Lt. Col. Arnold Staton, CAP
I chose Facilitating – Transformative Learning to do my reflection on as I personally feel this instructional method is best suited to ethical instruction. In my opinion the Didactic method which can be more akin to Socratic method can be great for teaching subjects that are fact based, and ethical instruction and by extension character development deals in abstracts, feeling, and perceptions just to name a few which for me as an instructor does fit with the didactic method. I have a similar issue with the Training-Proficient Skill Set which from my point of view I liken to the way we train individuals in operational specialties like Ground Team, Aircrews, and Incident Command Staff where we have Specialty Qualification Training Records (SQTR) Task. This system means the trainee must receive training in a particular skill set, and then, as the name implies, demonstrate their proficiency with this skill set. While this method is excellent for teaching a cadet to operate an ELT or providing instruction to become an Observer, but these are concrete skill, and perishable skills that are demonstrable whereas good ethics or character is not something that can simply be demonstrated to a skills evaluator. So this is why transformative learning is in my opinion the only true method of teaching ethics and helping to foster character development.
So how do we apply this to Character Development Instruction? During my time away from Civil Air Patrol I spent eight-years serving as a pastor in The Church of the Nazarene and I use to say my main objective rather it was delivering a sermon, leading a Bible study, or just simply talking scripture with someone was to impart heart knowledge. In much the same way that is how I view character development instruction we work to break the brain/heart barrier though which the information we are giving our cadets does not just remain in their brain that is reaches into their hearts because that is where real change happens, and this is simplistic sounding goal of transformative learning. When “put in simple terms, transformative learning is the idea that learners who are getting new information are also evaluating their past ideas and understanding and are shifting their very worldview as they obtain new information and through critical reflection. It goes beyond simply acquiring knowledge, and dives into the way that learners find meaning in their lives and understanding.” (What is the transformative learning theory?, 2020) So, by engaging cadet in a setting where we are not simply putting new information out there, but we are engaging them to be introspective, and take that introspection and make it part of the instructional discourse we foster a place where they can look at the new and the old and apply it to their lives. Or to quote Bruce Lee, we provide them a space where they are free to “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially (their own)” (Lee, 1975) in forming their character or personal ethics.
As I previously stated the transformative learning method is my preferred method, and I will admit the main method I use when teaching. One potential way I can see in improving my character development instruction is to experiment with the other methods and follow Sifu Lee advice to take what is useful and reject what is not. So, in reflecting I have come to the realization that we all can become too rigid regarding our approach to how we teach so that is one of several areas I want to seek improvement in.
In regards to my own character development I have a unique prospective on our current system because having joined as a cadet in 1988 I am a product of the original “Moral Leadership Program” which during the 1980s was really discombobulated at best and had no real defined sense of direction, and was a squadron commander and group director of cadet programs when the Chaplains Corps first began trying to standardize the program by vetting Moral Leadership Officers, and providing the first incarnation of Values for Living. The program we have today I feel is better equipped and more intentional in its aim to help our cadets develop as individuals and ethical leaders, but we still have work to do.
Some of units do not have a Character Development Instructor or a Chaplain and the Squadron Commander sometimes at best does not have the time or at worst is apathic regarding cadets so all things cadet related is delegated to the Deputy Commander for Cadets which present a problem because a DCC cannot do Character Development Instruction in absence of a CDI or Chaplain. Fortunately, in these situations a lot of resourceful Deputy Commander for Cadets are successful in getting help from another units CDI to come help, or they are able to get someone to virtually teach the lesson. However, I would propose that Deputy Commanders for Cadets eventually be allowed to teach character development and wingman in absence of a CDI or chaplain or that commanders be allowed to delegate this to the Deputy Commander for Cadet.
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References:
Lee, B. (1975). Tao of Jeet Kune Do. Valencia: Black Belt Books.
What is the transformative learning theory? (2020, July 17). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from Western Governors University: https://www.wgu.edu/blog/what-transformative-learning-theory2007.html