Reading Brookfield's The Skillful Teacher

Having read many chapters that Brookfield has authored I was looking forward to reading a book by him. I was not as impressed as I had hoped I might be. I selected two chapters to compare their similarities and differences, and identify their strengths and weaknesses. 

I had a very hard time with one aspect of Brookfield's book, The Skillful Teacher, regarding the ordering of chapters and the presentation of the material. There seemed to be two types of chapters, the first on general, universal, theoretical advice and thoughts. The other chapters were far more specific and offered detailed, concrete tools and techniques. The Chapter on Understanding and Responding to Classroom Emotions would be one I would put into the first, more general category, while the chapter about Teaching Online I would place in the second. Regardless of this critique there were two chapters I would compare and contrast and those would be Chapter 9, Teaching about Racism and Chapter 6, Lecturing Creatively.

I found the chapter Teaching about Racism to be especially difficult to read as it relies so heavily on Critical Race Theory as the foundational element of how he addresses race. Although I don't necessarily agree with the tenets and the beliefs behind critical race theory, the fact that Brookfield, most of his tools and techniques all work toward creating and supporting a reflective learning style, the fact that he is an advocate in Critical Race Theory seems to naturally fit. I liked the fact that Brookfield didn't shy away from it, I just don't necessarily agree with the process, procedure, or foundational understanding that he employs.

The chapter on Lecturing Creatively I found to be the most useful. This would be a chapter I would call a more direct, or less theoretical chapter. Although it offered many tools and tips on how to make lectures more engaging, the reflective learning style that Brookfield promotes can be seen in these tips as well. A clicker response tool for the learners to provide feedback, social media responses, peer critique, these are all in line with that reflective learning style and getting a feedback loop engaged.

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.

More On Brookfield

I was somewhat unimpressed with Brookfield's chapter on Teaching Online. The chapter held little insight for me in terms of the best ways to teach and engage effectively in an online format. He had some good tips on getting feedback, but that is ubiquitous throughout the book, and the feedback tools he listed in the online chapter could have been the same as any other portion of the book, so I failed to see how it was unique to teaching online. I was looking forward to that portion of the book and found as I read it that I grew more and more disappointed. That being said, the maturity of the user group and the expectations have shifted greatly since this book was updated.

That being said I was very happy to read the chapter on Responding to Students' Resistance to Learning. I found this chapter to be very helpful and worthwhile. This did provide very relevant tips, tricks, tools that could be immediately useful for creating that engagement. Would some of these directly transfer to the online teaching aspect? Sure. And I look forward to doing just that.

Again, both chapters have as a hallmark feedback loops that allow teachers the opportunity to gauge, adjust, and adapt to the class to make immediate and long-term improvements. Part of that reflective learning strategy that I wrote about previously (see here). I think the one thing I feel was completely underwhelming, as I mentioned above, was Brookfield's linking this to an online world. Almost all of the advice he gives to his readers could easily be transferred to online, and it was strange to see so little of it actually applied with forethought and precision in the Teaching Online chapter. Felt as though he slipped this in as a sop to his publisher who was demanding an update. That being said, his advocacy for online tools for generating feedback were very worthwhile, twitter, polls, etc. and I've already instituted some of those in our own online teaching paradigm and look forward to the results.

As I read the Teaching Online chapter I tried to subtlety count the things that we don in our own classes that Brookfield advocated and provided in his book. Warming Up to the Online Environment Setting Expectations . . . As this book was last updated in 2015 and technology and expectations have shifted in that time, I kept wondering what more we have seen other organizations do to create engagement and to train effectively online? The changes, updates, and verve for online learning have accelerated rapidly in just the past 6 months, what other tools or techniques could be added to this chapter since it's been written? 

I think my organization is definitely cutting edge in these terms. We can't just present a flat power point via Zoom and call it a day. I'm glad that the reflection tools that Brookfield brought up are there, they provide a much-needed reminder of what needs to be done, especially online, for learning to occur.

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. John Wiley & Sons.

Brookfield Feedback

 I have written alot about Brookfield lately (see here and here) and I had another thing to write about it. Brookfield filled his book on how to create reflective learning tools, feedback loops. 

In the military as a private I was provided monthly feedback via counseling with my team leaders and squad leaders. That was my foundation and the basis of understanding that I was used to and that I came to value. Once I got into the contracting world I found that none of those systems existed that I had come so used to having. Now, fifteen or twenty years later, I still have yet to find the level of feedback that I had gotten used to in those formative years. 

I work with my direct reports and provide them feedback on a monthly basis because I find it useful. Most find it intrusive, I hope because they aren't used to that level of interaction. I've tried to institute feedback mechanisms to help critique and train our trainers and have found that in most cases these were used as platforms for revenge from one trainer to another. 

I've been surprised by how little formal feedback we in the corporate world, or perhaps it's the oil and gas industry, provide our direct reports and receive from our bosses. As a training institute, we go out of our way to get feedback from those that we train and the contractors who are our members, but we do very little for our direct reports. Perhaps this is because we are paid by our trainees and members and our direct reports come and go. Regardless, I really liked the emphasis that Brookfield placed on feedback and reflective learning tools in the book, but noticed that it was always from teacher to student (which of course makes sense as that was the focus of the book), but as leaders, we should not stop there but also look for ways to institute those systems in our organizations to the benefit of our workers. 

Microaggressions

 As I mentioned the other day, I build and am int he process of building training for our leaders in our industry (see here). Well, I was talking to Cami the other day about our training, specifically about training so that our leaders can understand and talk to our newer employees coming into the field. Millennials and Gen Z'ers want different things out of life (see here). Are we doing what we can to help them? To work with them? Based on my reading of Brookfield's book (see here, here and here) we are not, and my discussion with Cami brought this into focus. 

Chapter 7 of Brookfield's book was a doozey. I hated every moment and I came away thinking that the guy was quite a little racist in his own right. Is he trying to make up for it? Sure. Is he actually making things worse? I think so. 

He relates a story about microaggressions. He is a firm believer in Critical Race Theory (CRT) and that everything boils down to race. He believes microaggressions are prevalent and valid. He teaches this and promotes it all in his classroom settings according to his book. The story about the microaggression is telling. 

He told a story about taking attendance in the class and forgetting to call on one young lady. She was black. When she brought up the fact that she had been left out he realized how his missing her was a microaggression on his part and apologized and related that it was a microaggression to her. She said she felt that from him. 

How bout he just forgot? How come we just can't have it be a slip of the mind? If he didn't intend to be racist, is it? Is it a microaggression? 

If I fail to call on Christine in a meeting, is a sexist microaggression? What if I fail to call on Karen? Is that a racist microaggression? If I don't have time to talk to Tom is that a microaggression against him cause he's Chinese? What about if I do all these same things to Tommy? Another white male? Is that not a microaggression in that case because he and I share a common skin color? 

It all becomes quite ridiculous. 

One problem I have is that microaggressions seem to be identified and defined by the receiver. I didn't say victim on purpose. I think that microaggressions and CRT in general make us all into victims. I like the idea of not being a victim. One famous instance of this was when the flight attendant on I think a Southwest Airlines flight said, "Eeny meenie miney moe, take a seat we have to go." All very silly and harmless. Except one lady said that it was racist. She said that nursery rhyme has racial undertones. I know that I used that rhyme all the time as a kid. Never once did we have overt or covert racial intentions in using it. I didn't even know that it could be racial till someone told me. Isn't that on the receiver to understand the intent? Should that flight attendant know the history of all nursery rhymes before making up her own? How bout we just all have a bit thicker skin. 

Thick skin is a prerequisite for anyone with a name like Dick by the way. 

Regardless, what stunned me was that college aged kids in the 2000's were being taught from Brookfield's book. If this is what they had been taught, we are in trouble. Now, it's on us to craft and develop a training that helps our leaders lead them. I'm sure microaggressions will be a part of that training. But, wow, these generations are gonna have some issues if they can't be a bit tougher. 

First Lines of Brookfields The Skillful Teacher

 As a continuation of my posts on the importance of and my reading of first lines (see here), I offer this from a recent book I read, Stephen Brookfield's, The Skillful Teacher. 

Passion, hope, doubt, fear, exhilaration, weariness, colleagueship, loneliness, glorious defeats, hollow victories, and, above all, the certainties of surprise and ambiguity; how on earth can a single word or phrase begin to capture the multilayered complexity of what it feels like to teach? Today's college classrooms are more diverse than ever before, and the explosion of online learning and social media has thrown traditional conceptions of college teaching out of the window. The truth is teaching is a gloriously messy pursuit in which shock, contradiction, and risk are endemic. Our lives as teachers often boil down to our best attempts to muddle through the complex contexts and configurations that our classrooms represent.

Brookfield, S. (1990). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom. Jossey-Bass Publishers.

So, just how does one begin a book on becoming a better, more skillful, college professor? I guess the above is as good as any, but the truth is, I just don't think it's that inspiring. Sadly, I didn't find the book itself much better than the first line.

Apply Dewey’s Concept of Experiential Learning to VR Courses

Lamoreaux and Taylor (2011) write that “…the crucial role of experience in learning is often traced to Dewey (1938) who held that all genuine education comes through experience” (Hoare, 2011, p. 84). In my work with virtual reality (VR) at HASC, a non-profit contractor safety, and skills training organization, experiential learning makes up a significant factor in the learner’s experience. The authors continue by discussing how Kolb believes that experience becomes knowledge through reflection (Hoare, 2011). 

Then several passages later the authors break down, using examples of what learners should ask of themselves to progress through Kolb’s cycle of a) concrete experience, b) reflective observation, c) abstract conceptualization, and d) active experimentation (Hoare, 2011). 

VR use as a medium for experiential learning and to involve learners in the cyclic process described by Kolb is not unique or new (Sankaranarayanan et al., 2018), but by applying more reflection and further experimentation, there is the possibility to make VR learning more effective for the learners that HASC serves.

HASC has been working for several years to find ways to make VR courses more impactful for our adult learners. Allowing the learner to experience the course in a safe environment is just one benefit of VR. The benefits of hands-on instruction over traditional computer-based training (CBT) and traditional lecture can be found in numerous studies (Daniels, 2006; Palis & Quiros, 2014; O. Ekwueme, et al, 2015). VR courses allow the learner to experience many of the benefits of hands-on instruction but, also allow for the application of procedures in an immersive environment, which can be programmed to display dangerous scenarios, in a safe, yet realistic setting (Sankaranarayanan et al., 2018). 

In 2020, HASC published a white paper describing a study of a VR course that included over 1800 participants. This study demonstrated that CBT courses augmented with VR exercises improved long-term memory recall for the participants (Health and Safety Council, 2020). By following Kolb’s experiential learning cycle more thoroughly there is the potential of helping learners improve that long-term memory recall beyond the approximately 10% that HASC found in the previous study. 

Lamoreaux and Taylor (2011) also discuss Brookfield’s view on experiences by citing; “Brookfield (1998) echoes that experiences don’t happen to us, events happen to us, in his view, mere sense data is not in itself an experience. It becomes an experience when we attend to it or according to Kolb (1984) reflect on it” (Hoare, 2011, p. 84). 

The task would be for HASC to find a way that allows learners to not just experience the VR exercise, and actively experiment with the procedure within the virtual world, but to complete all of the steps of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle and allow learners to reflect on the observation and conceptualize abstractly. When providing examples of this observation and abstract conceptualizing, Lamoreaux and Taylor write about reflection with: “Why did I do it (that way)? What did I see, (notice, feel) and why? Does it always happen this way?” (Hoare, 2011, p. 92). About abstract conceptualization they write these questions the learners should ask of themselves: “What might explain different behavior or feelings? . . . Are there other explanations or perspectives?” (Hoare, 2011, p. 84). These are questions that HASC should be compelling our learners to ask, rather than simply ushering them through an experience within a virtual world.

Miettinen (2000) provides a visual representation of John Dewey’s concept of experiential learning according to Kolb on page 64 which has been reproduced in Figure 1 below. This diagram shows how adult learners absorb, process, reflect on, and reassess information with the end goal of moving from impulse to purpose. Miettenen (2000) also discusses how Tom Burke, a student of Dewey’s summarized this cycle of understanding and learning. This passage has been reproduced as an illustration in Figure 2. Taking both of these as models and applying HASC’s VR course, there could be an opportunity for making HASC’s VR courses more effective through re-evaluation, reflection,as shown in Figure 3.  

Figure 1

Reproduction of Mittenen (2000) John Dewey’s Concept of Experiential Learning According to Kolb (p. 64) 

 

Figure 2

Illustration of Tom Burke’s description of John Dewey’s Concept of Experiential Learning from Mittenen (2000, p. 64)

Figure 3

Illustration of HASC’s VR Course Development Model with Dewey’s Experiential Learning Concept

 

At this point, HASC uses a cycle of the type shown in the figures once. This single cycle does not allow the learner to re-evaluate or reformulate their previous hypotheses, nor reflect and reconsider. Although there are reasons that having further cycles of understanding might be difficult to implement, the chance of utilizing Kolb’s experiential learning cycle and Dewey’s concept of experiential learning would greatly benefit the understanding of HASC’s learners. Finding opportunities to help HASC learners through the entirety of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, provides the learner a better chance of developing more resilient, long-term memories and might allow HASC learners a better chance of using the procedures from this learning in the field environment. 

 

References

Daniels, N. (2006). The effectiveness of hands-on activities compared to paper and pencil activities when teaching reading to first through fifth grade students. Old Dominion University.

Health and Safety Council. (2020). Gauging Effectiveness of 3D VR for Memory Retrieval. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jvogEWVVL7BLQSZ08bab9S1RGS-llAwN/view?usp=sharing

Hoare, Carolyn (Ed.) (2011) The oxford handbook of reciprocal adult development and learning. 2nd Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0199736300

Miettinen, R. (2000) The concept of experiential learning and John Dewey's theory of reflective thought and action, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19:1, 54-72, DOI: 10.1080/026013700293458

O. Ekwueme, C., E. Ekon, E., & C. Ezenwa-Nebife, D. (2015). The impact of Hands-on-approach on student academic performance in basic science and mathematics. Higher Education Studies, 5(6), 47. https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v5n6p47

Palis, A. G., & Quiros, P. A. (2014). Adult learning principles and presentation pearls. Middle East African Journal of Ophthalmology, 21(2), 114–122. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-9233.129748

Sankaranarayanan, G., Wooley, L., Hogg, D., Dorozhkin, D., Olasky, J., Chauhan, S., Fleshman, J. W., De, S., Scott, D., & Jones, D. B. (2018). Immersive virtual reality-based training improves response in a simulated operating room fire scenario. Surgical Endoscopy, 32(8), 3439–3449. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-018-6063-x

Imposter Syndrome

My colleague Will brought up the idea of feeling like an imposter in class, or having "imposter syndrome." That was a term I was introduced to while reading Brookfield's Skillful Teacher. I remember reading about that syndrome and thinking of the number of times I've felt the same thing; joining the Army, SF Pre-Scuba School, Ranger School, Best Ranger, joining the workforce and with each successive job opportunity. There have been few experiences where I feel I am not an imposter at the beginning of the journey. And my epiphany (if it can be called that) is that the longer we spend in the process the more confident and capable we become. 

The trick I find is to shorten that learning curve and shorten the process or the duration of the imposter part of the process. The faster we can become proficient in the system the less like an imposter. I'm sure someone has graphed this in some highly technical and imaginative way. Regardless, as epiphanies go, it's hardly earth shattering, but it does play a part. I find that it's not just the classes that I take that are helping me gain a sense of correctness of being in the situation or a lack of impostership, but it's also the work that goes into the process behind the scenes. Each article I've read, every paper I write, each research idea that I dream up, takes me a step closer. So, what I've been doing is decreasing the timescale by doing more reading and more writing on my own. Before the last class we took together I found and downloaded about 20 papers on emotional connection and VR (which was my area of interest for that class) so that I could be prepared bfore the class began. I not only read the books before the class, but also found two other books on memory to review as well. The more prep I can do for each class and toward this Ph.D. process the less likely there's a feeling of impostership (like I said, hardly and epiphany).

Secondly, and this one has to deal with writing, I have written and (self) published three novels. In every instance of writing those novels I was surprised by the amount of re-writing I had to do. Each book is 90K words long and based on the reviews I get, they aren't too poorly written. Each one may have started with a 50,000 word sprint to the finish in a month long writing challenge like National Novel Writing Month puts on, but they grew from that. Throughout all of that I've found it's never the first draft that makes the final cut. That novel I was working on before starting the program, I was on the 4th iteration. I've found that writing is more about re-writing and editing than the writing itself, but given enough time and attention, like anything else, it takes shape. 

What I'm impressed by with this process we are following is that amount of support we get from fellow students and professors. In just about every case I've listed above where I was challenged, I was pretty much on my own. This is the first challenge where I've had so many support groups, and that is what I've been leaning on. Those weekly meetings (even though I haven't attended as religiously as I should have) help me through tons of challenges with more ease than I could have handled alone. If you're going to feel like an imposter, best to have other imposters around you, right?

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The skillful teacher (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

More CRT

 I wanted to follow up from my post regarding CRT and it's use in schools. Lots in the media right now about it, but this update comes by way of my friend from facebook and my son. 

The facebook friend is a teacher and most of her posts and comments to me in person have been around the lines that it's vital that we teach this to children if only for the chance to reveal to them and to admit to ourselves that racism was not only horrible for the US but is still ongoing. 

Now, I have no problem with the teaching aspect, I'm all for exposing kids to all the perspectives, but I also believe that it needs to be done at the appropriate time. High school? Maybe. College? Sure. Masters and PhD level classes? You betcha. Middle schools? Probably not. Lower schools? Heck no. 

I love the fact that children are the most color blind of society. I'm firmly of the belief that racism is a learned trait. When our first son started school his best friends were every different shade and he saw no issue. He continues in this vein even now. Why teach kiddos who are naturally colorblind to these things to throw on shades and perspectives? Isn't color-blindness what we want to achieve?

There's the rub. 

Many of the proponents of CRT believe we need to make up for past sins by being racist. Brookfield deliberately says this in his book. Henry Rogers (aka Ibrahim X Kendi) says the same thing. Which I think is atrocious and capricious. Who decides when it's enough? Who decides when and how to apply it? 

My son said something interesting the other day, and it made me proud of him. I'm a huge proponent of putting yourself in the other's shoes. Would we want teachers to push a Christian centered view on classrooms because in the past Christians were transgressed against? Or what about Jewish kiddos? Should they get an arbitrary leg up from teachers because of the holocaust? 

Regardless, in my view it should all be personal and not broadcast arbitrarily. If a kiddo comes to me as a teacher and asks for help in a class, I should help them and make allowances regardless of color. I shouldn't help them just because they happen to be one color or another. This is my problem with Brookfields statements. He bases his help and his classes on race alone. 

The CRT claim about classrooms these days seems to me to be more about soft social engineering which I think is wrong no matter the case. Besides are all of the kiddos in US schools doing so well that we can afford to spend a lot of time naval gazing about this? Maybe focus on the fundamentals and get those down so well we become the best in the world before we head off on these social engineering tangents. 

More CRT

I've written about this before (HERE and HERE) but it came up again in a Facebook post I wrote the other day. My neighbor was getting pummeled so I thought it worthwhile to speak up.

In truth, when I read that Brookfield chapter, not only did I lose a ton of respect for the man, but I also started to realize that this had been taught in higher education for years. It made me realize how pervasive this social engineering had been at the college level, and why we had so many nuts around the country now days. 

What's troubling is that I'm getting this social engineering in a Ph.D class. Can kids in high school or middle school understand it and stand up for their beliefs at younger ages? I don't think so. I'm glad to see that there is some push back against it at those levels (see HERE and HERE).

I look at the fact that in my class on Qualitative Analysis I have to apply critical theory to my article reviews in terms of race, indigenous people, or feminism and I realize that my professor has been forced to apply these social engineering perspectives into our assignments; whether it fits there or not. Those perspectives do not fit my research at all, yet some how I'm being forced to fit my work into those views. Ridiculous.

Next semester I have to take an entire class on Social and Critical Justice Issues. It's a requirement that I take that class. Why? The cultural moment within which we live demands it. Would I rather focus on how learning effects our clients? How the workers we support want to get effective training? Yep. But instead I have to take time to learn more about critical and social justice issues. I'm not looking forward to it. It's a tangent that doesn't mean much to my research and truthfully, I doubt I'll get much out of it. 

Feedback and Counseling

In the military as a private, I was provided monthly feedback via counseling with my team leaders and squad leaders. That was my foundation and the basis of understanding that I was used to and that I came to value. Once I got into the contracting world I found that none of those systems existed that I had come so used to having. Now, fifteen or twenty years later, I still have yet to find the level of feedback that I had gotten used to in those formative years. 

I work with my direct reports and provide them feedback on a monthly basis because I find it useful. Most find it intrusive, I hope because they aren't used to that level of interaction. I've tried to institute feedback mechanisms to help critique and train our trainers and have found that in most cases these were used as platforms for revenge from one trainer to another. 

I've been surprised by how little formal feedback we in the corporate world, or perhaps it's the oil and gas industry, provide our direct reports and receive from our bosses. As a training institute, we go out of our way to get feedback from those that we train and the contractors who are our members, but we do very little for our direct reports. Perhaps this is because we are paid by our trainees and members and our direct reports come and go. Regardless, I really liked the emphasis that Brookfield placed on feedback and reflective learning tools in the book, but noticed that it was always from teacher to student (which of course makes sense as that was the focus of the book), but as leaders, we should not stop there but also look for ways to institute those systems in our organizations to the benefit of our workers. 

More Reflection to Become a Better Teacher

I had a chance to talk for a while with Catie, a fellow teacher/trainer/facilitator the other day (and yes I'm trying to get her to be a guest blogger) and she impressed the hell out of me. Really she shouldn't have. It was such a simple thing she was doing, and I should have been doing it myself. I can’t wait to try and implement this with my team. What’s sad is that I’ve been implementing tools like this for the class for years, I’ve just failed to do it for the instructor pool. 

When I was training for my previous job, I would end each class, or even each segment of class by asking each person in the class what they had learned that they hadn’t known before the class started. This I felt did several things: 

1) it made them think back and reflect on the course from their own perspective, wake up those memory cells, 

2) it made them reprocess what I had said and put it into their own words to vocalize it to the class, 

3) it allowed the other trainees in the class to hear it again to help reactivate their memories and 

4) they were allowed to hear it that second time in someone else’s voice, in one of the other trainer’s frame of reference, which might have been different and more in their lingo than mine might have been.

I didn’t know then that I was forcing reflection on the class, but it seemed like the right thing to do so we did. Who knew is was so thoroughly grounded in learning theory. 

Since taking classes and learning about the power of reflection we’ve also created a website group page for our leadership training students. We hope to make it a place they can come and access new tools and tips, hear from others, and reflect again about what they may have learned in the class. A reflection page so to speak. 

I have been reading a book on Skillful Teaching by Stephen Brookfield’s book on teaching, it seemed like every single chapter was filled with feedback loop mechanisms both for the instructor and for the student. It was clear to see that he was a huge proponent of reflection. If I take nothing else from this second life educational journey it will be about the power of reflection for creating resilient long term memory. I see now from your post that I can do more for our cadre of instructors as well in helping them with their own reflection and learning!