Learning Activities
We will start with undertaking individual reflective practice, after reading articles which help to frame why reflective practice is important, and how it can be used to hone our practice. We will consider reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, and reflection-for-action.
Each of us will begin to map our own experiences and integrate the principles of reflective practice, by considering what we did; the drivers of the action; how we did it and why we did it “like that”; whether it was successful; how it could have been done better; and how this reflection informs changes to our future practice.
In our Zoom meeting we will discuss reflective insights that can inform mapping our go-forward personal and professional practice, identifying where each of our competencies, professional experience, and interests fit in the big picture of professional climate action. We will listen to each others stories, and offer coaching guidance to each other, as reflective practice sparks personal and community understanding of each of our own journeys.
- Reflective Practice – the glue of a portfolio. Read a scholarly article of your choice on why reflective practice is essential for a leader. Hint: start with discovering Donald Schon.
- Writing: write a 1-page blog piece on “portfolio as reflective practice” and why this is important in climate action leadership. Include a few citations complemented with a short bibliography from your reflective practice reading. This will be an opening article for your ongoing practitioner portfolio
- Concept Mapping: How will you build onto your “portfolio (road)map”? Start by checking out this useful overview of “why concept mapping tools help us learn” “Concept mapping can ease <a learner’s> cognitive load by allowing learners to focus on essential relationships” (UWaterloo website)
This course is not about demonstrating extraordinary digital acumen with a complex mapping tool. It’s about thinking and reflecting and planning ahead with an easy-to-use tool (MURAL). When you have completed this course, you will have each built a personal “portfolio (road)map” that has early-stage artefacts that begins to represent your:
- reflections and deep considerations of how you arrived at climate action, where your experience, background and level of privilege might open windows and/or blind you to different perspectives, where your climate action career might start, and grow, and make an impact;
- “theory of change”;
- climate action competencies, and also your competency gaps that need to be addressed; unique network of scholars, knowledge leaders, change makers and influencers who will continue to inform your own practice;
- consideration of the paradigms that make the world what it is now, and how you might navigate your climate action leadership into the future, through family, in community, and in the workplace.
Based on where we intend to go with concept mapping, you will likely be already thinking about concepts and contexts that may be useful for your MURAL concept map. Add to and perhaps re-arrange your concept map based on mapping some of your unique experiences.
General: Engage with each other via Zoom meeting #2 (a confirmed date and time will be posted)
Assessment each week can be found under the site’s Assessment Menu: Assessment Week 2