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During this residency I have learned so much about myself.  Any masters’ degree should be about discovering or perhaps uncovering oneself.   Sometimes we don’t like what we see.   Sometimes our assumptions run deep.

I have been confronted with the fact that education can take many forms, not just the ones that I am use to.  We don’t always have to start from a deductive stance – giving out the general theories (normally a lecture followed by labs) and then working to the specifics.  Sometimes we can work from the specifics and then work more to the general.  This is a major stretch for a big picture techie like myself.  After talking to others in my cohort I discovered that other types of learning do in fact take place all around me in my class room.  The challenge for me is now after accepting other styles and approaches to be deliberate in incorporating these approaches and styles.  I feel that I can better identify other forms of learning that might aid in connecting to students that learn differently from myself.   Breaking away from this egocentric view that all people must learn like me is going to have an effect on my teaching.

 

Group Synergy

It is Friday and we are at the end of the two week residency.  It is amazing how close the cohort has grown together.  It is a wonderful thing to observe that when people come together with the same purpose or goal that a bond or connection takes place.  This unity of purpose made it so easy to get to know each other and appreciate one another.  

The approach that Royal Roads has taken in getting all of us to work together really accomplished this synergy.  This also speaks to the issue that universities that don’t have a face to face residency are lacking a critical dynamic.

 

Group Dynamic

Group dynamic:

As my first week of Residency nears to a close I have to say something about the group dynamic.   Our RRU experience is not in isolation, but rather in groups.  I personally believe that this reflects the really world of most working professionals.  I have experienced this group dynamic at my college and I have heard from others that this is the case for them.

Challenges:

Some of the challenges for me are learning when to speak or when to trust the process.  Many people who are studying at the Master’s level can attest that we are use to being in charge and having to take responsibility.  This can be an issue when this independence defeats the collaborative approach to group work.

Secondly, there is the awkwardness in discovering each others talents or strengths.  This only can be accomplished to a certain extend by tactfully and gracefully letting these strengths surface without being overtly self advertizing or abrasive to those around us in the group. This accomplishment is an art and an exercise in humility and openness.

Thirdly, the group relationship is in my opinion more important than being right or wrong on minor points.  Sometimes by truly listening one can discover new ways of doing things and we can grow from this.  Some of you have heard the old expression; “I have never learned anything while I was talking.”

I am amazed that my experience with in all my groups has been a very positive one.  Even in times of tension creativity flows; as an old biblical expression says;”as iron sharpens iron so one man (or women) sharpens another”.

 

MBTI Assessment

Today we were exposed to Myers and Briggs (MBTI) assessment.  This assessment pegged me very well.  I discovered that I tend to be more of an introvert.  This process was very surprising for many people in the group because individuals such as myself (introverts) excel in an online environment where there is time to think through what we are going to say.  We have the luxury of delay which allows us to wrestle with the material privately before engaging others online. We learned that for the introvert this taking of one’s time can be a strength.

Our Instructor had us prove out the theories made by Myers and Briggs through several colorful exercises.  This demonstrated how we collaborate with other people and the material.  I was impressed with how spot on these exercises outcomes were to what was predicted through this assessment tool.

 

Pre-Residency at Royal Roads

My Experience 

During the first two weeks of Pre-Residency we were given several exercises to get us familiar with the Moodle system we will be using at Royal Roads and team building exercises.  Throughout the team building exercises I observed some real interesting characters emerge.  From what I can tell we have a very broad spectrum of people from different walks of life that should make this a very rich and rewarding adventure.  Already within my team I can see certain gifting or talents appear.

Many of us expressed some reservation to this new process.  I have had inward questions like; do I have what it takes, will I be able to complete assignments on time, how different will this be from undergraduate work, etc.

I have many reasons for wanting to take a Masters like this.

Reason # 1

For me this is unfinished business.  After taking my BA I watched many colleagues go on directly to take their Masters.  This is something I have always wanted to do since graduating from college back in 1996.  Life gave me some detours.  I ended up pursuing another love of my life (other than the humanities), which was information technology.  This pursuit involved going back to school to work on a Diploma in Computer and Network Technician.  For the last 13 years I have accumulated numerous computer certifications, but no Masters.

 Reason #2

The next reason is job advancement and security.  The fact that I am even enrolled within a masters gives me 2 functional areas of teaching employment.  I will be straddled between 2 programs in two different departments (Network Support Technician http://www.cotr.bc.ca/nst and University Studies).  Maintaining fulltime job security is a priority.  The college has generously poured in resources in paid education leave and partial funding.  It seems like providence for me to take on this degree at this time.  

 Reason # 3

I believe that by having a Masters of this nature I will be more useful to the college, my students, and myself.  I want to discover blind spots in my methodology and teaching style.  I am hoping that my instructors, fellow students and self reflection will help shed some light on these blinds spots.  This type of Masters is helpful in stemming the independent and isolated learning I am use to.

 During the two weeks leading up to the Residency we have been asked to examine our assumptions about learning.   We were asked to produce a 1500 word paper on our epistemological tradition and how this has affected us in our learning or teaching.  We used several resources for this, such as; Making Sense of Adult Learning by Dorothy MacKeracher, Research Decisions by Ted Payls, and several other articles.

 

This is Tim’s Blog

This Blog is about Tim’s RRU Adventure!