Participants’ Perceptions and Perspectives

The way we see and view our world as teachers, educators and researchers is significant to our practice. I will discuss briefly how perception and perspective are important concepts and affect the way we do things. According to the Oxford dictionaries (2018), perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. It is a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression. Perspective is a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. The way we view things comes from our perceptions (how we see things). As a researcher I try to go beyond my own perspectives to understand others’ perspectives with the idea of experiencing reality as others experience it. Perspectives “help us to make sense of our world, and they come from our beliefs and values. They go a long way to impact our decisions and actions” (Evans & Vaandering, 2016, p.16).

Beliefs and values are also known as philosophy, which is a body of knowledge or experience. For instance, I was brought up with standardized education with measuring and normative traditions that limit social interaction and emotional expression between teachers and students. My way of knowing was mainly teacher-dependent so I believed the teacher talks and students’ listen. This was challenged when my master’s courses required me to reflect in class or online.

This was a big shift for me in learning and I did not know how to do this until I came across RJE. This pedagogy changed my perception about teaching and learning to one that encourages students’ voices, talking and sharing about experiences to deepen understanding. I see it as a

pedagogy that I can introduce into my teaching practices and classroom.

Having the idea that “qualitative research focuses on understanding from the perspective of whoever and whatever is being studied… [and is] based on the assumption that reality is subjective and dependent on context” (McMillian & Wergin, 2002, p.119), I drew upon the

perceptions of my participants during the study to broaden my knowledge and practice. For instance, Mr. Patrick agrees with RJ theory after a professional learning but was initially sceptical about the LC because of time constraints and physical setting of the classroom. He now confessed that this study has “opened his mind a little bit and will probably consider it because it

fits his personality and he also believes in students and teacher working together” (A33-37). However, despite his promised to continue trying the LC, he and Stanley still see it as more appropriate for knowledge based science topics like weather and ecology than for calculation based subjects like physics and mathematics. For them the probability of using LC for the teaching curriculum is 50:50. They accepted using the LC for the knowledge based aspect of the Science subject but not the physics or mathematical aspect (A8, 25; B75). Furthermore, they think that LC is more suitable for a specific term of the school session when the load of work is less intensive around September (A29) but I think the LC is applicable for all time pressure or no pressure. It all depends on who is involved; it’s a matter of knowing what to do.

I also looked at student participants’ perspectives of the LC. Despite initial strange

feelings, indifference and thinking that it was childish for high school students to sit in a circle, and pass a talking piece as done with elementary students, some of the student participants in this research later experienced a shift in thinking with the use of the LC for the science 1206 class, which eventually changed their perception of the pedagogy. They preferred the LC to the traditional method they have been used to for the following reasons:

 Interaction in the classroom improved among students and between the teacher and students as people talked with each other more than before;

 The seating arrangement eased discussion because students did not have to turn around so much to hear those talking from all angles especially from behind.

 The level of relationship changed between teachers and students because the teacher talked “with” the students rather than “at” them in equal partnership, thus learning

together.

 The reflection and sharing moments make room for processing of information, which enhances deeper understanding.

 Freedom of expression of thought and feelings without fear of judgment or injustice. The preference shown for the LC by these student participants is significant to for practice and implementation by teachers and educators.

One significant surprise about the study is that my own deepening of learning as a researcher about equal partnership shifted. I used to think that I know what equal partnership is with the respect of sharing space, time and power with students. To me it all about relationship, being good, caring and friendly to students but, I discovered it is more than that when it comes to teaching the curriculum. The shift in my perception as a researcher has in a way changed my thinking about the research question to also include myself turning it to an action research. During the course of this case study where I co-taught and had the privilege of checking on the students while on task to give support but I realised that some of the student prefer to copy each other. Whenever I ask if they need help, the response was usually “No, thank you.” At other

times, I ended up doing the calculation for some of them thinking that was how to be in equal partnership. This became a concern and I decided to raise the issue before my supervisor who told me it all depends on how I ask the question. It was in this meeting I knew I was not in equal partnership by telling the students the answer or working the Physics calculations for them. It is the equal partnership describes the power or dynamics of the LC, which makes the teacher to hold the students accountable for their work rather than telling or doing it for them. In other

words, the equal partnership defines the responsibility of the teacher and the students. This encounter was transformative, a turn around that influenced the rest of my study.

Unlike before, I now see ‘equal partnership’ as the main emphasis of the LC that teachers

need to understand. It seeks to hold students accountable for their learning thus making the research turn out to an action research. There is a shift in the way I ask question from ‘why’ to ‘what’ using the RJ framework questions when holding discussion or conversation in and out of

the circle and I found it more engaging as I get more response from students. In equal partnership, the teacher has a part to play so also is the student. The teacher as a leader uses his leadership position to work with the students by providing the needed support for a specific expectation or task and on the other hand, the student actively take ownership for their learning rather than depending on the teacher. This also provides an avenue for the making of leaders for the future generation. For emphasis, I will like to draw from the speech of, the director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada during the 2018 Memorial University Convocation in May, that “A good leader makes leaders not followers”- Blackstock, C.

Therefore, the teacher as a good leader ought to empower the students to become leaders as practiced in the Learning Circle, not a follower. This pedagogy demands the continuous professional development of the teacher to improve knowledge and skills for practice.