Discovery Expedition Program Design: Dearborn Michigan

Vince Responded to Group 1 (Narrative Learning) and Group 2 (Spiritual Learning)

Discovery Expedition Program Design: Dearborn Michigan

Both spent time brainstorming about the program design and target learning group.

Troy wrote the Intro.

Vince wrote the Rationale and Action Plan.

Troy Rector

&

Vincent L. Stults

Ball State University

October 26, 2014

EDAC 634

Introduction

Transformational learning can occur through a variety of methods and learning experiences. Different avenues can be used in order to facilitate and enable the cycle of learning.  Cultural immersion is one way that learners can undergo an experience, reflect critically, rationally process what they’ve learned and how it’s affected them, and devise a course of action based on the transformation.

For years, The State University of New York has offered cultural immersion through its city community colleges. Tompkins Courtland Community College is one the two year schools that offers this immersion as part of a service learning project. Students travel to Nicaragua and are immersed with the cultural and learn through a transformative process. “The goal of this service learning course is to provide students with a full cultural immersion in history, culture, and healthcare in a developing country. Through participation in actual healthcare clinics, students will be exposed to the disparities and the functioning of a third world healthcare system”  (“TC3 Catalog: Program Areas: Study Abroad: Nicaragua,” n.d.). For most students, it is the first time being exposed to a foreign culture as well as austere conditions in which that countries healthcare system operates. This factors greatly into the transformational process for the learners due to pre-set concepts and ideas that they’ve had prior to the trip. 

 

According to Richard Kiely, learners experience transformatively when they experience personal, structural, historical, and programmatic factors which directly contrast with the student’s prior ideas and concepts (Kiely, 2005).  Kiely studied the Nicaraguan service learning and cultural immersion  program as part of his overall research on transformational learning theory. Other programs can use the Nicaragua trip as a model for the transformative learning process. 
 

Learners

The learners of our program consist of professionals who wish to be more effective by understanding the uniqueness and differences from an Arabic and Muslim community to a typical American community. By understanding certain factors, the professionals can better serve those Arabic communities in business, education, or other avenues of professional interaction. The learners of this program are then better equipped with the mindset and attributes needed to facilitate professional relationships without risk of offending or impeding cultural norms and practices in similar communities. 

Our program specifically targets adult learners at Ivy Tech Community College. Adult leaders taking classes for professional development and career enhancement would benefit greatly from this program. Ivy Tech currently has programs that focus on individuals working with the corporate world called Corporate College and The Center for Lifelong Learning. Our program would be a great asset to those students and professionals participating and learning in those programs. 

Purpose

 The purpose of our project design is to assist participants in a learning journey, in which they seek out an answer to their own learning quest, about themselves, their social context, or society, through facilitating learning opportunities in a cross-cultural context (the Arab community of Dearborn Michigan) with the goal of seeing students become better equipped to be leaders in a global society.

Objectives of the program

"Islamic Center of America" by Dane Hillard

Our program objectives are two fold. First is to offer a cultural immersion opportunity to learners that they may not have previously had the chance to participate. This is in line with the professional development and future goals of our students. By participating in the norms and practices of an Arabic community, they will be able to observe, interact, and immerse themselves fully.  As part of this, any pre-set ideas, concepts, and stereotypes can be disposed of.  This is critical to the overall transformation of the learners. Second objective is to create an learning environment in which our learners think critically for themselves and and analyze their own experiences and ideas. By going beyond the classroom, our program provides an opportunity in which the students are empowered to think on their own. This responsibility of discovery and reflection requires the learner to think critically about themselves, their experience, and how they have been effected. Again, this is critical to the transformation of our learners and their gain in their professional knowledge and attributes. 

Rationale

The main ideas of our program design are rooted in the core purpose of transformational learning, by leading learners towards a focus in learning that is not merely informational, but that appreciably changes what they know, moving learners through the cycle of "experience, critical reflection, rational discourse, and action" (Merriam et al 2007, p 134).

In designing our transformational learning program, we conducted both a literature review of the transformational learning process, as well as examined programs that implemented transformational learning theory as a core to their own design. In the course of our project design, it became apparent that our earlier work was not as well developed as we would have liked it to be. This was in part, due to us being novices to the topic area of adult educational theory, as well as to the process of developing literature and program reviews for application.  We were also still in the process of refining what our project design should be about as we worked on these reviews. In the literature review, for instance, our work provided implications that were not clearly applicable to the development of our program design. While the review did list several practices we could use, it failed to adequately establish the root rationale of transformational learning that was needed to provide solid implications in which to base our program designs action plans upon. As well, in our program review one of our programs was derived from a case study used by Kiely (2005), critiquing the popular use of  Kolb's experiential learning model for designing service-learning programs and offering potential alternative concepts that were more embedded in the context of service-learning than in the internal process of learns involved in the program of Kolbs model. Therefore, some of our implications were not so much practices to draw upon, as much as a they were a part of the list of concepts that Kiely believed could provide better foundations for a theoretical learning model to base service-learning design upon than Kolb's (2005).

In finalizing the focus of our own program design, we realized that 1) our implications from the previous work needed a clearer development for application than what we had outlined; and 2) our project needed a more narrow target learning group than initially planned; and 3) that we should focus on a different learning experience than what was reviewed as well as what we had originally considered.  Therefore, we decided to utilize a modified and more narrow band of the implications we gathered from these sources for our own project. Our initial implications from the literature review program reviews can be seen at the end of their respective posts on our blog (http://aceinsights.blogspot.com/).

Nevertheless, we saw some implications to implement from what we learned from these reviews. Kiely's work (2005), for instance, helped us in other unforeseen ways, aiding us in recognizing our own target group more easily, and informing us more clearly of what transformational theory looked like in the practice of program design. 

Also, we recognized the need to add elements that were not explicitly highlighted in our literature review, nor in the program design (although in retrospect, we recognized that they were clearly revealed in the research we reviewed). As these elements are reviewed by others extensively in the literature and in other programs, we have chosen to add them here to maximize the effectiveness of our final program design and to cite the appropriate external references as needed. See Table 1 for our revised list of implications and our recent additions. These added components are the use of a modified form of Brookfield's questions for learning journals (1995), as well as Apte's insights and questions for transformative learning facilitators (2009). Additionally, we have added in the use of a mini-ethnography to add depth and insight into cultural understanding as grist for the transformational cycle. Seen in such work as that conducted by Sortin (1999), for her class of interpersonal communication students, and for Weinstein & Ventres' work with medical students to help them to become more deeply connected to their cultural frame (2000).

Methodologically we greatly appreciated the connection of supporters, and the guiding question of the Mycelium School from our project review (“Mycelium – Are You A Journeyer?” n.d.).  While we also added essential novel practices of our own into the design.

Also, from our review of the Mycelium School (“Mycelium – Are You A Journeyer?” n.d.), we choose to focus on the concept of the learning journey, which has been a metaphor of many transformational based programs, moving our learners from familiar territory into an unfamiliar cultural setting with the intent of creating a set of "problematic frames of reference" (Mezirow, 2003) for the learners that serve to facilitate the transformational cycle of learning "experience, critical reflection, rational discourse, and action" (Merriam et al 2007, p 134).  Mezirow calls this kick off process a "disorienting dilemma" (Mezirow, 1991).  Recognizing as Apte (2009) has communicated, that these transformative phases are seldom a sequential process, and are often cyclical and recurring, we have chosen to incorporate practices that initiate the key elements of this model with less concern about progressing through each of them in order, but instead rooting our design in the component functions identified by Apte for the facilitator:
1. Confirming and interpreting current frames of reference
2. Working with triggers for transformative learning
3. Acknowledging a time of retreat or dormancy
4. Developing the new perspective ( 2009, p. 172).

As such, a copy of her four quadrants of transformational program facilitation are included in Table 2 at the end of this writing. We have made it a point to use these quadrants and questions as a guide for our overall practice of the program design. So as to best aid learners in their own reflexive processing, although all four quadrants can impact each area of practice (requiring discerning facilitators of the program), our program design contexts, as well as tools/methods are designed to focus on these respective functions of Apte's model (2009): 1) contexts [of exteriority and of interiority] (place of exploration, classroom/workshops, and time and space for reflection, mentoring, etc.) are guided by the functions of Confirming and interpreting current frames of reference/Working with triggers for transformative learning;  and 2) tools/methods (journaling/Brookfield's learning journal, min-ethnographies, as well as the development of an advisory team—coaches learning cohorts, and individual mentors) are guided by the functions of Acknowledging a time of retreat or dormancy/Developing the new perspective. 

Action Plans

Over the course of the Dearborn Discovery Expedition (from the pre-trip meetings and preparation, through the on-location discovery journey, and post-trip follow-up), as stated in our introduction, we will assist participants in a learning journey, in which they seek out an answer to their own learning quest, about themselves, their social context, or society, through facilitating learning opportunities in a cross-cultural context (the Arab community of Dearborn Michigan) with the goal of seeing students become better equipped to be leaders in a global society.  

Group and individual activities are designed to give shared, as well as unique, experiences in the learning environment. For instance, our design includes intentional separation of Muslim personal encounter experiences to expose different students to differing view-points among Shia, Sunni, and Sufi residence. It is expected that this will create differences in perspective on the community during group reflection and discussion.

Steps 

 Step 1: Application Process

While this design overview does not lay out the details of the application process, it is critical that a thorough application process is followed. Which must outline and receive commitment from the learners concerning the extensive commitment that learners must adhere to in the Dearborn Discover Expedition from pre-trip preparation through post-trip reflection.

 Step 2: Pre-Trip Meeting and Preparation

A required component of the learning journey will be to complete three pre-trip meetings and the accompanying preparation activities. The purpose of these meetings is to 1) familiarize students with the nature of the culture and place in which they are going to engage in during their Discovery Experience, 2) better prepare them for the activates and interactions that they will encounter; 3) help them maximize their in-field experience;  4) coach them in the selection of their personal quest or query for their journey; and 5) help students get to know their expedition partners, and  leaders as well as to solidify their relationship with learning coaches and facilitators (Advisory Team). The pre-trip meetings and preparation activities fall in four distinctive categories:

•  Cultural Preparation: Pre-Reading Assignments and Discussion.

1.  Stockton, R., & Tessler, M. (2009). Citizenship and Crisis: Arab Detroit After 9/11. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
2. Excerpts from Ahmed, A. S. (2010). Journey into America: the challenge of Islam. Brookings Institution Press.

• Critical Reflection Preparation: Instruction Time for Journaling, Critical Reflection Exercises based on Brookfield's Learning Journal (1995).

•  Fieldwork Training /Virtual pre-field Exploration/Mini-Ethnography: Google Earth Exploration of Dearborn Michigan, and basic ethnographic training using Dell Hymes model of SPEAKING (Hymes, Dell. Foundations of Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1974)

• Team Development: Basic games, icebreakers, and activates to foster team interaction and cooperation for students participating in the learning journey. As well as overview and instruction for students organization of an Advisory Team.

Pre-Trip meeting I will provide a purview of the whole experience, introduce the assignments for Cultural Preparation Materials, and start students in their Critical Reflection activities, and initiate their learning journey quest.  Pre-Trip meeting II will facilitate reflection on the first two weeks Cultural Prep readings and help them prepare their advisory team, and introduce the mini-ethnography and provide needed preparatory reading for the activity. Pre-Trip meeting III will again visiting the cultural preparation process and reflection, follow-up on advisory team details, and focus extensively on the mini-ethnography assignment including a virtual pre-field exploration activity utilizing Google Earth and cover last minute updates and detail about the trip. Team development will be a part of each meeting encounter.

Step 3: Discovery Expedition

"Arab American National Museum"

The experience itself would be a three full day trip (with a four day activity schedule) from Thursday evening  through Sunday evening. This time frame was intentionally chosen to provide convenient  scheduling  for our target learning group over an extended weekend, and to maximize exposure to the key cultural learning opportunities in the host environment. For the learning event, we would visit the Arab American Museum, attend Friday Prayer in  a local mosque, and visit with the residents of the community afterwards to discuss our experience. In addition, learners will visit some key places where various regional food is made and sold (these go beyond restaurants), attend an Arabic Theater production, journey the streets, spend some one on one time in conversation with the Arab community members, engage in group and individual critical reflection using a modified version of Brookfield's questions for learning journals (1995), as well as to engage in some basic ethnographic data collection throughout the time as a means of compiling a field journal for a more cultural thick learning reflection.

Step 4: Post-Trip Reflection

Transformational learning requires several components to maximize the learning experience. As such, it is expected that learners participate in a post trip follow up, in which all team members present to the group a report on their own quest in the learning journey, including an overview of their mini-ethnographic. This time will be followed by a facilitated discussion reflecting on the totality of the experience for the group and participants. This time will conclude by leaders presenting humorous, humorous but affirming certificates of achievement rooted in what the facilitators observed in the teams learning journey. This exercise is to be a surprise element in the closing session. This event will include not only the team of students who participated, but those who form their advisory teams, as well all volunteers working to support the learning event. This meeting will be followed by a shared meal.

Procedures

Advisory Team

Students will select 2-3 individuals to support them in their learning process. These people should include people already in their personal network. One should be a professor or faculty in their learning institution. This team will play diverse roles from relational coaches, learning cohorts, and/or individual mentoring. These will become the people most aware of the students personal quest, providing accountability, emotional support, and mentoring/coaching for the students learning process. Students must commit to at least three hours of interaction with the their advisory team members (individual, or as a group), virtually,  in person, via letter exchange, email, or other means of interaction.

Guiding Question

While it is expected that the learning event of a cross cultural exchange itself has great transformative potential, by having the learners ask their own question to explore (adding a self-directed learning component), it is expected to add to the transformative process, increasing both the interaction with the learning context, and the focus of the reflection process in personal and group environments. The question itself will be one that is of personal significance to the student concerning themselves, the context of their cultural learning expedition, or about society. This will be the primary focus of the student in consultation with their advisory team. The teams purpose is in serving the student in their selection, engagement, and reflection on their query or quest.

Exploration Opportunities

While the destination is an obvious place of exploration, both the complete cycle and several mini-cycles within the program are intentionally designed with the theme of exploration in mind. The entire process will be supported by self-directed learning opportunities in the framework of clear structured activities. Social, cultural, and interpersonal explorations in both physical and virtual arenas will be employed.

Mini-ethnography (Field and File Notes)

"شارع وورن في ديربورن"

While the rigor involved in a full ethnographic endeavor would not be possible for this project, we can use the mini-ethnography as a simpler, more basic form of practice. Ethnographic process makes it possible for participants to be brought into  a fuller understanding of their context and their own practice of making meaning. Ethnography is not simply a practice in bringing about an understanding of a culture or cultural frame, but it can be a powerful exercise in revealing the assumptions of the one engaging in the ethnographic work. Revealing their need to "bracket" their own perspectives and biases, in order to more accurately engaging in "doing" ethnography (Sortin, 1999).  For this project, student will do pre-reading and practice techniques of ethnographic method for a four hour (on field) mini-ethnographic project in their choice of three settings, the food tour (explore further the context of the Yalla tour by the Arab American National Museum) , one of several local mosques, or in a program/class carried out through Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). While the nature of such small project as a mini-ethnography could be engaged without the need for confidentiality agreements and/or informed consent, we will nevertheless engage in the approval process needed for a blanket permission of filed observation for IVY Tech students, and have appropriate consent forms available for any interviews as needed, as well as appropriate permission from the institutions involved in our three areas of focus.

Journaling/Critical Incidents and Brookfield's Learning Journal

Critical Incident Reports are an excellent way to bring reflective focus to journal entries of our participants, and according to Arthur's review (2003), have been used in cross cultural learning settings effectively for many years. Rooted in the consideration of critical incidents, Brookfield's questions for learning journals (1995), provide a clear choice of design for these journal reflections. They have been used extensively as reflexive tools in classroom settings for learning. By utilizing them during the preparation phase, for our purposes, a slightly modified form (while onsite in Dearborn) will provide the ability for students to write journal entries quickly and effectively for personal reflection and to prepare them for group reflective activities offering students a powerful tool for their personal learning quest. (See Table 3 for Brookfield's guidelines)

Group Reflection

Apte's work (2009) outlines several questions for facilitators to consider in their project design for the arena of "Working with triggers for transformative learning" such as, "What are the differences in perspective among these  participants?... What were people surprised by? ...What evoked people’s anxiety?" We will use these as a foundation for our facilitated group reflection. It is expected that the students use of Brookfield's questions (1995) for their journaling will prepare them for this group facilitated reflection time.

Schedule (This is a generic schedule without specific dates)
Week 1	Saturday 9 am-12 pm		Pre-Trip Meeting and Preparation I
Week 3	Saturday 9 am -12 pm		Pre-Trip Meeting and Preparation II
Week 5	Saturday 9 am -12 pm		Pre-Trip Meeting and Preparation III
Week 6			Discovery Expedition
	Day 1 (Thursday)	6 pm  - 6:45-9:15 pm - 9:30-10:30 pm-	Arrive at hotel and check in Students find place to eat on their own, and complete scavenger hunt assignment Group Reflection on Scavenger Hunt
	Day 2 (Friday)	8-9 am - 9 -9:45 am - 10 am-12 pm - 12-1 pm - 1:15-2: 30 pm - 2:30 -4:00 pm -  4:00-5:30 pm - 6 - 9 pm - 9:30-10:30 pm - Overnight/ Next Morning -	Breakfast Overview of Day and Q & A Arabic American Museum (History & Cultural Discovery) Group Lunch  (Destination TBD) Attend Friday Prayer at Mosque Prearranged Dialogue and discussion with Mosque leaders and Mosque Attendees Complete Personal Journaling and Reflection Exercise Arabic Theater/Movie/Dance Event (will vary depending on week and month of visit) Group Reflection (Based on Apte, 2009) Complete Personal Journaling and Reflection Exercise on evening events
	Day 3 (Saturday)	8-9 am - 9-9:30 am - 10 am-1 pm- 1:30-5:30 pm - 6 - 7 pm - 7:30 -10pm - Overnight/Next Morning -	Breakfast Day's Activity Review Yalla Eat -  Culinary Walking Tour Mini Ethnography - Groups of two or three, will engage in their Mini Ethnography in pre-selected track for Food (Arab American Museum), Community Service (ACCESS), or at local Mosque (three large mosque options, several smaller options) Group Presentations and Group Reflection Dinner Complete Personal Journaling and Reflection Exercise on evening events
Week 7	Day 4 (Sunday)	8- 9 am 9:15 - 9:45 am - 10 am-1:00 pm- 1:30-4: 00 pm - 4:30 pm - 5:15 pm - 6: 30 pm -	Breakfast Group Meeting Hotel Check Out and Exploration on your Own (good opportunity to explore additional aspects of your own learning quest, connect with anyone you would like to talk with further, etc.) Attend Sufi Meet-up event (there are presently a couple options - time and event may change as present meet-up events change) Complete last on-site personal journaling and reflection exercise Dinner on your own Leave for home
Week 9	Saturday 4-7 pm		Post-Trip Reflection (Meal to Follow)

 

References

Arthur, N. (2003). Preparing International Students for the Re-Entry Transition. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 37(3), 173–85.

Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kiely, R. (2005). Transformative international service learning. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 9(1), 275-281.

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (20007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. John Wiley & Sons.

Mycelium – Are You A Journeyer? (n.d.-a). Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://mycelium.is/are-you-a-journeyer/

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1(1), 58–63.

Sotirin, P. (1999). Bringing the Outside In: Ethnography in/beyond the Classroom. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED437686

TC3 Catalog: Program Areas: Study Abroad: Nicaragua. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2014, from http://www.tc3.edu/catalog/ap_sa_nicaragua_hlth_hums.asp

Weinstein, J., & Ventres, W. (2000). Mini-ethnography: meaningful exploration made easy. FAMILY MEDICINE-KANSAS CITY-, 32(9), 600–610.

Table 1: Revised Implications from our Previous Reviews

Literature Review/Program Review Implications	Used in Our Program Design
Mycelium Program Review (Selected Applications)
The model of the learning journey through self-directed learning and a supporting community	Learning Journey - Self Directed Learning Quest
Workshops and projects that foster leadership development and facilitate the transformational process	Pre-Trip Meeting and Preparation
Multiple types of learning facilitators working together to guide, coach, support and facilitate the transformational process: cohort model, coaches, instructors and learning facilitators.	Advisory Team
New York Community College Program Review (Revised Implications)
Full cultural immersion and active participation in the culture foster transformative learning.	Pre-Reading, Mini-Ethnography, One on One dialogue with residents, exposure to history, attending local events and visiting community institutions.
Learning journals, group reflection and student assignments foster students personal transformation.	Learning Journal, group reflection meetings, and Self-Directed Learning Journey
New (Revised) Additions
(Mezirow 1991) and (Merriam, 2007) - The four essential components of transformational learning are: experience, critical reflection, rational discourse, and action.	For the underlying cycle of learning at the core of the program design.
(Apte, 2009) - Utilization of her development of four quadrants of transformational learning ensures a more thoroughly distributed learning experience in the program design and program facilitation.	Used for more thorough application of transformational theory to the design process for Student Learning Journals, Group Reflection, the Self-Directed learning journey and interaction with Advisory Team.
(Brookfield, 1995) - Critical Incidents and focused learning journal activates provide deep level critical reflection for students (and teachers).	Used for Student Learning Journals, Group Reflection, and Self-Directed learning journey  in interaction with Advisory Team.
(Sortin, 1999) and (Weinstein & Ventres, 2000) - The mini-ethnography is a useful tool in facilitating deep level cultural connection as well as in critical reflection.	Used in development of the mini-ethnography for greater cultural immersion of students in the context of their Discovery Expedition, and as an aid in the self-directed learning journey, as well as an additional tool for critical self reflection.

Table 2: Judy Apte's Questions for Reflection
(Judy Apte's Questions for Reflection (2009, pp. 173-175)
Confirming and Interrupting Current Frames of Reference	Working with Triggers for  Transformative  Learning
Questions: focusing on the participants What is regarded as ‘normal’ behaviour (in the participant’s  social world)? What examples are used to describe ‘good’ and ‘bad’? What ideas or stories claimed people’s attention, and what is  gripping about them? What are people’s expectations of themselves? • Are any expectations seen as impossible? • Are their expectations coherent with other people’s  expectations? • Are their expectations contradictory or split? What information has the participant never contemplated  before? Have previous practices become lost along the way? Questions: focusing on the facilitator What assumptions are embedded in the ideas that I am  presenting and/or the materials that I am using? Which assumptions are likely to be compatible with those of the participants? Which ideas presented alternative frames of reference?	Questions: focusing on the participants What are the differences in perspective among these  participants? What evoked people’s curiosity? What were people surprised by? What evoked people’s anxiety? What specific dilemmas are they raising? What hopes do they express? Does the person experience any contradictions between who they want to be and who they are currently? Questions: focusing on the facilitator What evoked my curiosity – what am I thinking and wondering about? What was I surprised by? What evoked my anxiety?
Developing the New Perspective	Acknowledging a Time of Retreat or Dormancy
Questions: focusing on the participants What capabilities are beginning to emerge? How are views shifting over time? What strategies are people interested in developing further and testing in their own lives? How can the learning in the program be continued? What reactions do participants expect from people in their usual environment? Questions: focusing on the facilitator What aspects of the program are creating a mood of possibility? How can we take notice of the results that flow from the new possibilities? What do I hope for at this point? What barriers do I see in their usual environment?	Questions: focusing on the participants What indicates that people are having some doubts about the  change? Is there inertia occurring around some things? What are participants avoiding? What provokes anger or defensive responses? What assumptions are people being ‘pulled back to’? What unlearning might be required for them to move forward? What could the person ‘lose’ if their current assumptions are not confirmed? What aspects of the learning would require significant courage? Are there some risks that might occur if people move forward with this? What do people say is impossible for them? Questions: focusing on the facilitator What doubts have come to my mind? Are there points at which I experienced anger or defensiveness? What seems possible at this point? What seems impossible at this point?
Apte, J. (2009). Facilitating transformative learning: A framework for practice. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 49(1), 169.

Table 3: Stephen D. Brookfield’s Questions for Student Learning Journals

Stephen D. Brookfield’s Questions for Student Learning Journals (1995, p. 98)

We will use these questions unmodified from Weeks 1-5 and 8-9. During the Discovery Expedition, students will respond to these question according to the scheduled journal times and the words "this week" will be changed to "in today's events." In designing the program, we acknowledge Brookfield's admonition to give student clear directions when assigning a learning journal. He asserts that: 1) students need a clear-cut course of action; 2) they need to see that keeping a  journal is in their best interest; and 3) their hard work should be publically recognized somehow.  Brookfield’s guidelines (1995, p. 98) comprise these eleven questions:

What have I learned this week about myself as a learner? What have I learned this week about my emotional responses to learning? What were the highest emotional moments in my learning activities this week? What were the lowest emotional moments in my learning activities this week? What learning tasks did I respond to most easily this week? What learning tasks gave me the greatest difficulties this week? What was the most significant thing that happened to me as a learner this week? What learning activity or emotional response most took me by surprise this week? Of everything I did this week in my learning, what would I do differently if I had to do it again? What do I feel proudest about regarding my learning activities this week? What do I feel most dissatisfied with regarding my learning activities this week?

Brookfield, S. D. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.