Author: Theodore Abbott

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In Reflection

Reflection 1

As I sit here in a café on commercial drive and reflect on my first several weeks in the Liberal Studies program at Capilano University, I feel a sense of opportunity and clarity.

In this reflection I will discuss the impact of approaching knowledge using interdisciplinary methodology and elaborate on the readings that I have most connected to and engaged with. I will describe personal behaviours, beliefs and biases I have been able to identify in regard to learning, and finally I will describe my learning experiences in relation to guest speakers and associated events.

Through examining a wide range of differing areas of study this course has taught me to compartmentalize every aspect of a subject and has helped deepen my understanding towards areas of interest, rather than just scratching the surface. There was a certain time in my life when I approached knowledge with timidity; that is no longer the case. When confronted with a new idea or field of study I like to disassemble all parts of said idea. As we have observed in this course, interdisciplinary practices amalgamate different aspects from various fields of study to create a collective whole. Multidisciplinary practices appreciate knowledge across a range of differing fields of study, while remaining in their respective paradigms. These tools are unique and useful for specified application depending on what one hopes to accomplish, and sometimes using both simultaneously will benefit the user to a higher degree. Therefore, both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary methodologies hold an important place in academia.

When I think of the readings we have done in the Liberal Studies program thus far, I can’t think of one that I disliked or had serious qualms with. However, one article made more of an impression than others: “The Future of Canada’s Forest Industry Hinges on Innovation” was one of the first assigned readings. This paper expanded on a topic I often ponder. In addition to the content being relevant to myself, I thought it was well written, approachable in language, and concise. These aspects, for me, are some of the most important features in articles or academic papers. The reason being, if a paper can’t be easily digested by the general public it is then anti-socialist and elitist in nature. As Nighbor (2017) states, “Canada is steward to 10 percent of the world’s forest and by embracing strong environmental standards and committing to continuous improvement, Canada’s forestry sector is recognized around the world as an environmental leader”. This quote is an example of accessible writing free of academic jargon. For these reasons, “The Future of Canada’s Forest Industry Hinges on Innovation” was the article most engaging to me.

Being aware of personal biases is a valuable tool in enabling oneself to expand one’s intellect; the alternative is ignorance. Applying this fact has been, and remains, a great point of contention in my life. For me, my biases go beyond a preference towards one thing or another. My world views, political ideologies, and social biases are the whole of my identity. In many ways my ‘liberal agenda’ has got in the way of obtaining a complete understanding of how the world works around me and has inhibited me from listening to opposing world views. I hope to continue on my journey of undoing this indoctrination, and a university is an optimum setting to do so. I hope that stepping outside of my social bubble will bring to my attention personal biases previously unknown, and I am eager to confront them with the utmost severity.

To learn by observing is learning in its most primitive form: “we are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state”. (Emerson 1882). I am an observer, and until recently, strictly an auditory learner. The presentations in the Liberal Studies course have been engaging and to my regard, well received. Specifically, I found Lindsay Macintyre’s lecture on experimental film making, and the process of creating emulsion for application to pieces of sixteen-and thirty-five-millimetre reels of film insightful and extremely fascinating.

The subjects I have explored and the questions that were answered in this reflection are emblematic of my learning experiences throughout my first several weeks in the Liberal Studies program. I am eager to move forward and observe how this course will alter my thinking and approaches to knowledge.

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About Me

 

Born on the 28thof July 1997 in East Vancouver I grew up in a city experiencing an identity crisis, and at a time where the education system was undergoing the same transition. My relationship with academia and the‘’intellectual” world is complex but nonetheless worth telling, as my experiences through elementary, high-school and now post-secondary centre around a mind struggling with the challenges of the education system and striving to find a path that is best suited to me. As a child I attended Lord Nelson Elementary school. The years I spent at this institution would prove to be some of the most negative, and detrimental. At an early age I was diagnosed with a flurry of different learning “disabilities” (air quotes were put on that word to emphasise my discontent with that term, and the negative connotation that comes with it), the effect of these diagnoses during my pre-formative years, the ages five through thirteen, would prove to be devastating. The city I was growing up in, and myself, were thrown into a crisis of identity. For me, this was perpetuated by the constant stereotype of being cast as one type of learner or another. Mixed ages learning (MAT) is a class at lord nelson; the elementary school equivalent of a mini school geared towards gifted learners. The MAT class was a place I would call home for a part the year. Another place I un-affectionately called home during my elementary school years was the Adapted Classes Room (ACR). The words adapted, and modified, are both words that have become ubiquitous within the academic lexicon in the last twenty years, these words describe a class structure that is not only slowed in pace but severely less engaging. After seven years of having been re-labeled, un-engaged and separated from the general population my experience in primary school left me with a feeling of self-doubt and instilled the idea that I was quite possibly an unintelligent individual.

 

Over the course of my first three years in high school what I experienced followed suit with that of what had occurred during my time at Lord Nelson Elementary School. In June of 2013, I left Templeton Secondary to begin a new chapter in my own academic career. I found myself attending Windsor House School in September of 2013. Windsor House is a democratically run public school under the jurisdiction of the Gulf Island School Board, but located on the Northshore of Vancouver. Windsor house is often referred to as a ‘free school’, where the ages of children attending range from kindergarten to grade twelve, almost all classes within the high school are diverse in age groups, and the schools primary focus is to provide students with a space to learn and grow. It was here at Windsor House that I learned of the un-inclusive nature of our modern education system. We are taught that education is linear, that a textbook is meant to be read front to back, starting with the first chapter and ending with the last, and anything that deviates from this formula is sheer lunacy.  However, for millions of aspiring young minds around the world, including myself, this structure simply does not work. The educational funnel is far too narrow, and the students that fall outside of it often land in a world that is confusing and hard to navigate. The world that I landed in was neither confusing nor hard to navigate. Windsor house school equipped me with the tools necessary to succeed and excel in my academic and creative endeavours. If I were to understand the world around me, I first needed to gain an understanding of myself. After having obtained a perception of how my cognitive mind works, I was able to go on and excel in many areas of study. Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it is stupid”. I am by no means a genius, but I came dangerously close to living my whole life believing I was stupid. Education operates on a beautifully vast spectrum, encompassing a wonderfully diverse amount of different learning styles. The fact that our current education system does not cater to all these diverse styles and cerebral types forces one to ponder the idea that perhaps this archaic approach to learning is overdue for a change. I was lucky enough to find   sanctuary in a world so hostile to abnormality, but for the people not so fortunate the options are limited.

 

After matriculating from high school, I took a three-year hiatus from school to join the workforce and save money to pay for further higher-level education. During these years my lived experiences gave me a broader sense of the world and led myself to a conclusion of what it was I yearned to study at post-secondary. During my time working in some of Vancouver’s most affluent districts while at the same time volunteering in some of its poorest, I began to realize that my time would be best spent trying to further my understanding of why there is such a stark divide in the world, and especially in Downtown Vancouver, between the rich and the poor.

 

As I embark on the newest chapter of my academic career, what lies on the horizon is full of opportunity. The world is an often unfair and intimidating place, but for me it is also my oyster. With pen in hand and my heart on my sleeve, I lunge forward to receive whatever this world might have to throw at me. The grip of Cynicism can be tight, but never before in my life have my lungs breathed with such a refreshing sense of idealism than during my first three weeks at Capilano University.