Professional Practice

Members apply professional knowledge and experience to promote student learning. They use appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation, resources and technology in planning for and responding to the needs of individual students and learning communities. Members refine their professional practice through ongoing inquiry, dialogue and reflection.

This links with the CGE (Catholic Graduate Expectation) #2 - An Effective Communicator (b) Reads, understand and uses written material effectively.  The standards talk about using appropriate pedagogy, assessment and evaluation resources. 

I have included the activity below in this section because it is an indication that I can use written material effectively.  I have expressed my opinions after proper research showing that I am an effective communicator. 

Activity - Comparison between The Lord's Prayer and the a Psalm of Lament:

The Lord’s Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.		Psalm of lament  Psalm 141 - Prayer for Preservation from Evil A Psalm of David. 1I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me; give ear to my voice when I call to you. 2Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. 3Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. 4Do not turn my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with those who work iniquity; do not let me eat of their delicacies. 5Let the righteous strike me; let the faithful correct me. Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,* for my prayer is continually* against their wicked deeds. 6When they are given over to those who shall condemn them, then they shall learn that my words were pleasant. 7Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land, so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.* 8But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord; in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless. 9Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers. 10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape.
Similarities	-          Seek God’s intervention; -          Ask God to keep the reader from evil and temptation, which appears to be the largest similarity; -          Surrender control to God and His power.
Differences	Intense figurative language, including similes and metaphors – Found in Psalms, but not Lord’s Prayer; Vivid examples – Found in Psalm, but not Lord’s Prayer; Praise of God - Psalms praise God in the middle (intertwined in the Psalm. For example, in the last verse “But my eyes are turned toward you, O God, my Lord and the Lord’s Prayer starts off with praise to God; Hope and Forgiveness – Found in Lord’s Prayer but not in Psalm. In fact, the Psalm 141 ends with, “Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I alone escape,” perhaps demonstrating the Psalm is more self-centred in nature.

 
Write a one paragraph reflection, commenting on the similarities and differences. Consider also the tone of the psalms in comparison to the Lord’s Prayer.

Going through each of the psalms, there was a tone of negativity that was the common thread linking them.  Reading each psalm, there was a sense of struggling in humanity and there was an immensely strong need for God to intervene. In Psalm 141, it starts off quite troubled, when the individual is in desperate need for God’s intervention or help. The psalms have a tone of readiness and willingness to also accept help from God. It also has a sense that individual will do anything that God requests or asks in return for His intervention.  For example, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; Keep watch over the door of my lips,” (Psalm 141).  It is almost as if the reader/writer wants God to take complete control of him or her and let God’s will be done – just like the Lord’s Prayer is saying, “Thy will be done.”  However in the Psalm it is with examples and using many metaphors/similes, “Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land.” While reading through the psalms of lament, due to their figurative language, a vivid picture is created of intense need.  In the Lord’s Prayer, the feelings are there, however with the penetrating mental images. The petitions carry throughout the Lord’s Prayer but in a more straightforward, matter-of-fact tone. 

One question I have however is in the Psalm 141, it stated, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” I could only understand the word ‘incense’ as perhaps a metaphor for perhaps praise – because incense is a substance that would have been valuable.  Is this correct?  Is this part of the psalm a way of stating praise or adoration to God?