Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Fall 2021 - EDUC 252 OL01

Introduction to Reflective Practice (4)

Class Number: 6973

Delivery Method: Distance Education

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Online

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Provides opportunities for prospective educators to begin their development as reflective practitioners. Through readings, classroom activities and discussions, and interactions with students and practicing teachers, students will be exposed to various educational issues and questions. They will be given time to explore their own values and beliefs about education and teaching. Time may be spent observing in a selection of educational settings, and there may be opportunities to work with learners individually, and in small and large groups. Students enrolled in or with credit for EDUC 401, 402, 403 or holding a teaching certificate may not take this course for credit.

COURSE DETAILS:

This online course introduces students to the art of reflective practice that can be applied to and enacted in teaching and educational settings of wide varieties and venues. Reflective practice as theorized and practiced in this course rests on three foundational concepts:

  • Existential inquiry: Reflection starts with, and returns to, the self’s existential condition, questions, and quest in one’s real-world contexts.
  • Contemplative inquiry: Reflection is vitally supported and facilitated by contemplative inquires and practices, for which the self taps into different states of consciousness through engaging in contemplative (body-mind) practices.
  • Transformative learning: A reflective practitioner engages in transformative learning activities whereby the self enacts and undergoes transformative change, which is refracted into self’s creating changes in the outer world.
This course is structured in such a way that theory and practice go hand-in-hand, and curriculum content and pedagogical process are integrated. Weekly learning activities include reading published works and watching video materials that inquire into and explore the phenomenology of reflection and related practices, engaging in dialogue with faculty and peers, doing reflective writings and journaling on these materials, and undertaking a set of exercises drawn from the three foundational concepts (existential inquiry, contemplative inquiry, and transformative learning). These exercises and practices are deliberately capacity- and skills-building, and thus relevant to students and people interested in reflective practice across a broad range of domains and fields. Course participants are invited to engage in daily reflective practice, applying what they are learning each week.

All the learning undertaken in this course aims towards: a) understanding the phenomenology (inner experience) of reflection; b) being disposed to be a reflective practitioner: that is, developing a reflective disposition; c) becoming an artful and skillful reflective practitioner anywhere, anytime; d) enacting self-and-other transformation supported by reflective practice.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

  • Learn that reflection is a holistic, complex phenomenon involving working with multiple human dimensions, capacities, capabilities, skills, etc.
  • Recognize and appreciate the inner orientation and inner work involved in reflection.
  • Know the basic requirements and supportive conditions for practicing reflection.
  • Learn to de-stress in body and mind through engaging with a range of body-mind contemplative practices.
  • Learn to create inner conditions conducive to reflection.
  • Know the essential connection between emotionality and reflection practice.
  • Learn the fundamentals of dialogue as a reflective practice as well as learn how to overcome obstructions in the way of dialogue.
  • Recognize the internal connection among democracy, dialogue, and reflective practice.

Grading

  • Reflective writing on learning resources and class dialogue 40%
  • Reflective responses to peers’ reflective writing 15%
  • Completion of reflective exercises 15%
  • Final reflection essay 30%

NOTES:

No final exam.

REQUIREMENTS:

Online presence, participation and engagement, completion of all assignments.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

There will be no required texts that need to be purchased. All curriculum materials, such as journal articles, book chapters, and online source materials, will be made available. There may be materials that students can access from the SFU libraries.

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

TEACHING AT SFU IN FALL 2021

Teaching at SFU in fall 2021 will involve primarily in-person instruction, with approximately 70 to 80 per cent of classes in person/on campus, with safety plans in place.  Whether your course will be in-person or through remote methods will be clearly identified in the schedule of classes.  You will also know at enrollment whether remote course components will be “live” (synchronous) or at your own pace (asynchronous).

Enrolling in a course acknowledges that you are able to attend in whatever format is required.  You should not enroll in a course that is in-person if you are not able to return to campus, and should be aware that remote study may entail different modes of learning, interaction with your instructor, and ways of getting feedback on your work than may be the case for in-person classes.

Students with hidden or visible disabilities who may need class or exam accommodations, including in the context of remote learning, are advised to register with the SFU Centre for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca or 778-782-3112) as early as possible in order to prepare for the fall 2021 term.