(my fellow cohorts and instructors in the Master's of Adult Education program at St.FX. We are all very serious people, of course.)
I've begun this whole journey of starting my graduate degree in Adult Education. So many people ask me, "So, what is that exactly?" I'd like to think that I knew exactly what I was talking about before this course began, saying, "Oh, well, its all about how to teach adults..." Now, I realize, 5 days in, that is more a process of "unraveling" as one of my cohorts put it today, after we were asked by our advisor to compare this week to a kitchen utensil. A kitchen utensil, yes. I compared my week to chopsticks...they are a kind of tool, that you can for so many other things other than just eating. We all have the capacity to learn how to use them, but it takes practice and purpose.
This program is about unraveling, as I mentioned. Unraveling all previously held assumptions about how we should learn. Unraveling ideas about what it means to be "an educator." Unraveling our pride, and re-learning what makes adult learners unique and under what contexts they seek information. I had no idea how vast, and how transformative this approach to education is. There is so much I don't know.
For the past 5 days, I've sat around a table with 12 other educators from various fields...nutrition, paramedical, accounting, English as a second language and I.T. Now, we are the students. I think we all came into this program with preconceived notions of what we were going to study, and had a seemingly clear idea of our research interests. But, after the first day of seminars, one of my cohorts said, "I just realized I know absolutely nothing." This is where our learning as a class began to take place, and we started to trust each other more, because we all admitted how little we knew.
Our advisors, Kathleen and Carole, are two amazing women with so many insights into this field and they have such rich experience in various contexts. I forgot how wonderful it is to be in the presence of such academics. Our lessons seem to be somehow hand-crafted just for us, instead of them speaking at us, they give us tasks, we generate the material and they act as a resource. The first day, for example, we needed to draw a poster of what brought us to this program at St.FX and then present it to the class. It really got me thinking about my journey up until this point. I actually thought about what I wrote for my letter of intent:
I have always loved learning: learning about the world, its people, and what motivates us to seek information. As a child, my parents encouraged my sister and I to be curious about the world around us, a curiosity that was fostered by extensive travel and a home with frequent visitors. It was this curiosity for learning that led me to study Psychology at The Kings University College in Edmonton. Attending a smaller institution, I was closely mentored by my professors, who nurtured not only a deeper knowledge and understanding of psychological concepts and principles, but more importantly the development of critical thinking skills. At the time I saw myself completing undergraduate studies, attending graduate school within a year or two and developing a career in counseling. When the critical time came to make a decision about graduate studies, I had developed a growing desire to travel and experience more of the world before committing to further formal study. In August 2006, I made the decision to move to Japan and spend a year of teaching English. Little did I know that this decision would completely change my career goals and the direction of my life.
When I moved to Osaka, Japan, not only was I attempting to experience and thrive in a different culture, but I was also learning how to effectively teach adults who possessed an incredible variety of experiences, backgrounds, and cultural mindsets much different from my own...
I explained to my class, that when I teach my students in China, I feel as though my role is that of a coach, cheering them on along the side lines. This is where my passion for Adult Education comes in.
All of the cohorts in my class shared stories about their experiences with education - some painful, others exciting, and all of them moving.
One day in particular, we were told to go away for two hours in our groups of three, and research the major adult education movements in Canada that shaped our history, then present our findings to the class. Various groups spoke about soldier training during the war, literacy education, citizenship education, extension programs in universities, health education etc. During our de-briefing time, I said to the group, "This was the very first time in my life when I actually enjoyed and had fun learning about my own country's history." Would that be an "Ah-ha" moment, Oprah?
We've also spend time this week, looking at literature in our particular area of interest. As this program is completely self directed, working from our own interests is the key element to our success. When do students really have a genuine opportunity to start here with their education? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. This weekend, I'm preparing a presentation on an article I've read, entitled "Perspectives on Authenticity in Teaching," an article written by a professor here at St.FX. I can already pick out themes that resonate with me.
One particular memorable moment was studying The Antigonish Movement and Dr.M. Coady. This literally took place right outside of St.FX. If you have a chance, look it up. I had no idea this event ever happend - up until a few days ago. This place is at the very heart of Adult Education in Canada. What a privilege to participate in such a rich education tradition! My research partner and I went out to interview a woman in the community who lives in a housing co-op, and spoke about her experience in this project and if the spirit of the Antigonish movement is still alive today. It most certainly is. You really need to read about this movement on your own, and I say this in the spirit of Adult Education. If you do, tell me what you think!
This program is already like none I've ever known. All of us have already admitted to each other that we feel there is so much to learn, and that we feel inadequate like everyone else is so much more knowledgeable that us. Our advisor reminded us that this is all apart of the adult education process, there is freedom and space to be honest and support each other. These are the conversations I have been waiting to have for a long time. Even though our group has only been together 5 days, I feel like we have learned so much from each other - giving each other possible ideas for research topics and helping one another articulate questions we have about this field.
We just have 2 weeks left together and I feel as though they are just going to fly by. This program been waiting for me. Like it is somehow saying, "Where have you been all this time?" I know that this is going to be the next big challenge in my life, and I sometimes wonder how I'm going balance all of this while living and working in China...but, what better place to be than immersed in the subject your are studying. The more I learn, the more empowered I feel to continue living in China after our foundations course is finished. The challenge will be setting my own pace, my own goals, and deciding how long I want this to take me.
The sky is the limit, and I have a very big mountain to climb...but the sun is shining and I can feel it's warmth. I love this program.
(I'm dedicating this post to little Sariah Jane...so glad we share a name.)
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