Reflection on our educational mission by Becki Warnock, M.Ed., Director, Office of Field Placement
I read the graduate student’s reflection with an eye toward what she had noticed in her field experience in a K-12 school. This teacher candidate recalled what she’s heard in classes here, that learning targets are to be emphasized and posted prominently. She noticed:
“Daily, students could visually see what we were going to learn, why it mattered, and how we would show our learning.”
Whether the learning target involved math facts, verb conjugations or scientific concepts, this emerging educator had internalized an essential best practice for teachers, inviting learners to buy into the goal, along with the “why” and the “proof” of learning. To quote Carol Ann Tomlinson, “Excellent teachers convey learning invitations through their words and their actions.”*
What are we learning and teaching? Why does it matter? How do we show that we’ve learned?
We as faculty and staff members pursue growth in our professional arenas, as a member of any university community would do. But at Saint Mary’s, another layer surrounds all that we do: the teachings of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. The twelve virtues are “learning targets,” mattering just as much today as they did in 1785 when first circulated. In every human encounter, we show whether we are learning wisdom, patience, zeal, gentleness and the rest. This goes beyond facts to be absorbed by our minds. It involves a learning of the heart and will. We are branches, abiding in the Vine for sustenance (John 15:5). We don’t claim to have mastered the virtues or the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). But we have come to believe that they matter. We are on the journey.
What are you learning today? Why does it matter? How will you show that you’ve learned?
Reference
*Carol Ann Tomlinson, Invitations to Learn, https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/invitations-to-learn
