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Reflection as a Way of Life- Final

Looking back at my work throughout PME 811, I believe my assignments demonstrate thoughtful

engagement with both the course readings and my own professional experience as a teacher. Many of the

concepts explored in this course—creativity, innovation, teaching, and learning—were ideas I had already

considered in my practice. However, considering these ideas through readings, discussions, and written

reflections helped me examine them more critically and connect them more clearly to broader educational

systems.

One of the biggest takeaways from this course is that innovation in education is often much more gradual

and complex than it is presented in policy or professional development initiatives. Through my blog posts

and assignments, I reflected on how educational systems frequently introduce new initiatives that

promise improvement but do not always last long enough to create meaningful change. This idea became

clearer through readings such as Cuban’s discussion of educational reform cycles, which suggests that

many reforms in education reappear over time in slightly different forms. As a teacher, this perspective

helped me better understand why experienced educators often recognize familiar patterns when new

initiatives are introduced.

Many of the course readings influenced my thinking, but several stood out in particular. Amabile’s work

on creativity helped me reflect on how classroom environments influence students’ willingness to take

risks and explore ideas. Falkenberg’s discussion of contemplative teaching encouraged me to think more

intentionally about the awareness and responsiveness required in everyday teaching decisions. I was also

particularly impacted by Madden’s discussion of Indigenous education, which highlighted how

meaningful change in education often requires deeper relational and structural shifts rather than simply

introducing new initiatives.

One area where my perspective differed slightly from the structure of the course was the role of the blog

itself. The purpose of the blog was presented as a space for reflection, but I personally felt that this

reflection was already occurring through the discussion posts and conversations with peers in OnQ.

Writing discussion posts required careful engagement with the readings and thoughtful responses to

classmates’ ideas, which often pushed my thinking further. Because a significant amount of time was

already spent analyzing articles and constructing discussion responses, I sometimes found the blog posts

to feel somewhat redundant in terms of reflective purpose. However, looking back at the blog as a

collection of reflections across the course, I can also see how it provides a record of how my thinking

developed over time.

Overall, I believe my work throughout the course demonstrates growth in how I understand the

relationship between creativity, innovation, teaching, and learning. While my core beliefs about teaching

remained consistent, the course and readings helped me think more critically about how these ideas are

influenced by broader educational systems and structures.

I believe my blog meets the Leading category because my posts connect course readings to classroom practice and reflect on how my thinking about creativity, innovation, teaching, and learning developed during the course.

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