Instructional change through collaboration and reflection

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Facilitator-Collaborative-Reflective Model, a strategic plan for changing teachers' practices and beliefs, on a selected group of middle school teachers. This model of staff development training was based on Corey's (1953) Cooperative-Action-Research Model and Anders and Richardson (1994) Collaborative-Reflective Model. It supports the notion that earning a teachers' commitment to change by focusing on collaboration, reflection and the normative-re-educative process aids in altering teachers' beliefs and practices especially crucial to the change process. The year-long training provided for reflection, inquiry, and learning that was useful to teachers as they pursued their goals with their students. The lead teacher, as a change agent and transformational leader, assisted in this commitment to change by improving the teachers' self-concepts as they slowly changed. The collaborative and receptive environment of the staff development fostered acceptance and stimulation of ideas.^ Given the collaborative nature of the change process, qualitative research methods were used in the investigation. The research process was based on Stufflebeam's Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) Evaluation Model (Madaus, Scriven & Stufflebeam, 1983). This allowed for all three factors of the staff development model to be evaluated. The case studies and focus group were effective in discerning any actual change in practices or beliefs.^ The findings of the qualitative evaluation, consisting of a baseline survey, case studies, questionnaire and modified focus group interviews, concluded that all of the teachers were strongly influenced by the intervention model which was the subject of this study. From this evaluation, three distinct indicators were looked at to determine if any change in the teachers' practices and beliefs emerged: (1) change in practice and belief, (2) reflective feedback and (3) collaborative reflection. These indicators were common throughout the teacher responses thus substantiating the infusion of the Facilitator-Collaborative-Reflective Model at the school level for effective staff development. ^

Theological reflection at work: A phenomenological study of learning processes

Using the learning descriptions of graduates of a graduate ministry program, the mechanisms of interactions between the knowledge facets in learning processes were explored and described. The intent of the study was to explore how explicit, implicit, and emancipatory knowledge facets interacted in the learning processes at or about work. The study provided empirical research on Yang's (2003) holistic learning theory. ^ A phenomenological research design was used to explore the essence of knowledge facet interactions. I achieved epoche through the disclosure of assumptions and a written self-experience to bracket biases. A criterion based, stratified sampling strategy was used to identify participants. The sample was stratified by graduation date. The sample consisted of 11 participants and was composed primarily of married (n = 9), white, non-Hispanic (n = 10), females (n = 9), who were Roman Catholic (n = 9). Professionally, the majority of the group were teachers or professors (n = 5). ^ A semi-structured interview guide with scheduled and unscheduled probes was used. Each approximately 1-hour long interview was digitally recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were coded using a priori codes from holistic learning theory and one emergent code. The coded data were analyzed by identifying patterns, similarities, and differences under each code and then between codes. Steps to increase the trustworthiness of the study included member checks, coding checks, and thick descriptions of the data. ^ Five themes were discovered including (a) the difficulty in describing interactions between knowledge facets; (b) actual mechanisms of interactions between knowledge facets; (c) knowledge facets initiating learning and dominating learning processes; (d) the dangers of one-dimensional learning or using only one knowledge facet to learn; and (e) the role of community in learning. The interpretation confirmed, extended, and challenged holistic learning theory. Mechanisms of interaction included knowledge facets expressing, informing, changing, and guiding one another. Implications included the need for a more complex model of learning and the value of seeing spirituality in the learning process. The study raised questions for future research including exploring learning processes with people from non-Christian faith traditions or other academic disciplines and the role of spiritual identity in learning. ^

The role of spirituality in transformative learning

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the role of spirituality in Mezirow's (1978, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003) 10-phase process of transformative learning. This study used Mezirow's transformative learning theory as its theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed for 12 doctoral students and candidates who had a transformative learning experience and who identified themselves as being spiritual. Interview data were analyzed using inductive, deductive, and comparative analyses. Four themes emerged from the inductive analysis of the data: (a) the nature of spirituality, (b) the variety of emotions, (c) the influences of spirituality, and (d) the nature of personal changes. The theory's 10 phases were used as a guide in deductively analyzing data concerning the participants' experiences. The deductive analysis revealed that spirituality played a role in at least 7 of the 10 phases of transformative learning for each participant. Overall, from the participants' perspectives, the role of spirituality was that of a guide in influencing their cognition and behavior, and that of a supporter in influencing their emotions. The comparative analysis revealed that at least three of the four themes from the inductive analysis were reflected in each of the 10 phases of transformative learning used in the deductive analysis. Based on the findings from this study, the researcher proposed a modification of Mezirow's phases of transformative learning. An additional phase was identified: framing and naming the transformed perspective, and two phases were renamed. The findings from this study imply that given the importance of the role participants attributed to spirituality in their transformative learning in influencing their cognition, behavior, and emotions, the role of spirituality should be considered for inclusion in transformative learning theory. Recommendations for further research on the validation and replicability of the proposed modification to transformative learning theory are given.

Critical Reflection on a Faculty Development Research Project

Critical reflection is imperative for the practitioner who seeks to grow and improve in the important work of teaching. This paper is a critical reflection of one author’s experience in creating a faculty development initiative.

Band Queer: Lesbian and Gay Marching and Symphonic Bands and Transformative and Emancipatory Learning Experiences for Adults

Lesbian and gay marching and symphonic bands hold rich opportunities for adults to engage in transformative and emancipatory learning experiences.

Participation in a positive youth development program and multi -problem alternative high school students' transformative goals: An investigation of the theoretical and methodological utility and validity of the Transformative Goal Attainment (TGAS)

There is a growing body of literature that provides evidence for the efficacy of positive youth development programs in general and preliminary empirical support for the efficacy of the Changing Lives Program (CLP) in particular. This dissertation sought to extend previous efforts to develop and preliminarily examine the Transformative Goal Attainment Scale (TGAS) as a measure of participant empowerment in the promotion of positive development. Consistent with recent advances in the use of qualitative research methods, this dissertation sought to further investigate the utility of Relational Data Analysis (RDA) for providing categorizations of qualitative open-ended response data. In particular, a qualitative index of Transformative Goals, TG, was developed to complement the previously developed quantitative index of Transformative Goal Attainment (TGA), and RDA procedures for calculating reliability and content validity were refined. Second, as a Stage I pilot/feasibility study this study preliminarily examined the potentially mediating role of empowerment, as indexed by the TGAS, in the promotion of positive development. ^ Fifty-seven participants took part in this study, forty CLP intervention participants and seventeen control condition participants. All 57 participants were administered the study's measures just prior to and just following the fall 2003 semester. This study thus used a short-term longitudinal quasi-experimental research design with a comparison control group. ^ RDA procedures were refined and applied to the categorization of open-ended response data regarding participants' transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE). These analyses revealed relatively strong, indirect evidence for the construct validity of the categories as well as their theoretically meaningful structural organization, thereby providing sufficient support for the utility of RDA procedures in the categorization of qualitative open-ended response data. ^ In addition, transformative goals (TG) and future possible selves (PSQ-QE), and the quantitative index of perceived goal attainment (TGA) were evaluated as potential mediators of positive development by testing their relationships to other indices of positive intervention outcome within a four-step method involving both analysis of variance (ANOVA and RMANOVAs) and regression analysis. Though more limited in scope than the efforts at the development and refinement of the measures of these mediators, the results were also promising. ^

A model of self -transformative identity development in troubled adolescent youth

Within the Stage II program evaluation of the Miami Youth Development Project's (YDP) Changing Lives Program (CLP), this study evaluated CLP intervention effectiveness in promoting positive change in emotion-focused identity exploration (i.e. feelings of personal expressiveness; PE) and a "negative" symptom of identity development (i.e. identity distress; ID) as a first step toward the investigation of a self-transformative model of identity development in adolescent youth. Using structural equation modeling techniques, this study found that participation in the CLP is associated with positive changes in PE (path = .841, p < .002), but not changes in ID. Increase in ID scores was found to be associated with increases in PE (path = .229, p < .002), as well. Intervention effects were not moderated by age/stage, gender, or ethnicity, though differences were found in the degree to which participating subgroups (African-American/Hispanic, male/female, 14-16 years old/17-19 years old) experience change in PE and ID. Findings also suggest that moderate levels of ID may not be deleterious to identity exploration and may be associated with active exploration. ^

A Q-Methodology approach to investigating the relationship between level of reflection and typologies among prospective teachers in the physics learning assistant program at Florida International University

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand physics Learning Assistants' (LAs) views on reflective teaching, expertise in teaching, and LA program teaching experience and to determine if views predicted level of reflection evident in writing. Interviews were conducted in Phase One, Q methodology was used in Phase Two, and level of reflection in participants' writing was assessed using a rubric based on Hatton and Smith's (1995) "Criteria for the Recognition of Evidence for Different Types of Reflective Writing" in Phase Three. Interview analysis revealed varying perspectives on content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and experience in relation to expertise in teaching. Participants revealed that they engaged in reflection on their teaching, believed reflection helps teachers improve, and found peer reflection beneficial. Participants believed teaching experience in the LA program provided preparation for teaching, but that more preparation was needed to teach. Three typologies emerged in Phase Two. Type One LAs found participation in the LA program rewarding and believed expertise in teaching does not require expertise in content or pedagogy, but it develops over time from reflection. Type Two LAs valued reflection, but not writing reflections, felt the LA program teaching experience helped them decide on non-teaching careers and helped them confront gaps in their physics knowledge. Type Three LAs valued reflection, believed expertise in content and pedagogy are necessary for expert teaching, and felt LA program teaching experience increased their likelihood of becoming teachers, but did not prepare them for teaching. Writing assignments submitted in Phase Three were categorized as 19% descriptive writing, 60% descriptive reflections, and 21% dialogic reflections. No assignments were categorized as critical reflection. Using ordinal logistic regression, typologies that emerged in Phase Two were not found to be predictors for the level of reflection evident in the writing assignments. In conclusion, viewpoints of physics LAs were revealed, typologies among them were discovered, and their writing gave evidence of their ability to reflect on teaching. These findings may benefit faculty and staff in the LA program by helping them better understand the views of physics LAs and how to assess their various forms of reflection.

Czechs Look Back on 1989, a Revolution Betrayed: A Reflection on the Mythology of the Velvet Revolution

Twenty-five years ago today the Velvet Revolution kicked off in what was then Czechoslovakia to bring an end to the one-party government of the Communist Party. This exclusive translation of a feature from the Czech journal A2 Cultural Bi-Weekly explains that the events of 1989 were about more than just Václav Havel, a playwright and leader in the revolution who was elected president in 1990. A generation of unfulfilled promises later, Czechs are struggling to revive the spirit of not only democracy and humanism, but also socialism. This article originally appeared in Ricochet, November 17, 2014.

9-11 Memorial: Commemoration and Reflection

Ceremony held at the fountain outside the Maidique Campus to commemorate the events of September 11, 2011. Community leaders in attendance include Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.

Reimagining Reflection: Gender, Student Perception, and Reflective Writing in the Composition Classroom

The purpose of this thesis is to discover any existing correlation between gender and student perceptions of reflective writing in the composition classroom. Seventy-five students at Florida International University participated in a survey that explored their approaches to and understanding of reflective writing. In order to connect the specific results of this study to the larger context of composition theory, this thesis includes an examination of the theoretical background of gender and reflective writing. The results of the survey indicate that the only identifiable difference between male and female student responses resulted from their definitions of reflective writing. Beyond this difference, however, there were no significant variances in student perceptions of reflective writing. The response of these students at FIU indicates a shift in expected gender norms and suggests a reconsideration of what it means to be a gendered writer in the composition classroom.

A model of self-transformative identity development in troubled adolescent youth

Within the Stage II program evaluation of the Miami Youth Development Project's (YDP) Changing Lives Program (CLP), this study evaluated CLP intervention effectiveness in promoting positive change in emotion-focused identity exploration (i.e. feelings of personal expressiveness; PE) and a "negative" symptom of identity development (i.e. identity distress; ID) as a first step toward the investigation of a self-transformative model of identity development in adolescent youth. Using structural equation modeling techniques, this study found that participation in the CLP is associated with positive changes in PE (path = .841, p < .002), but not changes in ID. Increase in ID scores was found to be associated with increases in PE (path = .229, p < .002), as well. Intervention effects were not moderated by age/stage, gender, or ethnicity, though differences were found in the degree to which participating subgroups (African- American/Hispanic, male/female, 14-16 years old/17-19 years old) experience change in PE and ID. Findings also suggest that moderate levels of ID may not be deleterious to identity exploration and may be associated with active exploration.

Reflection over Coot Bay

http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/fce_lter_photos/1305/thumbnail.jpg

Transformative Learning Theory and Its Relevance to Managing Group Dynamics in a Competitive Work Environment

In any environment, group dynamics would exist. How we deal with it in a competitive work environment defines who we are using transformative learning. This paper provides useful information from a number of theorists who share perspectives on the complex nature of groups.