Over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to sit in and help co-facilitate two separate interviews about quality student learning with Dr. Jen Wrye. Jen is an experienced Sociology instructor and Faculty Developer (on leave) with our North Island College Centre for Teaching and Learning Innovation.  

There is one concept that stood out for me in the two interviews. When asked about gathering evidence of learning and ensuring that quality student learning takes place Jen talked about using her “Professional Compass” to read the room and get a sense of if learning is taking place or not. This resonated with me because this is a tool I also use and I’m sure many instructors feel the same. For me it’s my professional experience and gut instinct that combine to let me know that learning is happening. But this led me to ask, what IS a Professional Compass really? Do I actually have one? How does it work? How can it be refined? How can I help other instructors refine their own Professional Compass? What evidence can we gather to show when and how we use our Professional Compasses and that they are working accurately? 

In my quest to answer these questions I found Clare Brooks’ book Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practice; Teaching with a professional compass (Brooks, 2016). In Chapter 9, entitled “A professional compass”, she outlines her answers to many of the above questions, however her focus is on using the Professional Compass as a guide on what and how to teach, rather than gathering evidence of learning. For Brooks the teacher’s Professional Compass is directly connected to both teacher identity and subject identity (the identity relationship to the subject area of expertise), as well as to teacher values and beliefs. Brooks states “the professional compass metaphor is valuable because it reflects the relationship between a teacher’s sense of purpose and the professional knowledge landscape that can influence their practice. A professional compass is individual and value orientated.” 

In terms of refining my own Professional Compass to point towards where and when quality student learning takes place then based on Brooks’ ideas I believe it’s important to engage in reflection on my values in teaching, and making them visible by articulating them. I also believe that reflection can be helpful to describe what is happening and what it looks like when learning is taking place so that the compass can more easily point in that direction when it’s happening. Ways to gather evidence that my Professional Compass is working well could include reflecting after a class and noting at which moments during the class your Professional Compass felt activated and pointing towards learning.  

For example, yesterday I was teaching a class on Immigration Policy and Drug Policy as part of a module on Social Policy and identity. In the portion on Immigration Policy I felt my Professional Compass pointing towards learning. This happened in the discussion after a small group activity, as students articulated directly that this knowledge was new to them, and they articulated new ideas about the overlapping impacts of policy on farm workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and International Students in Canada on temporary Student Visas. By contrast my Professional Compass began to waver and spin in the lesson on Drug Policy and the Toxic Drug Crisis. Students highly impacted by the crisis in their work and personal lives largely maintained seated in articulating their prior knowledge and experience, and had difficulty engaging in an activity meant to direct the learning more specifically towards policy. I needed to do more to direct and deepen the learning experience to ensure that learning was taking place and activate my Professional Compass. 

Another idea to gather evidence of if my Professional Compass is working accurately could be to use a “Ticket out the Door” exercise where I ask my students at the end of class what moment they felt the most learning was taking place for them, what moment they felt the most learning was taking place for the class as a whole, and by contract what moment the felt like the least learning was taking place for them and the class as a whole. Before looking at the student responses I could write down my own experience based on my Professional Compass and then see how it corresponds to student experience. 

Measuring learning and gathering evidence of learning are new areas for me that I am just starting to learn about and practice. In some cases it can be easier to gather quantitative evidence, such as marks on test and exams, but I believe qualitative evidence connected to teacher identity and values is also very valuable and important. This is an area I can keep learning and thinking about as I move forward on my journey as a Faculty Developer. I am also interested in the idea of refining techniques or developing workshops to help other instructors refine and develop their own Professional Compasses.  

References 

Brooks, C. (2016). Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practice; Teaching with a professional compass (1st Ed.). Routledge. 

Featured Image by Mariah Hewines