Standard 1: Candidates who complete the program are competent and knowledgeable educational leaders who can define and demonstrate the theoretical and practical foundational basis of informed, ethical leadership behavior in diverse and complex post-secondary institutions.
This standard has most certainly been satisfied not only through my coursework throughout the program, but through my practicum experience as well. I chose the elective "The Community College" to learn more about diverse post-secondary institutions and that class has been very knowledgeable and satisfied my passion on this subject because I attended a community college myself. I am also doing my practicum at a technical college's Adult Education Program. I've been learning about technical colleges missions in my coursework and adult education is also a very diverse service offered within higher education.
Ethical leadership behavior has also been of high relevance because there is such a diverse number of students working on their GEDs that I interact with. They vary by race, gender, nationality, intellectual level, gender, and disability. I have demonstrated a leadership position by instructing math and science courses to the older level learners. I have been very mindful of their unique learning abilities and backgrounds by offering one on one help to those who need it.
Standard 2: Candidates who complete the program are competent and knowledgeable educational leaders who facilitate positive and effective instructional programs incorporating the rights and the varied needs of all students in diverse and complex post-secondary institutions.
I am very glad I chose the practicum site that I did at Ogeechee Technical College because it has helped me learn to deal with a variety of issues relevant to this. In my teaching setting, for the GED learners, I have used effective instructional materials provided by the program to meet the needs of my learners. The students are of different races and low-poverty levels, so reading stories and work that involves different kinds of people has been helpful for them to relate to the knowledge and learn. I have also taken the initiative to use other resources that I could find to help meet their needs based upon their learning levels to facilitate positive learning. The "Multicultural Education" course has also been helpful in allowing me to think of creative ways to reach out to my learners and satisfy their unique needs.
Standard 3: Candidates who complete the program are competent and knowledgeable educational leaders who can develop and implement policies that promote research, scholarship, professional development, and technology utilization as appropriate in diverse and complex post-secondary institutions.
For starters, my ITEC class was helpful in learning about various tools and features I did not know about that I can apply in the teaching setting, or for personal use. The "Higher Education Policy" class has been very informative in explaining how government policies are created, adjust, and relate to current events. This has motivated me to keep up with the news in higher education regardless of my position. Finding ways to promote professional development is very important, not only because it is something I have experienced as a college student, but something many people can enjoy as I learned in the "Contemporary College Student" course.
Standard 4: Candidates who complete the program are competent and knowledgeable educational leaders who have the skills and ability to effectively communicate in both written and verbal formats and collaborate with the institutions constituents, and stakeholders, to respond to community needs and interests as appropriate in diverse and complex post-secondary institutions.
I honestly have this entire program to thank for my ability to communicate effectively in written form because of all the different types of papers I have had to work on over the past two years! But I can only be thankful because that was one thing I needed do more of and improve on from my undergraduate work. Online classes can be very helpful with that. To show that I have good verbal communication, I have taken the initiative throughout the program to reach out to my professors for help in a face to face manner, or over the phone. I have made arrangements to talk to some of them in their offices regarding questions over specific assignments, concerns, and advice on personal matters. They like that they can see an online student for once as well!
Specifically though, regarding community needs and interests, in the Adult Education program, we have had a concern that needed to be resolved. The concern regarded a students who has a severe disability and is a very low-level learner. No matter what, she will always remain at a low learning level, despite her older age. I discussed this with the Dean, and two other instructors. I took the initiative to go through the GED manual full of policies and we discussed different options, such as encouraging the student to seek other options in life, but without pressuring her to quit the program as she has the legal right to attend.
Standard 5: Candidates who complete the program are competent and knowledgeable educational leaders who have the ability to manage the organization, resources, and operations for the efficiency and effectiveness of diverse and complex post-secondary institutions.
Throughout the practicum, I have utilized my strengths of organization and resourcefulness to do very well. To satisfy the efficiency and effectiveness of an entity as diverse as Adult Education in a technical college, I have helped promote an interesting new resource called a Kineo. This electronic hand-held device helps instruct grades K-8 math and language arts. The problem is, many students are hesitant to use it, perhaps because technology seems a bit intimidating. Fortunately, I have found a way to encourage people to use it by offering to help them one on one with their classwork. They work on the device and let it teach them, then do practice questions. After the lessons are taught, if there are questions they do not understand, I offer to help them one-on-one in a private room. I also instruct math classes and I use a separate math workbook to teach a specific topic on a weekly basis. Also, in the "Higher Education Law" class, I learned about some of the legality regarding discrimination in higher education, and that is of strong relevance as most of the students are of a different ethnicity.