Good Evening My Friends!
How are you all doing? It is early in the evening on Friday. It is a beautiful night here at The Living Pen. I am sitting in outdoor area known as the Garden Nook. It is a small screened in porch that is on a corner and it is especially beautiful in the morning and in the evening as it is overlooks a portion of the garden where there are flowers that bloom just in the morning and some that open just in the evening. The slightest breeze brings the light fragrance into the area. I am going over the conversation I had with Dr. Brenda McGill and I am looking forward to sharing it with you.
A reader was kind enough to let me know that it would be helpful to mention who I am speaking with inside the blog as well as in the menu for those who are reading the blog shared from a friend or on Facebook. You will see that in future blogs. I want to thank that reader for letting me know, it is a great idea. I welcome your input to help me improve so please keep it coming.
Now, back to this week’s chat, and what a chat it was!
Blu:
Hi Brenda, how are you?
Brenda:
I’m doing well Blu, working to keep a daily balance. Retirement is wonderful!
Blu:
I bet it is. My week was crazy busy, what about yours?
Brenda:
I had contractors in the house, my granddaughter for two days, and worked on a few projects, but overall had a pretty calm week.
Blu:
Holy Smokes Brenda that sounds busy to me. I’m going to make an honest effort not to keep you too long this week. I do have a ton of questions but we can do half this week and half next week. How does that sound?
Brenda:
That sounds perfect.
Blu:
Of course, I do have one of those weird questions to start us off. (lol)
You have been so gracious with these, and I’m sure you feel like there is no escape, and unfortunately, my mind just wanders when I do interviews. This type of writing is new to me so I’m learning as I go.
Do you think you can tolerate just a few more?
Brenda:
Yes, and I totally understand. I’m learning to flow with your questions.
Blu:
(lol) My apologies Brenda as I’m sure it is a bumpy ride. Ok, here it is.
There is a lot of responsibility to learning; do you think we all need to be reminded that it does not fall all on one, person, place or thing?
Brenda:
Not only reminded, but committed to finding the truth for ourselves and holding space for those who aren’t there yet.
Blu:
I knew it! I knew there was more to it! Do you think we lost sight of that because I think we did?
Brenda:
Yes, because the responsibility falls in at least 4 categories: student responsibility and self-advocacy, successful teaching practices and faculty relationships and institutional commitment to first year experiences for everyone.
Blu:
So let’s start with those who are wearing a student’s backpack. How can a person become a successful student and can we get a second chance at that?
Brenda:
I’m glad you’re willing to do this in two parts so we can explore as much as possible. Everyone has a part in a student’s success and colleges can provide the lion’s share in their success with a structured program.
Blu:
But the student has to do their part, so where do they start?
Brenda:
We spoke earlier about self-knowledge and skill sets students can acquire. And I believe a college first year experience course is how students can get a second chance. This course is often called college success. Let me give you a list of characteristics of successful students, and it is important to know that self-advocacy plays a major role. But remember many students do not arrive with all of these in place.
1. Personal Responsibility
2. Self-Awareness
3. Belief in themselves
4. Self-motivation
5. Self-management
6. Lifelong learning
7. Emotional Intelligence
8. Interdependence
Blu:
So a college first year experience course is designed to help develop and/or improve these characteristics that help a student to succeed?
Brenda:
Yes. There are dozens of books with this information and most, if not all college first year experience courses address each area. This course usually requires students to demonstrate an understanding of each skill set, and when possible to demonstrate application if not mastery.
Blu:
Ok, let’s start with Self-advocacy because you said that plays a major role.
Brenda:
That’s the best place to start Blu. There are two definitions we should look at.
Advocacy, defined as seeking support for the rights of a person or cause. When students don’t know what they don’t know, as you mentioned previously, is when they need advocates to see their need and help guide them to their goal.
And Self-advocacy is the understanding and seeking support for your own personal rights. It’s important to realize that this applies to high school students, transfer students, neuro-diverse students, veterans, and returning adult students. Any new student entering the institution would benefit from having these successful characteristics assessed and developed where necessary.
Blu:
Brenda, can you give us an example as that pertains to students.
Brenda:
Sure. I’m going to pull references from ‘Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life’, by Skip Downing, Houghton Mifflin Pub. It is one in which I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a four day training course with.
Let’s start with accepting Personal Responsibility: this is seeing oneself as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences thereby understanding one’s ability to respond to a situation. Whereas a struggling student sees themselves as a victim, believing that what happens to them is determined primarily by external forces such as fate, luck, and powerful others.
We often hear a student say an instructor gave them a grade, but in reality a student earns a grade based on their performance. The self-advocacy here is the ability to ask for clarification on one’s performance in order to improve it.
Blu:
Yes, now that you have verbalized it, I can see the difference. We all have a responsibility to ourselves.
Brenda:
Exactly, now let’s try understanding the use of Interdependence.
Interdependence consists of building mutually supportive relationships that help us achieve our goals and dreams (while helping others do the same).
In this area a struggling student is often solitary, seldom requesting, even rejecting, offers of assistance from those who could help. Individuals who may have struggled previously in their academic pursuits may not know how to create this co-learning atmosphere. Self- advocacy here is seeing the value in going on this journey with as many supports as possible
Blu:
You know I don’t think I ever applied that until maybe High School and certainly only with my closest friends. Is that normal?
Brenda:
Yes, very normal. Most of us may not have had to work in groups and be taught the valuable lesson that helping ourselves can help others and vice versa.
Remember Blu, I did tell you that many students do not arrive with all of these which is why learning about self-advocacy plays such an important role.
Blu:
Well Brenda, I’m going to lay it right on the line. I don’t know about anyone else, but many times if I was struggling with something or I didn’t understand it, I didn’t want anyone to know because I thought I was stupid and I didn’t want them to know that!
Brenda:
Oh yes and that is a terrible space to be in. Many of us were educated to be competitive instead of collaborative. And it affects how we see ourselves. Believing in oneself, is a powerful necessary tool to begin any educational journey with. It consists of seeing oneself as capable, lovable, and an unconditionally worthy human being. This is where the road to college begins for many of us, making that choice that we deserve this education because we are worthy of it and then learning to advocate for our success. Versus struggling with doubt about one’s competence and personal value, feeling inadequate to create our own desired outcomes and experiences.
Blu:
And that’s not always easy is it?
Brenda:
Right, easier said than done. Most of the time this requires stepping out of one’s comfort zone to make these changes. Higher Education Institutions can help though with a first year experience course focused on learning and applying these skill sets.
Blu:
First year experience courses? Do these courses really work?
Brenda:
Yes, extensive research has shown us that there are successful teaching practices that help a student become the best they can be. First year experience courses can provide a student with the opportunity to work on a successful characteristic under supervision where feedback, correction and confirmation are immediate. It is a most common instructional method. High-Impact learning has taken the forefront of successful practices as it incorporates active learning and applied learning projects.
Here is one national association that provides conferences and reports the research on these topics.
2021 Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success | Association of American Colleges & Universities (aacu.org).
In addition, research results can be found in academic peer reviewed journals such as:
The Journal of Higher Education, the College Student Journal and the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.
Next week Blu, I’d like to expand on faculty relationships and how we move all this knowledge to a level that makes it available to all students.
Blu:
Absolutely Brenda, that sounds awesome! Thank you for a great chat and I will be in touch next week.
Brenda:
Bye Blu.
There is a saying that goes, "if I knew then what I know now", that has come to mind often during my chats with Dr McGill. So I have to ask you all, if you had had this information earlier than today, how would your educational journey have been different. For me, I think it may have been very different and perhaps learning is back in my bucket of things I might want to do. If you care to share, please do. That is what the comment section is for.
Oh and I want to wish Rufus, one our readers Good Luck! Good Luck Rufus, I hope you enjoy every moment of learning a different form of photography. Not only are you an inspiration for doing this but you are an inspiration for letting everyone know you are doing it!! Thank you!
Blu