Creative Autobiography

Semester B – Third Year – Alternative Education

Reflection Week 1:

Today was my first session back at University following the Christmas break. We have now officially finished Semester A and have moved onto Semester B, which means we are now being introduced to the final modules of the Education Studies course. One of these modules is ‘Alternative Education’, which I have been looking forward to starting, even more so since I began working within alternative education facilities as a teaching assistant. One of the tasks we have been given during this first session is to create a journal where we, as students will reflect on the sessions of this specific module each week. Which bring me here, my reflection of the first session:

Upon the session beginning, we were shown a video extract from the Truman Show, which can be seen below.

After watching this short clip, we were asked to think about a example from our own experiences of a moment your own (metaphorical) yacht hit the wall. I found this task quite emotional as it made me realise how far I have come, both academically and professionally, since a time in my life which I found extremely difficult. Although I didn’t feel the need to share my ‘hit the wall’ moment with the rest of the group, I feel as thought this task was extremely thought provoking and made me reflect and realise that sometimes when you feel as though everyone is against you and your life has come to a strict hault, if you are passionate enough to make things happen, you can make it happen. And even if the changes take a lot of time and effort, it will be worth it when you take time to sit and look back.

“Learn to trust your own feelings and encourage activities…that allow personal insights to be respected in your class.“

Greta Nagel (The Tao of Teaching, 1994)

Reflection Week 2: “This Session Has No Teacher”

Prior to this session today, we were advised to go away and read some papers from different thinkers surrounding education. On arrival of todays session, there was a notice on the board which stated “this session has no teacher”. My initial thoughts were that we wouldn’t get much out of todays lesson however, this opinion soon changed when the discussion started within the classroom. While I had read John Taylor Gatto -‘Dumbing us Down’ (2005) and the chapter ‘The Seven Lesson School Teacher’ prior to the session today, other members of the group had read differing papers. This worked well as when I discussed ideas which I has gained from one specific paper, other members of the group were then able to elaborate, agree or even disagree with things that were being said. I find this way of learning extremely beneficial as it opens your mind to views and opinions which you may never have considered. Our job roles outside of university also played a part within this session and the experiences which we have had. I personally work within a pupil referral unit in secondary education, whereby one of my peers works in a mainstream primary education facility. Listening to the differing views and the organisational logistics of her workplace as opposed to mine was both eye-opening and thought provoking.

However, while I feel as though there are many benefits to sessions such as this one where there was no obvious teacher/facilitator, there were also some very obvious negatives. The main thing which stood out to me today was that it seemed to be the same people who contributed to the session, speaking out-loud and portraying their opinions to the rest of the group. In-fact, more than 75% of the group did not contribute in anyway to the session. While I completely understand some of my peers may not have felt comfortable in doing so, I cant help but feel that if everyone shared their experiences, views and opinions, the learning for each of us would have much more rich as we would have numerous other criticisms, ideas and experiences to discuss, enabling the group to develop their knowledge even further. This suggests then that while some students may find this approach to education beneficial, other students may require more structure to the sessions with specific objectives and a facilitator to support the session to move forward.

Reflection Week 3: Class and the Impact On Education.

Initially, I really struggled with this session as I, personally don’t have any relatable experience surrounding the impact of class. However, looking back now after the session, it could be said that this was me being completely ignorant to it and making up other excuses for the different ways people of different classes/social backgrounds are being treated.

One thing that really stuck out to me during this session was the idea of class not being a protected characteristic. Therefore, if someone made de-moralising comments or treating people differently due to their race, religion, gender or disability, it would be classed as wrong. However, within society, there are no policies or legislation which state that it is wrong to treat someone differently because of their social class whether it be refusing them a place at a specific educational facility, or offering someone from a higher class background the job opposed to the working class applicant.

During this session, there were numerous books on the desks when I walked into the room. Because this was unusual, I had a look and was interested in one of the books ‘Chavs – The Demonization of the Working Class’ by Owen Jones (2011) and took it back to my seat.

When some of the pupils and tutor were in discussion I had a flick through the book and found a chapter which I was able to relate to as it is something I have grown up with all over the news. The disappearances of both Shannon Matthews and Madeline McCann. While the differences of the investigations, the media coverage and even the reward money never struck me as being due to class differences of the families, this book explained how it linked so well. I feel as though this was a lightbulb moment for me and made me realise that the impact of social class is extremely powerful and un-fair.

I feel as though having books within the classroom is an extremely clever way to support the education of students, especially those in higher education – however this could work for all education facilities. Throughout the start of the lesson I struggled to relate anything to the differentiation of social class and therefore, found it difficult to engage fully. However, being able to take some time to read this book on my own and find something which made it easy to understand and relate to the differences of social class really supported me. I have now brought this book home and continued to read this chapter as I found it extremely interesting and feel as though it will support my learning further when relating social class to education.