Minds on.

Mason is one of many foremen with a large construction company. Typically, he is assigned a crew to manage as they complete projects that involve the construction, renovation, retrofitting, or repurposing of small commercial properties. Mason was recently invited by his employer to attend a one week learning opportunity on project bidding, as his company would like to see greater involvement amongst their foremen in contract and tender procurement. Mason returned from his course knowing that he was exposed to a number of resources, learned a great deal of information, made significant discoveries, gained some new skills, and created a number of tools that will be valuable to him given his new responsibilities.

Mason’s employer wants him to share the essential aspects of this learning with his fellow foremen. Mason does not want to just hand over all of the resources he acquired and created as, alone and out of context, they would be of little value to his colleagues. He feels, and his employer agrees, that a workshop would be the best approach.

Think About It: The Essentials of Capturing and Sharing Your Learning With Others

By learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn.

Latin Proverb
This is an image of four young adults seated around a table. Each has some form of notebook in front of them and is holding a writing utensil. They are all focusing intently on one of the group members who is sharing her knowledge with them. The three are engaged, focused, and taking notes.

When we teach, we gain greater understanding ourselves, contributing to the depth and longevity of our learning. At some point in everyone’s life, we are called on to teach another… Can you think of time you had to teach someone? What did you gain from the experience?

Think about some of the training and educational endeavours you have undertaken, at school, at work, and in the community. Which were the most effective? What were the critical aspects and/or components that made these experiences so successful? What advice do you have for Mason as he endeavours to create and deliver his workshop?

Action.

Think About It: Reflection and Your Portfolio

Reflection, as you have discovered, is an essential undertaking as you endeavour to discover who you are, define your aspirations and pathways, and establish and initiate a plan of action toward realizing your career goals.

To date, you have constructed and contributed a number of significant items to your portfolio. These artifacts have the potential to greatly influence the design of your future. Before entering the final unit of the course, it is important to ‘take stock’ of these items as you gain a comprehensive idea of your progress thus far.

This is an image of young adult woman seated at a table that contains a number of books, opened and closed. Behind her is a chalkboard that is covered with diagrams, charts, graphs, mathematical formulas, and concepts. She is holding a pen, smiling and looking upward. She is focused and engaged in reflection about all she has learned.

Reflection is a critical aspect of the learning process.

Your portfolio, which is still a work in progress, already houses artifacts and reflections from the following activities:

Unit
Activity		 Artifacts and Reflections
Unit 1 Activity 1 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - Skills, Habits, and Me
Unit 1 Activity 1 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - My Personal Inventory and Potential Occupations
Unit 1 Activity 2 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - Assessing My Soft Skills
Unit 1 Activity 2 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - My Time Management Strategies
Unit 1 Activity 2 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - Assessing my Personal Skills
Unit 1 Activity 3 Inquire About It: Portfolio and Submission - What Occupations Align With Who I Am
Unit 1 Activity 4 Work With It: Portfolio and Submission - Educational Requirements for the Occupations That Align With Who I Am
Unit 2 Activity 2 Work With It: Portfolio - Occupations that Interest Me - Information, Requirements, and Trends
Unit 2 Activity 2 Work With It: Portfolio, Reflection, and Submission: Labour Market News and My Selected Career
Unit 2 Activity 4 Work With It: Portfolio - The Public Sector, the Private Sector, and Me
Unit 2 Activity 8 Work With It: Portfolio and Reflection - My Post-secondary Budget and Finance Plan
Unit 2 Activity 9 Work With It: Portfolio, Reflection and Submission - Community Involvement, Leisure Activities, and My Career Aspirations
Unit 2 Activity 9 Work With It: Portfolio - Establishing My Network and Tapping the ‘Hidden Job Market’

When you revisited your portfolio, you were likely surprised by the plenitude of resources you have been exposed to, the amount of knowledge and skills you have gained, and the number of valuable items you have constructed. Again, this is testament to the importance of taking time to pause and reflect, think about your learning, assess its significance, and decide where to go next.

Work With It: My Outstanding Questions

You likely still have a number of outstanding questions as we move into the final portion of the course. Take a few moments to contemplate and articulate these specifically.

In a document, entitled “My Outstanding Questions,” record your outstanding questions. 

This is an aerial view of a young man in a business suit holding a briefcase and standing on the left side of a completely white surface. He is looking downward and has his free hand on his chin, appearing to be deep in contemplation. On the right side of the image is a large hand holding a pen and drawing a wavy red arrow from the man’s feet through a series of varying sized question marks that have been drawn in pencil.

What questions do you have as you continue to pinpoint your destination and plot your path?

Learning Skills Reflection

Long Description

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