Patricia Crantons Book - Research Paper Example

? Reaction Paper to Patricia Cranton's Book Reaction Paper to Patricia Cranton's Book Patricia Cranton’s book speaks to the focus teachers have on their student’s learning and development. While adult educators focus a great deal of their attention on learners, especially adult learners, the teachers pay little or no attention to their individual learning. When educators disregard their personal learning and learning experiences they become unable to adopt an empathetic position towards their students and the students’ experiences. Teachers should typically engage in transformative learning to equip themselves with essential tools to enable them effectively administer education to their students, both young and adult learners. The book offers a concise guide on how personal and professional development allows educators and facilitators to conduct their teaching activities effectively by drawing on their experiences as learners. The transformational theory of learning and education imparts an adept understanding of one’s perspectives with regard to development of adult educators. Self development entails a wide array of actions and changes in perceptions. In order to achieve the most fundamental self development, teachers’ reflection is exemplified. When seeking to attain the highest level of critical reflection, educators require to move well beyond the notion of sheer acquisition of new understanding, knowledge and skills and focus on question conventional assumption, perspective and norms (Cranton 1996, 76). Self development, especially critical reflection centers on a number of distinct elements. These are analysis of existing assumptions, imagination based on speculation, reflective skepticism and contextual awareness. The ability of educators to reflect critically on their own experiences and integrate the knowledge gained from these experiences is the epitome of self development. An adult learner such as an educator must take action on the insights provided by critical reflection and devise new ways of dealing with matters separate from their previous actions, which were dictated by their assumptions. Critical reflection is the process through which adult learners assess and pinpoint the assumptions that govern their actions by locating the assumptions’ cultural and historic origins, and establish distinct models of behavior. Effective critical reflection must, therefore, challenge the existing political, cultural, social and professional ways in which educators act. Through the process of critical reflection, personal and professional development emerge because adult learners are able to interpret and formulate entirely new knowledge and actions as a result of the ordinary or extraordinary reflective experiences. Critical reflection blends into self development as it affirms the essence of learning through experience with regard to both technical and theoretical learning modules as learners are able to form new behaviors, insights and knowledge constructions (Cranton 1996, 119). This is because learning through critical reflection mechanisms allows for creation of new understandings by appreciating the political, social, professional and ethical assumptions that preciously constrained development and effective learning. In order to become a transformative learner, one has to appreciate all the aforementioned constraining assumptions that supported previous actions and admonished the prospect of change. As a strategy of self development, critical reflection of constraining assumptions maintains intellectual and professional growth and improvement by allowing one to comprehend and appreciate the necessity of both personal and system change. This is because reflection is a learning tool that directs and informs the practice and method of teaching for educators by providing the right framework for the selection of appropriate alternative in the practice of teaching. In addition, transformative learning furnishes educators with the right knowledge sets to reconstruct the classroom’s social and political environment. As earlier cited, the prospect of development based on self direction focuses on four imperative elements such as speculative imagination, reflective skepticism, assumption analysis and contextual awareness. Assumption analysis forms the focal point of reflection. Critical analysis of one’s assumptions allows an educator to get to the root of all existing assumptions by focusing on the cultural, political and social history of the educator. The teacher is then able to assess existing assumptions and admonish assumptions that are detrimental to his/her individual learning and development. Ideal self development entails regular reflective skepticism regarding prevailing conditions in one’s life and environment. For educators, reflective skepticism is an essential tool required in questioning mainstream norms and traditions. The art is a powerful resource in the educator’s personal life, as well as the classroom and school environments. Reflective skepticism as a tool of self directed development entails fair and open-mindedness, showing reasonable trust to others, flexibility in terms of choices, attitudes and mindset and prudence in decision making. Contextual awareness is essentially an educator’s prerequisite. Contextual awareness is in-depth knowledge of the material taught in class. Continuous education is required in order to equip educators with the appropriate amount of contextual knowledge needed in the teaching practice. There is a need for teachers and facilitators to enhance their contextual awareness through constant research on advances in teaching materials, as well as undergoing tests to gauge their level of contextual awareness (Cranton 1996, 151). In order to facilitate effective development, educators should be honest about their personal biases, and should be willing to confront these biases and reconsider their stances on pertinent issues. A speculative imagination comes in handy when dealing with existing biases. Speculative imaginations are pertinent in educators’ self directed development as they offer viable alternatives for previous assumptions. In order to become a transformative learner, an educator must have a speculative imagination, which allows him or her to decipher different situations by considering the elements that bring about its existence. An unimaginative educator is both dull and ambiguous in the class setting. By considering one’s learning experiences; an educator is able to use his or her imagination to come up with the best possible teaching module to adopt in class. For instance, a speculative imagination provides an educator of facilitator leeway to use relevant examples when teaching hence fostering students’ comprehension of the subject and material at hand. A speculative imagination may also compel a teacher, say a science teacher, to take a lesson from the classroom and have the lesson outside where students get to see what they are being taught. Self-directed development and critical reflection allow educators to adopt strategies that are both democratic and rational, which are predominant in becoming a transformative learner. Without deciding on the most appropriate, reflective practice, it is difficult for an educator to choose and adopt a viable teaching and learning strategy. Reflective practice is a developmental learning module, may be influenced by the learner’s cognitive ability, readiness to participate in the process and the learners’ (educator) perception towards the aspect of change. Only when an educator appreciates his or her individual learning process in terms of difficulties, assumptions and ease can he or she impart knowledge and skills to learners. It is imperative that educators acknowledge the learning process as an inherent cycle that propels change and brings about effective learning and teaching practices. References Cranton, P. 1996. Professional Development as Transformative Learning: New Perspectives for Teachers of Adults. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass. Read More