EDCI 773 Reflection #1

Create a 250-300 word reflection on Thomas Friedman’s October 2020 New York Times article “After the Pandemic, a Revolution in Education and Work Awaits”.  

Be sure to use the “What, So What, Now What?” framework for your reflection.  

Reflection 1:

I found Elin Kelsey’s presentation in class very uplifting. I had read an article by Kelsey in a previous course at UofT and it really stuck with me; when I heard she would be a guest in this class I took it as a sign and checked out her book from the library. Kelsey demonstrates that there are many great success stories that are filtered out of the mainstream narrative due to psychological and financial mechanisms that perpetuate negativity. I have learned about this ‘negativity bias’ in past psychology classes and books such as “Humankind: A Hopeful History,” and believe it’s critical to discuss the idea with students. Kelsey helps show that the result of the negativity bias, as it relates to the climate crisis, is a self-fulfilling prophecy in which so many of us assume the issue is so bad our actions are inconsequential. 

As an individual, I frequently end up in conversations around climate change that leave me feeling deflated and numb; feelings of helplessness have contributed to nihilism. Such feelings were only cemented in my undergraduate classes, that so often focused on issues and very rarely highlighted ways to move forward. Indeed, I was one of the students who scored less than a chimp in that quiz during our first class! As an educator, I see that I have an important role to play in supporting my students through these difficult feelings and reshaping the doomsday narrative to one where we find meaning and importance in our individual actions and decisions. I believe it is our responsibility as educators to help build a better world, and that starts with care, empowerment, and hope.