Introductory Framing Statement
I consider myself a communicator, learner, and adventurer; those three things led me to pursue my Master’s Degree in Adult Education and also a certificate in High Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University. To fully understand and appreciate my portfolio, you must first know a little bit about me. I graduated from Purdue University with my Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, specifically Human Relations, and have always had a deep desire to be an efficient, effective, and understanding communicator. This love for communication and relating to others led me to my first and current professional position as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the Ivy Tech in Lafayette. In this job, I work with both traditional and non-traditional students. I do a variety of different things in my job, including: planning events, going to nineteen high schools and talking to students about college, working with Purdue admissions to admit students into the Pathway to Purdue Agriculture Program, showing students around our campus, having one-on-one meetings with students to talk about their educational paths, and so much more. After working in admissions for a little while, I realized I wanted to learn more about our non-traditional students and figure out how they learn best, how to reach and support them better, and how to effectively teach our non-traditional students. This desire led me to an adventure- pursuing my master’s degree and certificate.
Over time, we all have significant adventures, awards, artifacts, and memories that we cherish and share with others. This portfolio is going to be added to that list as a significant piece of my life-long learning journey and it will be seen over time by employers, colleagues, and students.
Communication, collaboration, and critical thinking sparks growth is my chosen theme for this portfolio. I want those in my circle of influence throughout my lifetime to develop a love for learning. I firmly believe that we must be life-long learners to “do well in this life.” I can help spur on this type of learning/development in others through communication. I also know there is great value in helping others critically think through personal, professional, and educational goals. The world is always changing and if a person can develop an intrinsic love for learning, they will fight to grow and learn and develop over time. This portfolio I have created is two-fold, it not only shows how I will help others grow in the future, but it also shows how I myself have grown and plan to grow in the future.
I ultimately want to be an educator who consistently teaches from the humanistic educational philosophy. I believe keeping this teaching philosophy at the forefront of my mind, will help me figure out ways to maximize student’s potentials and create a loving, challenging, and creative environment for students to grow in. Ultimately, I want the following sentence from Elias and Merriam to ring true: “The result of the educative process would be humanist persons who were emotionally secure, intellectually alive, and socially active" (Elias & Merriam, 2005, p. 115). I would like to continue to learn creative and engaging ways to help adults engage with learning. I think one of my strengths and weaknesses as an educator is experience. I am young and don’t have years of experiences to draw from as I seek to help others grow and learn. However, in the same token, this inexperience gives me fresh eyes into the world of education; I bring new ideas and ways of thinking to my workplace, classroom, and master’s program. Over time, I would like to continue to grow my knowledge on how prior learning and experiences influences learning in adults. I think time will help me see the effect experiences have on adult learning, growing, and developing.
Portfolios are meant to help bridge gaps in learning and help piece together information in a constructive and useful way. As I create this portfolio and reflect on all I have learned through this master’s program, I plan to see my own growth as an individual. I know reflecting on my work will help me see how far I have come the past two years and will help me mentally piece together the process of my own learning, which in turn can help me see how to help other adults in their own process of learning.
As you work through my portfolio, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking will be seen as emergent themes in my artifacts. You will see how these three things work together to bring about learning in adults, in classrooms, in programs, and in myself. The theorists who I have studied and pulled valuable knowledge from regarding communication, collaboration, and critical thinking include: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Steven Brookfield. These theorists all tend to overlap in thought processes and ideas; however, I have pulled specific knowledge from each to expand upon my theme.
Carl Rogers’s theory of learning shares the key characteristics in significant learning, which include- personal involvement, self-initiated learning, pervasiveness, evaluation by the learner, and essence is meaning. (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007; Patterson, 1977). Rogers concludes that learning is extremely collaborative and learners need to be involved (communicate) with each other, the facilitator, and the material. Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs, can be used to help evaluate students and their barriers to education. Ultimately as educators, we can use this to help them strive towards self-actualization. Self-actualization is the point where students have critically examined their lives and have grown to the point where they are reaching their full potential, which includes characteristics like problem solving, spontaneity, creativity, fulfillment, etc. (McLeod, 2016). Brookfield’s theory of four lenses encourages educators to engage in reflective and critical thinking. The four lenses include: the autobiographical, the student’s eyes, our colleagues experiences, and theoretical literature (Badia, 2017). Critical reflection not only benefits educators, but also their students.
My first artifact reveals the educational philosophy to which I ascribe- the humanistic education philosophy. This artifact lays the foundation for my portfolio and helps explain how to understand me as an educator and as a person. This artifact required much critical thinking and allowed me to clarify the lens from which I view the classroom, programs, teaching, and learning. My second artifact examines student development theories, which helped me better understand how students grow and develop and how I can help foster a spirit of development and lifelong learning in students.
My third and fourth artifact delve into how adult students learn and the environments in which they learn. These artifacts bring about a holistic view on the learning process and emphasizes the importance of life-long learning being sparked within students. My fifth and sixth artifact, focus on the use of technology in our world today. I share how technology paired with collaboration can bring about rich learning and growth in students. This technology has opened up doors of collaboration between all people from all walks of life, which ultimately brings about understanding and growth in all.
My seventh artifact explores the importance of communication between all people, from learners to teachers, to spouses and coworkers. This communication brings about understanding between people and helps individuals and their institutions grow.
My last artifact is a hands on project that required me to attend, interview, and analyze an adult education program. This experience allowed me to delve into the world of adult education in ways I had never done before. I was a researcher and analyst for this final artifact, which allowed me to collaborate and communicate with the people in this program and see adult education in practice. As you read through my portfolio, please note how communication, collaboration, and critical thinking are at work in each artifact and how they ultimately bring about learning in adults, in classrooms, in programs, and in myself.
References
Badia, G. (2017). Combining critical reflection and action research to improve pedagogy. Libraries and the Academy17(4), 695-720. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Elias, J. L & Merriam, S.B (2005). Philosophical foundations of adult education. (3rd ed.). Krieger Publishing Company, Krieger Drive, Malabar, FL.
McLeod, S. (2016). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R.S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Patterson, C.H. (1977). Foundations for a theory of instruction and educational psychology. Ann Arbor, MI: Harper & Row.
Over time, we all have significant adventures, awards, artifacts, and memories that we cherish and share with others. This portfolio is going to be added to that list as a significant piece of my life-long learning journey and it will be seen over time by employers, colleagues, and students.
Communication, collaboration, and critical thinking sparks growth is my chosen theme for this portfolio. I want those in my circle of influence throughout my lifetime to develop a love for learning. I firmly believe that we must be life-long learners to “do well in this life.” I can help spur on this type of learning/development in others through communication. I also know there is great value in helping others critically think through personal, professional, and educational goals. The world is always changing and if a person can develop an intrinsic love for learning, they will fight to grow and learn and develop over time. This portfolio I have created is two-fold, it not only shows how I will help others grow in the future, but it also shows how I myself have grown and plan to grow in the future.
I ultimately want to be an educator who consistently teaches from the humanistic educational philosophy. I believe keeping this teaching philosophy at the forefront of my mind, will help me figure out ways to maximize student’s potentials and create a loving, challenging, and creative environment for students to grow in. Ultimately, I want the following sentence from Elias and Merriam to ring true: “The result of the educative process would be humanist persons who were emotionally secure, intellectually alive, and socially active" (Elias & Merriam, 2005, p. 115). I would like to continue to learn creative and engaging ways to help adults engage with learning. I think one of my strengths and weaknesses as an educator is experience. I am young and don’t have years of experiences to draw from as I seek to help others grow and learn. However, in the same token, this inexperience gives me fresh eyes into the world of education; I bring new ideas and ways of thinking to my workplace, classroom, and master’s program. Over time, I would like to continue to grow my knowledge on how prior learning and experiences influences learning in adults. I think time will help me see the effect experiences have on adult learning, growing, and developing.
Portfolios are meant to help bridge gaps in learning and help piece together information in a constructive and useful way. As I create this portfolio and reflect on all I have learned through this master’s program, I plan to see my own growth as an individual. I know reflecting on my work will help me see how far I have come the past two years and will help me mentally piece together the process of my own learning, which in turn can help me see how to help other adults in their own process of learning.
As you work through my portfolio, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking will be seen as emergent themes in my artifacts. You will see how these three things work together to bring about learning in adults, in classrooms, in programs, and in myself. The theorists who I have studied and pulled valuable knowledge from regarding communication, collaboration, and critical thinking include: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Steven Brookfield. These theorists all tend to overlap in thought processes and ideas; however, I have pulled specific knowledge from each to expand upon my theme.
Carl Rogers’s theory of learning shares the key characteristics in significant learning, which include- personal involvement, self-initiated learning, pervasiveness, evaluation by the learner, and essence is meaning. (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007; Patterson, 1977). Rogers concludes that learning is extremely collaborative and learners need to be involved (communicate) with each other, the facilitator, and the material. Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs, can be used to help evaluate students and their barriers to education. Ultimately as educators, we can use this to help them strive towards self-actualization. Self-actualization is the point where students have critically examined their lives and have grown to the point where they are reaching their full potential, which includes characteristics like problem solving, spontaneity, creativity, fulfillment, etc. (McLeod, 2016). Brookfield’s theory of four lenses encourages educators to engage in reflective and critical thinking. The four lenses include: the autobiographical, the student’s eyes, our colleagues experiences, and theoretical literature (Badia, 2017). Critical reflection not only benefits educators, but also their students.
My first artifact reveals the educational philosophy to which I ascribe- the humanistic education philosophy. This artifact lays the foundation for my portfolio and helps explain how to understand me as an educator and as a person. This artifact required much critical thinking and allowed me to clarify the lens from which I view the classroom, programs, teaching, and learning. My second artifact examines student development theories, which helped me better understand how students grow and develop and how I can help foster a spirit of development and lifelong learning in students.
My third and fourth artifact delve into how adult students learn and the environments in which they learn. These artifacts bring about a holistic view on the learning process and emphasizes the importance of life-long learning being sparked within students. My fifth and sixth artifact, focus on the use of technology in our world today. I share how technology paired with collaboration can bring about rich learning and growth in students. This technology has opened up doors of collaboration between all people from all walks of life, which ultimately brings about understanding and growth in all.
My seventh artifact explores the importance of communication between all people, from learners to teachers, to spouses and coworkers. This communication brings about understanding between people and helps individuals and their institutions grow.
My last artifact is a hands on project that required me to attend, interview, and analyze an adult education program. This experience allowed me to delve into the world of adult education in ways I had never done before. I was a researcher and analyst for this final artifact, which allowed me to collaborate and communicate with the people in this program and see adult education in practice. As you read through my portfolio, please note how communication, collaboration, and critical thinking are at work in each artifact and how they ultimately bring about learning in adults, in classrooms, in programs, and in myself.
References
Badia, G. (2017). Combining critical reflection and action research to improve pedagogy. Libraries and the Academy17(4), 695-720. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Elias, J. L & Merriam, S.B (2005). Philosophical foundations of adult education. (3rd ed.). Krieger Publishing Company, Krieger Drive, Malabar, FL.
McLeod, S. (2016). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R.S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Patterson, C.H. (1977). Foundations for a theory of instruction and educational psychology. Ann Arbor, MI: Harper & Row.