I am

told. Without my self-expression in an assignment, can I really call that project “mine”?

Food for thought.