Teaching and Learning from Within

A Core Reflection Approach to Quality and Inspiration in Education

Fred A. J. Korthagen, Younghee M. Kim, William L. Greene, Fred A. J. Korthagen, Younghee M. Kim, William L. Greene

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780415522489
• eBook ISBN: 9781136327162
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Teaching and Learning from Within brings together theory, research, and practice on core reflection, an approach that focuses on people's strengths as the springboard for personal growth and serves every human being involved in education–including students, teachers, school principals, and university faculty. This approach supports the essential role of authenticity in the development of the whole person. It has been used in contexts around the world and has shown great promise in helping to re-chart the course for education and to re-think its purpose in global and democratic societies. The book looks at the current educational context and the need for core reflection; introduces the theory and its linkages to previous studies in numerous disciplines; presents various applications in multinational research and practice—with teachers, with students and schools, and with teacher educators; and highlights ongoing work in around the world along with future plans, opportunities, and resources for professional development and research.

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PART I

Overview: Introduction to Core Reflection

This first part of the book consists of three chapters that together lay out a foundation for the rest of the book. Building on a critical view of current educational developments, we start with explaining why we see a need for core reflection. Next, Chapter 2 provides an introduction to the theory of core reflection and its linkages to other theories and disciplines. Chapter 3 provides a deeper explanation of the model and examples of how the core reflection approach works in education. It also summarizes the basic principles of core reflection and its scientific background.

1

TRANSFORMING EDUCATION FROM WITHIN

William L. Greene, Younghee M. Kim, and Fred A. J. Korthagen

This chapter examines educational developments worldwide, taking the historical developments in US education as an exemplar for how the human aspect has gradually disappeared from the realm of teaching and learning. We explain how core reflection aims at overcoming tensions, such as those between the personal and the professional, the technical and the dispositional, the external and the internal. Most of all, core reflection tries to nurture the whole student and teacher, and to give full attention to issues like identity, mission, inspiration, and passion.

The most valuable measure of my development as a teacher has been the growth I have experienced by discovering traits and talents within myself and manifesting them through my work with students. A principle motivation behind my aspiration to become a teacher was the desire to bring out the best in my students. Through the process of teaching, I have discovered that they bring out the best in me. As I have allowed my genuine concern and care for individual students to flourish, I have found myself becoming more compassionate. As I have sought to understand their individual needs and abilities, I have found myself becoming more earnest and authentic. And as I have humbled myself and learned how to plan and provide the best atmosphere and experiences for student learning, I have found myself becoming more effective.

(US graduate of a teacher preparation program that
emphasized the core reflection approach)

This book explores what it means to bring out the best in ourselves, our students, those with whom we work, and others in our lives. It is about setting the stage for strengths within each individual to flourish and for deep learning to occur. It is about connecting human hearts and spirits with how we see ourselves and others in our daily practice as educators. Envisioning the expansion of our capacities and potential through strengthening that connection, we present ‘core reflection’ as an approach to teaching, learning, leading, and professional development that supports the critical role of authenticity in the development of the whole person.

Developed in the Netherlands by Fred Korthagen and Angelo Vasalos, core reflection is based on nurturing the relationship between a person's inner qualities, or core, and her experiences in the outer world (Korthagen, 2004; Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005). The core reflection approach, as it is being used in education, provides a tool for overcoming internal obstacles and limitations that can block our ability to see the many possibilities within ourselves and our circumstances. Core reflection provides a means to integrate, rather than separate, the multiple dimensions of our wholeness as humans – our thoughts, our feelings, our desires and ideals – and to bring the full power and potential of that wholeness to bear upon the experiences of teaching and learning.

In education, interest in holistic development has slowly and cautiously resurfaced among growing numbers of professional educators. Perhaps this is in response to sagging morale in schools and communities where the measure of educational success has been defined too narrowly to be very meaningful. Or, perhaps it is in response to accountability tactics that have deprived teachers of the sense of professional worth they need to thrive and students of the empowerment they need to excel in their learning. Much talk and research about education is focused on the external and measureable conditions for learning that result in the adoption of, for example, outcomes-based curricula, ‘best practice’ instructional strategies, or behavioral support programs. Less focus is typically paid to the internal and natural qualities that individuals bring to the context of teaching and learning. We recognize the importance of developing skills and competencies as part of a foundation for learning, but our focus here is on the internal realm as a foundation for learning. This is a realm in which individual strengths and ideals are embraced and where personal growth is supported. This is exactly what core reflection offers, and we believe that this approach orients education toward the requisite conditions for substantive and enlightened transformations to occur.

With prominent national standards in many countries around the world emphasizing content, pedagogy, and test scores, rarely do we see any recognition of the importance for a teacher to understand herself, to engage and expand her awareness and sense of being in the world, and to teach from her soul so she can touch and know the souls of her students. Palmer (1998) asks, “How can schools educate students if they fail to support the teacher's inner life? How can schools perform their mission without encouraging the guide to scout out the inner terrain?” (p. 6). These questions expose a major void in the initial preparation of teachers and in the professional development typically offered for practicing teachers. Evoking and nourishing the inner life of teachers can provide the opportunity for them to revisit their commitment to and passion for teaching because it re-connects them with their core qualities (Korthagen, 2004), their sense of purpose (Intrator & Kunzman, 2006), and their authenticity as an individual (Palmer, 1998). In other words, “the more we are able to nourish our own souls the more our teaching or work will be reenergized and revitalized” (Miller, 2000, p. 5). This book is an attempt to bridge the critical gap between the inward and the outward dimensions of teaching and leadership and to advocate for a greater measure of attention to the inner lives of students and teachers. Such a connection appears in the following example.

It has been an amazing journey to be able to really sit back and reflect not only on lessons planned and taught, but on me and who I am as a person, deep down. It is the true me that I pass along to my students. It is my compassion, empathy, enthusiasm, silliness, authenticity, drive, commitment, open heart, and many more core qualities that allow me to teach from my heart and be the teacher I have become.

(US student teacher)

The excerpt above is taken from a final ‘synthesis’ paper at the end of a two-year teacher preparation program in which students engaged regularly in a practice called core reflection with their professors. Core reflection, as Chapters 2 and 3 explain in detail, represents a shift from a focus on overcoming problems and deficiencies toward a focus on supporting people's inner cores, and thus on promoting personal strengths and personal growth. The student teacher quoted above and her peers in the teaching program were provided with a chance to explore and integrate how images of their true selves could align with their developing identities as teachers. When teachers can imagine and become who they want to be, the ideals they hold will come into practice. This will directly impact their students’ outcomes and achievements. Imagine a teacher who begins to share her core qualities with her students through her daily lesson planning, classroom management, and relationships. It is easy to imagine her practice becoming more engaging and powerful to her students. We believe that this level of authenticity goes hand in hand with providing a safe and enjoyable place to learn.

When learning becomes a joyful or meaningful experience for students, it touches the spirit in ways that cannot always be measured, but that can leave a lasting imprint on their deeper sense of being. We ask:

• How can a teacher grow into becoming a more natural and authentic role model for promoting the excitement of learning with her students?

• How can teachers draw the best out of their students and support their human potential?

• How can teacher education faculty support student teachers to become the best teachers they can be?

We believe these questions are critically significant if schooling is to realize new levels of possibility and potential. This book addresses these questions through the lens of core reflection.

One of the interesting aspects of the core reflection process is that it challenges the apparent dichotomies we, as human beings, usually tend to create within our minds and belief systems. Core reflection highlights the effect of limiting concepts, interpretations, and conclusions we may hold about ourselves and our relationships with others; it also highlights the effects that become manifest when we experience various levels of tension, conflict, and suffering in a personal or professional situation. As we re-chart the course for education and re-think its purpose in global and democratic societies, the core reflection approach can help us challenge and see through polarizing perspectives that may place artificial boundaries on how we look at ourselves and the world; it invites us to focus on embracing and integrating the values, visions, and strengths of (apparently) conflicting realities and concerns. We think the time has come to bring these conflicts to new levels of awareness in teaching and teacher preparation and to look at how we can rise above the tensions and limitations that undermine effective education.

Overview of the Educational Trend in the US

The educational implications of core reflection are both international and multicultural. With that in mind, this section provides an overview of educational trends in the US as an example of similar trends in the public school systems of other countries around the world. The recent history of education in America, as in other parts of the world, has seen ebbs and flows in the priorities of mainstream practice. Over the years, influences on American educational values have come from many philosophical perspectives – some contradictory and others complementary. For example, progressivists, inspired by John Dewey, see the purpose of education as more student-centered and experiential. In contrast, the perspective's represented by essentialism and behaviorism, tend to be more teacher-centered and to value the mastery of a particular body of knowledge and skills. While world events and politics have had a prominent hand in shaping the prevalence of these and other philosophical perspectives and trends in American education since World War II, the last three decades have seen a series of sweeping changes resulting from reports and policies with national scope and influence.

In 1983, the US National Commission on Excellence in Education produced a report called, ‘A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.’ This report claimed that American schools were failing academically and in their ability to supply the nation with a competitive workforce. The response to this report led to an increased focus on content standards and graduation requirements for public school students. By the year 2000, academic standards measured through high-stakes tests determined high school graduation criteria in almost every state. With ever-increasing federal influence tied to financial support and accompanying policy mandates, states and local districts attempted to comply with more and more stringent testing and accountability requirements.

The next major iteration of national education reform in the US appeared as the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ of 2001 (NCLB). This produced rigorous requirements for state-established curriculum standards and testing across all grades with strict economic sanctions for schools and states that did not comply. With the stakes of their students’ test scores even higher, teachers were expected to adapt their curriculum and teaching practice in order to demonstrate student gains on federally-approved standardized tests. Test-based academic achievement often overshadowed other important aspects of students’ growth and development. Many in education began to fee...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part I Overview: Introduction to Core Reflection
• Part II Core Reflection with Teachers
• Part III Core Reflection with Students and Schools
• Part IV Core Reflection with Teacher Educators
• Part V Conclusion
• Chapter Contributors
• Index