Diversity & Inclusion in Innovation, Teaching & Learning

The following post includes my responses to course readings on Diversity and Inclusion in Innovation, Teaching and Learning.

Reading 1

A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12 education: possible solutions and recommendations for future research by C.K. Lo & K.F. Hew

Despite being introduced around 2007, flipped learning is not a concept that I was well acquainted with during my years as a student. As I progressed through B.Ed, it was not a big topic of conversation either, thus, when I graduated during the pandemic and started teaching my own classes, it was not a model that I felt particularly comfortable implementing into my practice. For a long time, I wondered how a flipped classroom model might look in high school music classes. So much of our learning in music involves performing and presenting in real time. Upon further reflection, I realized that unknowingly, I had tried flipped learning for some lesson concepts during May 2021, when I was teaching Grade 11 and 12 Instrumental Music online. The positive results were a higher student discussion rate in-class and deeper understanding and learning. The fallbacks were that it took time for students to adjust to this. My ELL learners who were working in different time zones were allowed to complete lectures asynchronously, so they were not present for the in-person, student-led discussions.

I would now consider flipped learning to be particularly useful for units we cover in the curriculum that are not performance based. Ideas like music theory, ear training, and history and harmony could be conducted through flipped learning. For performance based projects, the teacher could prepare videos of themselves playing the instrument and explaining the content for students to review at home. This would likely be more efficient for classes where the students are learning the same instrument, for example, keyboard and guitar classes, as opposed to instrumental music classes where there are a plethora of different instruments.

The flipped classroom is a learner-centered model and a type of blended learning, where students are introduced to content at home, then practice active learning and problem solving activities at school (Lo & Hew, 2017). Students can review and pause recorded video material at home. This allows them to work at their own pace. Ideally, once they come to class, students will be ready to discuss the learning content, which means more student-led discussion. This article examines the potential challenges and benefits of this learning model based on fifteen journal publications. They found that the flipped classroom approach can improve student performance but also have no negative changes to student learning outcomes (Lo & Hew, 2017).

The major setbacks found with the flipped classroom model is that it involves more preparation for the teacher and students may become disengaged from the out-of-class learning. If students do not review the learning material at home, they are unprepared for the in-lesson activities, which makes these activities less meaningful. On the other hand, if successful, this innovative teaching model frees up more time for active learning to occur in classrooms. This learning model would be an example of 21st Century Learning, which is exactly the type of teaching and learning we are trying to encourage. It provides students with opportunities to learn from their peers, explore learning content through a deeper, critical lens, and discover problem solving strategies.

If implemented successfully, I think that this learning model would be greatly beneficial to the classroom. Flipped classroom models allow educators to differentiate and personalize the learning content, while engaging with learners on a more personal basis. Teachers still deliver the content, but are not the students' primary focal point of conversation anymore. Rather, they are learning as a community, reflecting on their own understandings, and justifying their thinking. Furthermore, teachers can reuse some of their prepared content and expand their teaching resource collection. They can invest more time building upon what they have created, once they prepare the foundations.

Questions I have for the authors after reading the article: Does the flipped learning classroom have a higher success rate with certain grades and subjects? As mentioned in my introduction, it was not a learning model I had considered for the high school music classroom, due to the nature of our curriculum structure, pre-pandemic.

At the time this article was written, you mentioned there are only two articles about K-12 flipped classrooms that have been found and reviewed. I am curious to see if there have been additional articles reviewed since, and what these investigations might look like? Especially after the pandemic, where many teachers turned to online teaching and may have implemented this learning model.

References

Lo, C. K., & Hew, K. (2017). A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12 education: possible solutions and recommendations for future research. Research & Practice In Technology Enhanced Learning, 12(1), 1-22. doi:10.1186/s41039-016-0044-2

Reading 2

The Contradiction and the Challenge of the Educated Woman by J.R. Martin

This reading begins with a description by John Staurt Mill on how the educated woman is seen as a walking contradiction. Yet, Mill did not believe that educated women violated nature. To accommodate educated women, Mill wanted to reform society. Martin then describes Virginia’s Wolfe’s theory on the educated woman, how they are “bearers of disorder” and the difficulties they face in society (Martin, 1991). Wolfe knew that being a woman often meant the sacrifice of self in order to help others. She was also aware of the differences in wages paid to men versus women. Martin takes the words of Mill and Wolfe and analyses if their views have survived the development of twentieth-century feminism (Martin, 1991).

Martin describes the historical events that have happened since these viewpoints were made; marriage laws, the women’s suffrage, and a higher percentage of women making up the student population around the world (Martin, 1991). From the date of this publication to now, another three decades have gone by and even more conditions have changed. One thing that remains the same throughout history is that society values the more “masculine” qualities of critical thinking, rationality, and autonomous action.

A few months ago, I was getting a haircut when the hairdresser asked me why my hair was so dry. (In my humble opinion, I do not think it is). “I have been quite busy, I work three jobs, six days a week. Sometimes hair care is not at the top of my priority list.” I explained. “What do you do?” I told her I was a teacher and in school, part-time. “That will do it. Working six days a week.” She goes. “Yes, well, it is important to me to kickstart my career now, and pursue higher education.” “Do you have kids? Being that busy is not good for them if you have family.” I was so stunned by this response, I didn't even have a reply for her.

This woman was probably only a few years older than I was, in her late twenties. Perhaps I had just attended a very open-minded institution for years prior, where I was used to people my age having a more liberal, modernistic approach on many topics. But I recognize that while age does play a factor in certain critical mindsets, it does not mean that all individuals think this way. As Martin referenced in the article, it is challenging for women to break from these cultural impositions since it is present since birth. “Treated differently almost from birth and with different expectations held up to them within the family and in the early years of schooling, children become aware at an early age of their culture’s distinctions between masculine and feminine roles.” (Martin, 1991).

Martin proposes that this is all evident in the classroom, and questions if there are differences in learning styles systematically related to gender (Martin, 1991). In regards to the words of Mill and Wolfe, I did not feel that the ideas and arguments presented by them related to my understanding of innovation in teaching and learning. I believe that the classroom should be a shared and safe place, one where students can express themselves freely, regardless of gender, ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, sexuality, ability, language, and family structure. Reading this article reminded me of how hard the educators of today are still working to break down these systemic barriers that affect the societies we live in.

Questions I have for the author: If you were to analyse the views of Mill and Wolfe today, would they have survived the development of twenty-first century feminism? Have we as a society made progress, or are we back pedalling?

References

Martin, J. R. (1991). The contradiction and the challenge of the educated woman. Women’s Studies Quarterly [Special Issue on Women, Girls, and the Culture of Education], 19(1/2), 6–27.