A New Philosophy

With the journey of my voice project and being introduced to documents, theories, history, and foundations, I have come to an update outlook on maneuvering through the avenues of the higher education landscape.  Through readings and soon to be practice; accountability, pro-activeness with intent, practice backed by theory, advocacy, and collaboration are now key components to my higher education philosophy.

A New Philosophy

When looking at the individuals who made an impact on my college experience, all shared the same characteristic of being a role model.  With being a good example of values, knowledge, and outlook comes accountability.  Though these people were busy, they never let me down and displayed excellence in all aspects of their lives, since I got to know them outside of the classroom or office as well.  The Principles of Good Practice (1997) states that we, as professionals must set "high expectations for student learning".  With this being said, I say, in order to set expectations we must meet expectations of our students, community, staff, and faculty.  This may be in the way we dress, the actions we do, or the words we say.  Though never to push our values on students it is important to live by a moral code of ethics.  These will help guide our practices and set those high personal aspirations and expectations.  Accountability should be included in this ethical code.  Students and faculty should be able to depend on professionals to conduct quality practices in higher education.

Through creating a voice, it allowed me to draw upon the theories in order to dissect Noor and create recommendations to assist her on her journey.  When using theories, I believe, that a balance must be struck between context, personal theory, and proven theory.  One should not solely rely on theory because it is recent or has been tested.  A student affairs professional should be a reflective practitioner in order to see what theories assist in working with the wide variety of students in higher education.  If theory is used incorrectly, individuals can be stereotyped and boxed into situations that may not be the most appropriate technique to use in counseling or advising.  Theory can be used as a frame of reference and with personal theory, can help customize practices that are conducted with students.  Whenever possible, the student affairs professional should be an active scientist in working with colleagues to progress the field of education in hopes to update and create a better context for theory to be conducted.  A professional must wear many hats.  One of being a listener, reflector, scientist, teacher, and role model in order to use theory and experience to best assist students.

A third component to the updated philosophy is that of collaboration. As stated in the Student Learning Imperative (1996) student affairs must "complement the institution's mission". In higher education this collaboration can take place with faculty, staff, students, the community and others.  It is important to remember that the intent of higher education is to advance student learning.  Understanding and empathizing is a large part in the collaborative process. Much like the voice project, being courteous and trying to understand another culture is helpful in showing pro-activeness in achieving goals.  Faculty culture may be one of the most prevalent that student affairs officials will face.  Departments in colleges are set up very differently, some may be loose while others may have many pieces but each should have a goal to help the student progress.  One must be respectful of the time constraints, finances, and past experiences with student affairs in order to receive the best results.  Collaboration takes effort and the most importantly is for one to be patient, observant, ask questions, and timing.

One of the more relevant points learned from the voice project was to become an advocate for students.  When Millenials are coming in with a sense of feeling diverse it doesn't mean that they think about diversity on a daily basis. Students may not be aware of the hegemony that is happening daily and creating an awareness for students to be advocates allows them to think communally about situations. Student affairs should be promoting accessibility, when it comes to advocacy.  Centers, office hours, and programming should have the opportunity to be available to all students.  When relating to my voice, adult learners make up a large amount of the present day student population and student affairs is going to need to accommodate to their needs.  Another important component is empathy and most underrated, the ability to listen.  Being able to listen to a situation with intent and have an open mind can help oppressed groups reveal to professionals the real need of the students.  Asking questions and creating opportunity for critical thinking can help students with the opportunity to solve their own problems.  The voice project showed the depth in which one can empathize with a group or individual.  Though it can't go to this length for every student, professionals can come up with personal methods to assist themselves understand others.

The final cornerstone to this mantra is the ability to be pro-active in the field of higher education.  Apathy and stagnancy is a silent killer in many situations and this will only affect our constituents; students. Being pro-active shows the willingness to change, to progress, and to take chances within a career or programming setting.  But each move that is made must be made with intent and have a search for a desired outcome.  Being pro-active allows a person to explore all aspects of a situation but intent allows a person to make a commitment.

Each of these components are going to help build a foundation that I hope to expand throughout my time in student affairs but also provides goals that I will try to use within my assistantship.  Each of these cornerstones comes with a level of optimism, which I believe, help tie these together.  Student affairs is looking to help student learn, develop, and growth and I believe that staying positive will help keep priorities straight and the outlook to be searchers in the field in order to provide the best product for our students.

Recommendations

When reflecting on my voice, it could have easily been broken into the female Muslim and adult learner.  Each provided a unique challenge that ended up being a relevant to today's current issues.  For student affairs to work with a diverse body of students it is important to conduct voice-like projects in order to keep up with student needs.

For the adult learner, the two main factors that contributed to successful were those of timing and location.  Timing meant that places on campus were accessibility for the student and these centers had materials relevant to their needs.  Location was another component which helped again with the concept of access.  Through the researched programs, the ones that were successful in the location sense were the most aware of using what was around the institution and managed their resources well.

Another aspect of the adult learner is the complexity of them.  How potentially more complex are they to other students?  The adult learner may come in with additional stressors.  On top of regular issues an adult learner may have child care problems, marriage problems, and handful of other stresses that can create inconveniences for adult learners. Successful programs allowed adult learners to network with others and create support groups for these unique types of students.  Again timing and location played a major part in the success of these programs.

One of the most important items that I learned was that the life experience of adult learners may be beneficial or not at all.  Unlike traditional college-aged students, they come with the misconception that they have achieved identity because they are an adult.  These students are going through just as much development as others and it is important that student affairs professional recognize these developments and understand their unique needs at the same time.

When turning to the female Muslim part of my voice, the factors come down to creating an awareness of culture including understanding the religious devotion of many of these students.  As mentioned in one of my first posts, a large part of this planet is devoted to the Islamic culture. Unfortunately, due to modern events, the culture has been tainted with doubt, zealots, and ignorant views that hurt many Muslim student before they are understood as a whole person.

One of the most important things for being an advocate of Muslim students is to get correct information.  The Koran can be interpreted in many ways and just reading books can only take a person so far in their quest for the truth.  The first hand experience provided me with contacts and first-hand accounts of students living in today's world.  One should be aware that the "truth" is contextually, always changing, and it is up to the student affairs professional to be aware of this in order to relate this to a particular institution. Being aware of customs, foods, and religious rights are some of the more key things to be open to when experiencing a new culture.

Much like the adult learner, Muslims may have certain needs.  Bowling Green State University have made these accommodates by providing a prayer room on campus and with the diverse student population, a Muslim group has been a great source of community for student living both on and off campus.  Allowing students to form these groups are great but each must be able to contribute to the larger college campus and also learn to seek out advocates within the community.  Just like any student, it is important that these groups develop an identity (mission statements perhaps) and continue to grow whether it is in numbers or programming.

Looking back on this experience it has helped lead me into becoming a more insightful practitioner.  It allowed me to empathize on a level that was never done before and the theories gave me the tools to help assist this voice grow and develop.  More importantly, this project gave me experience in being pro-active in finding students to help understand the culture of a current college campus.

On Different Grounds

Whether it is in the workplace or in higher education being able to think about situations in their context enables professionals to make commitments to help other groups or individuals.  An example of this attention to people was displayed in a Tyson plant in Shelbyville, Tenn.

With a large majority of its workers being of Islamic faith, it was granted that Labor Day not be scheduled off but that last day of Ramadan which is October 1. Out of 1,200 workers, 700 of them are Islam.  But this was not religious based decision but was a "contractual agreement".  This means that the majority of people wanted for this to happen.  Tensions have risen though because of the division of religion as a personal matter.  This particular Tyson plant even has a prayer room for Muslims to pray.  One worker commented that "We don't have one for Christians". Another went as far as saying "..you're in America, I think that they should go with our holidays" (Associated Press, 2008).

How does this relate to my voice or higher education?  It goes back to the question on what it means to be an American in this country and I believe the lack of concern for diversity.  In higher education, the very nature of a liberal arts education is to broaden the knowledge base of the individual.  Dialogue is one of the most important components in creating visibility for issues from the Bad Butter Rebellion to the Jena 6 protests, each had students voice their opinions on campus. One of the programs that I have encountered is the inter-group relations program at the University of Michigan.  It is not a debate of who is wrong or right but rather an open forum where facilitators help guide dialogue into new and interesting areas.  The purpose is to promote understanding and I believe that without this visibility, students may not be as proactive until large situations arise.  With more dialogue would these non-Muslim workers be more happy?  The world may never know, but what they may have done if dialogue happened would be a chance to empathize and more importantly, have an awareness of other cultures and their customs.  The two keys terms of opportunity and awareness can create programs that have impacts on cultural groups so that the majority does not lose sight of the issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GoHooTg5Do

Resources:

Associated Press. (2008, August). Drops Labor Day for Muslim Holiday. Nashville News. Retrieved August 4, 2008, from http://www.wsmv.com/news/17063986/detail.html#-

(2008). Tyson replaces labor with Muslim Holiday [Video]. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GoHooTg5D0

Shadowing My Voice: Part II

In order to complete my shadowing process, I made contact with a Muslim woman who was willing to let me "walk in her shoes". Julie appreciated the fact that I was taking time to learn about the culture and wanted me to get a true experience. Being an American Muslim meant that she was devoted to her religion but respected and appreciated most American culture.

She wanted to try an experiment.  I was to combine both Ramadan traditions and daily ritual into a one day experience. She said the most important part of her day were her prayers.  For me to get an authentic look into her life, she ask that I try to find a quiet place and reflect five times that day for a period of five minutes or more. In addition, I was to fast and not change my daily routine e.g. running, doing homework etc.  I was also to refrain from swearing or doing anything that would cancel out my fast. With a time schedule as my guide, I woke up before the first prayer session and ate a full meal and hydrated. At the first light around 6 a.m. I performed my first reflection session and ran my usual three miles.  I chose to switch running in the morning because I was hydrated compared to in the evening when I would have to wait until dusk to drink. After a shower, I went about my day exhausted but happy.  The plan was to continue my reflection sessions until Sunrise and we would meet to discuss any questions I had and eat.  I met her briefly in the prayer room on campus which is in Olscamp. The first half of the day went fine but as mid afternoon approached I found myself parched and unfocused on schoolwork. Once Mahjib came (sunrise + reflection session), I was released of my fasting duties.

When asked about the hardest part about Ramadan, she explained that it was a test.  It was to test the mind, body, and soul. Mentally, she found it the toughest to concentrate on schoolwork and found religion as a source of strength but also a guide for values and morals. She, like Noor, chose to wear a traditional head cloth in order to be unique from other women and have pride in her culture.  Much like a flashy pair of clothing, it is to make her different and to raise questions. For the most part, people are courteous of her clothing choice but occasionally gets a weird look from certain individuals. She says a large part of her comfort is that she has family in the area.  It is important to note that Toledo and Michigan have a large amount of Islamic faith based ethnic groups.  She chose Bowling Green State University because she had cousins who went through the college and like Noor was raised all her life as an American but was born here and not an immigrant.

When asked about discrimination, she said that she has heard of other Muslims who experienced disservice or name calling but understands that her religion teaches tolerance. She is positive about change and hopes that through the more people she meets that she can spread the "gift of diversity and culture".  She lives on campus and said that her support comes from her friends, both Muslim and non-Muslim, family, and the Muslim Student Association.  When asked about student affairs, she pointed out that the multi-cultural centers do an adequate job in providing accessibility.  Most of her contact has been with people of her same culture introducing her to a group and the facilities. 

Student affairs professionals should pay special attention to the religious needs of students and the customs they follow.  Being able to empathize with students is a way of trying to understand the life they live and how their work, school studies, and attitude can affect the job in student affairs on a daily basis.  What was learned from this experience is that devoted Muslims make accommodations to their daily lives and some are more taxing than others.  It is important that through theories, both psychosocial, cognitive, and typology, that I try to use the tools around me to combine those with my personal theories.  It is important that the educator be reflective and think of situations contextually.

Video Link

Muslims in America

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4--DUCwjZfw

Muslim Women in USA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZDgfvedQ5Q

Shadowing My Voice: Part I

When I wanted to shadow my voice, I had some apprehensions about the availability of finding someone who was both Muslim, female, and an adult learner.  With some frustrations, I finally found two individuals to help with my shadowing process.  "Ben" was a 37-year old adult learner who was taking general classes over the summer.  "Julie" was a 20 year Muslim full-time student taking summer classes.  Both were used to help develop background for my voice, the problems they face, and creating solutions that can be applied to higher education.

Ben was mid-way through his marketing major at the university.  He works full-time most weeks and has a wife and a son.  Though only receiving an associate degree, he is a partner at a local business and looking to expand his knowledge in order to transition into a new role of the business that financial, is a " better investment in the long run".  When asking him about his hardest struggle he stated, "It was more of an emotional struggle...I spent less time with my wife, and with my son home from school for the summer, it was hard to leave them".  Prying further, he said that his support group was his family and though he had friends in the program, he rarely used them for help except for in group project situations.

His advisor was his main contact with the university.  This was a faculty member assigned to help guide marketing majors through the program and though it was not usually for a professor to be the main source, but Ben relied on him heavily.  He said that the professor was more of a colleague than an advisor.  When asked about other support services on campus he mentioned that though he had heard of the career center but have never needed to use their services.  When asked if he ever will he said, "doubtful...it's not needed..since I know what my job is hopefully going to be".  He also maintained that his advisor was his greatest asset to his education.  "When you have such as strong mentor...you don't really need the other supports...he is my career center, counseling center, and financial advisor, all rolled into one", was a reply about the role his advisor played.

His other transition was the workload.  When he first started out, he struggled with keeping up with the reading and the amount of research that was needed for the major.  His professors were very supportive and upon revealing to them about his unique situation, they congratulated him for taking a risk and saw to it that they provide him with a mentor who was known for helping students with different situations.

Student affairs is a large part of the college experience and he said that it was largely unnoticeable in his day-to-day student life.  He said though he had classmates who were close he wished that each individual college offered a networking team to help students connect to the university better and to colleagues in the program.  

When reflecting upon his experience it was clear that his purpose was different than Noor.  He had a perspective on education where he was to get in and get out.  He admitted that if he did not have a strong mentor that he believes that he would seek out services but said that his mentor was "one of the best connections to the university".  His struggles were the same as Noor's with his devotion to his family and being apprehension about the workload of college.  How could I, as a future student affairs professional, made his experience better. When looking at this question it was clear that faculty are the first meaningful contact to the university. If a faculty member does not have the resources to help a student then they should work as a referral system. Documents from the foundations course support this notion of collaboration with faculty and student affairs professionals should want faculty members to be knowledgeable about their facilities.  A faculty member may only be present for a few hours a day plus office hours and it is important that student affairs professionals respect this time.  Like an adult learner, timing is a large issue with faculty. Providing information should be convenient, fast, and assessable.  Whether this is creating a one-stop manual or website with easy links, faculty who are exposed to student affairs can help pass information onto students.

When working with faculty, it is important to try to understand the culture.  Each department has a unique way of conducting business and where one technique may work with the art center , it may not work with the math office.  

Exposure and timing were the main issues with this particular adult learner and would be safe to assume many others. Providing literature and convenient orientations to either programs or facilitates would help in spreading the word about support services on campus.  With a heavy workload for the student, these facilities may be only used a handful of times and it is important that these offices are easily assessable to adult learners. The most important piece that can be taken from this shadowing experience is that in some ways adult learners have the same struggles but each provide a unique problem to assist the learner in achieving. A student affairs professional should be an advocate for these people because they like full-time students, can easily be lost in crowd at the university level.

The Importance of Questioning in Higher Education

One of the cornerstones of a practitioner's toolbox is questioning.  This skill though must be developed and more importantly have intent behind the wanted outcomes.  More importantly is reflective questioning, or prompting the student to think more in-depth about answers.

For Noor and an advisor using Baxter Magold & King's Guide to Reflective Conversation it would help in the development of answers for my voice to use in her career, schoolwork, and support group.  Since she is an adult learner, it would be wise to say that she has had a wide variety of experiences to drawn answers from. Unlike an incoming student, her life has not been devoted in the majority to school. She has had a family, raised a son, works, has a spiritual life, and many other aspects. In practical application, it is important for Noor to state her intended outcome. Since she may have trouble with picking a single experience, one may stress the prompting to pick those life changing events, the feelings that were felt, and the outcomes of those events.

The reflection on the past experiences is one of the most important components of the questioning strategies. A student is able to look and find past events that have caused change, support groups that have been there, and techniques that have worked.  One should be cautious to rely on these past experiences to work all the time, but it does not hurt to experiment and try out both old and new strategies on endeavors. The emergence of new perspectives is equally important because it reveals how much growth has taken place. It can also justify to a person the success they have had, who may not see the fruit of their labor.

All of the questioning techniques seem to be grounded in good practice but it is essential that a professional look at each situation contextually.  One should be aware of the student's history, if possible, and look to evoke a student to produce a wanted outcome through questioning in order to assist them in creating a goal through the questioning process.

In class handouts:

Baxter Magold & King's Guide to Reflective Conversation

Sharon Parks and A Voice Towards Faith

For Noor, Sharon Parks model of adult faith seems to show a better progression on what the feelings of faith my voice is having and being able to define a category if needed.  Like many theories, this seems contextual and it is important to understand as a young professional that needs need to be looked at with clear eyes and an open mind.

When identifying Noor's faith it is important to have an understanding of the background that she comes from.  Noor's parents immigrated from the Middle East and upon settling in America, continued to follow the teachings of Muhammad and the faith of Islam.  She grew up with religion as more of a routine than something that she goes to occasionally or on a weekly basis.  She is a devoted Muslim, praying everyday, and trying to achieve her goals by being faithful to the teachings of the Koran.  

But she cannot be categorized into a dualistic mode.  She has moved away from a dependence to the forming of a community.  She is comfortable with her faith and is looking to, not experiment, but try to understand others (faiths included) in order to become a better teacher and understand the inner workings of people.  Though she belongs to the conventional community, she is in a category of being open to others.  Though some of her community, especially in the mosque and support group, do not understand her, she insists that being an advocate for her religion can only further the breakdown in prejudices about Islam.

Class Readings:

Nash, R.J. (2001). Constructing a spirituality of teaching: A personal perspective. Religion and Education, 28 (1), 1-20.

Religion and Voice

From the current readings and redirection in my voice, the focus continues to be on Islam.  The things that interest me is in the teachings but also in the daily routines of a devote Muslim.  Through contacts that I met in my cultural trip to the festival, I come to find answers in some of the aspects of religion.

When structuring your time, how do you take into account the prayer ceremony that takes place numerous times a day?

The prayer ceremony, or salah, is performed five times a day.  The purpose of this is to praise God and ask to show Muslims, the right way in life.  "With my occupation, I work with several other Muslims".  Throughout the day, John and others go to extra board room and perform their prayers.  Awareness is a big key for Muslims in the workforce.  Bosses who are unfamiliar with the culture "seem to be accommodating to our needs".  I can see though in other places where Muslims would not be the norm that it may be faced with prejudices.  John's co-workers are aware of this and they always, as a group, try to go at the same time.  When he has his days off, he usually go to a mosque to perform at least one of his prayers.

How do you advocate Islam in daily life?

From what was explained in my voice, John believes that she and him share the same devotion to promote the awareness of Islam and break stereotypes.  In the present, it seems that Islam gets "misinterpreted by zealots and terrorists".  He says "I try to make people understand that the truth of any religion is only as good as those who follow the teachings".  Just like any religion, mistakes of content is misinterpreted and people do terrible things and try to justify it with religion.  The important thing for people to remember is that Islam advocates peace.  For John, the important thing for" me is when faced with a question, that I remain calm and try to use my answer to benefit and educate".

Looking back, how has Islam impacted your life, spiritually and otherwise?

For John, just like Allah, "I am one with Islam and always have been".  Being raised from the beginning, it has helped John establish a routine.  But it has always given John great gratitude to know that he is apart of a larger universe.   Islam has given him strength and comfort to know that he am being watched and cared for but at the same time pushed to be true to the teachings of Muhammad. 

From my contact it seems that God is the ultimate example of challenge and support.  For Noor and my contact, they have been brought upon this Earth to serve others through morals and good deeds.  From Nash's definitions of believers, Noor seems to fall into the orthodox category but at the same time cannot be encompassed fully into this category (2001, p. 13).  This means that she is confident in her religion and that through Islam and her devotion that she can work to achieve her goals and be a servant to the greater good.  Noor has been raised with Islam and it is part of her just like others were raised Catholic or Buddhist.  Noor, through education, though wants to become an advocate for religious tolerance and believes that the best way to achieve this is to try to understand other religions and cultures as well.  Though she may hold firm to her beliefs, she is willing to explore others beliefs and customs for the greater good.  Since Noor is a full time student she is making it a priority to find groups and classes that cater to this desire for tolerance.

Resources:

Nash, R.J. (2001). Constructing a spirituality of teaching: A personal perspective. Religion and Education, 28 (1), 1-20.

Parks, S. (2005). The journey toward mature adult faith: A model. In M.E. Wilson & L.E. Wolf-Wendel (Eds.), ASHE reader on college student development theory (pp. 139-152). Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing.

The Indianapolis Middle Eastern Fair

Over this weekend, I got to go home and spend time in Carmel, IN which is North of Indianapolis.  While looking through the paper I came across the Indianapolis Middle Eastern Festival that was taking place over my time at home.  I decided to go with my friends to experience the food, dance, music, and more importantly see if I could find someone to talk to about being Muslim in America.

Coming with a hungry appetite, I was able to try authentic Middle Eastern foods, make contacts, and explore further into my voice.  I asked around and found that according to the Quran, Allah allows the Muslim people to eat any animal that he would eat.  He prohibited Muslims to eat any harmful or bad foods.  This included the prohibition of alcohol, drugs, pork, carnivorous animals and birds, or any animal that has died of natural causes.  Another interesting custom is that food needs to be eaten with the right hand. Muslims believe that the left hand is considered unclean. During the festival I got Falafel which is chick pea and fava bean with sauce and hommus.  I even tried some lamb which I never had before.  A large number of the traditional food is made with lamb because it is ample in where Muslims live.  

 

An interesting fact was that I found out is that this festival was put on by Orthodox Christians. The founders of this particular church in Indianapolis were from the Middle East.  Even though these people were the host, it was still an ample place for my voice.  I tried to take in the experience and mostly asked about food, since it was truly delicious.  But over conservations, I mentioned the project and one of my major interest was in the holiday of Ramadan.  This holiday follows the Muslim calendar and is expected to start September 1st.  In this month Muslims fast, or do not eat during the day.  It is meant to be a time of concentration of faith, worship, and contemplation.  They are restricted from eating or drinking during daylight hours.  From what I gather, this can be tricky if they play sports, or in a labor intensive job.  The meal at the end of the day is called a "iftar".  During this iftar, it is a time for Muslims to visit.  One of my new friends, "John",  explained that they are "not off the hook" during the daytime for just eating.  He said that things such as lies, cheating, greed, and other sins can cancel out the fast for the day.  These are considered as a "slap in the face" to Allah.  Towards the end, Muslims celebrate the Night of Power.  This was the time when Muhammad first received the Word about the Quran.  The very end is an additional celebration called the Fast Breaking.  During this time gifts are exchanged, family and friends come together along with prayers and big meals.  John says that Ramadan can be the most challenging part of being a Muslim but through this time, they concentrate hard on their culture and this is a way to stay connected with past members of the Islamic faith which has been a custom for thousands of years.

Overall, I got to experience culture, make new contacts and felt better connected to my voice.  It is always interesting to find out about customs and cultural food because through a meal, it is a time to share, for any culture it seems.

The Learning Style of Noor

When taking a look at Kolb's learning styles, it may be hard to gauge someone just based on how they act from one situation or another.  In order to find the learning style, I used the indicator based on Noor's attitude towards life and what I learned in the Myers-Briggs test.

What the indicator initiated was that the learning style of Noor is a diverger.  This means that they are feeling and watching when learning.  They involve concrete experience and reflective observation.  Diverger's have a strong sense of imagination, they are idea makers and have a general interest in people and culture.  Noor seems a strong fit into this type but I believe that Kolb's learning style is contextual.  Meaning that learning style is based on certain situations that a person may have and may have another preferred learning style.  For example, in a new situation, a person may go from being an accommodator and like the active experimentation to being more of an assimilator or converger and needing the abstract conceptualisation.  From taking education classes, she should be going through every learning style.  Classes will start with the foundations and theories and through this try to create experiences that will test those, expand ideas, and create a wide area of techniques to use in the field.

If I were a counselor or advisor to Noor, I would recommend that she join an education club or start participating in small community events that revolve around education or something she enjoys.  Experience is the key in education and being able to get hands on experience will help reinforce what is happening in the classroom.  Additionally, Noor should start looking into going to conferences, lectures, or other education sessions tied to her major.  With her being an adult learner, this may be tough to participate in the club, and she may need to focus on finding events around her community.

Taken from in-class handout:

Kolb's Cycle of Learning

Myers Briggs and My Voice

From what has been written so far, I believe I know my voice fairly well.  I understand how she would react to family situations, schoolwork, and the way that she lives out her daily life.  This is similar to how the creators of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator first became interested in personality.  They wanted to understand characters in literature and were by modern terms, "people watchers".

Where does Noor get energy from?  Does she spend time with people and things or with her inner thoughts?  From what I gathered, Noor is an extrovert.  She enjoys being around people, and feels comfortable when she is working with others in a formal or informal setting.  She has a wide range of friends; from her girlfriends to the members of the mosque she belongs to and each play an important part in her life.  When looking at either sensing or intuition, she probably would enjoy more hands-on experiences, she likes to think beyond the norm and likes the exploration factor within her education major. This would mean she would fall into a category of intuition. The third preference pairing is dealing with thinking or feeling.  Being that she is a mother, can empathize with others,  and is lead by her emotions, I believe that she would be would be more feeling than thinking.  She believes that the best way to look at situations is being able to empathize with others.  Especially, in teaching, though she has to be fair and just, looking more in-depth about situations.  Questions arise such as: Did the child get a meal this morning? Was the kid up all night listening to his parents argue?  Is the kid getting harassed by someone at school?  The final pairing is judging and perceiving.  With being able to balance a family, school, and a social life, I believe that a person such as Noor would have to be organized, come into situations with a plan, and makes lists in order to get things accomplished.  With this all being said, Noor would be characterized as judging.

The final formation of Noor's personality type would be a ENFJ.  A person with a ENFJ is characterized as being warm, empathetic, acts as a catalysts for group/individual growth, additionally they are social, and provides leadership that inspires.  The one major thing that an ENFJ would need to work on is being able to know when to move on in certain situations.  In education, people have to understand that there are factors that are uncontrollable and out of our hands.  There are things we can fix and others that people need to do on their own. 

In order to help Noor achieve growth, an advisor may challenge her to volunteer so she may not see outcomes but understand she is doing well.  As a professor, I would encourage Noor to be reflective, understand that her actions effect the outcomes, and learn disciplinary techniques and classroom management skills in order to improve as being more of a thinker.  I would help Noor create a mindset in the classroom that the environment is volatile and sometimes, situations do not pay attention to a lesson plan.  The important part for a student affairs professional to do is to notice the context in which Noor leads her life, her major, and schoolwork in order to prepare to assist in the growth of the individual.

Taken from in-class handout:

The Myers & Briggs Foundation

Morality and the College Environment

Like the former theory, students come to college as a mixed bag, morality included.  Through experiences and mentorship, collegians can work towards caring about their whole environment compared to just themselves.  In connection with my voice, it is interesting to explore the issue of moral development with consciousness to being Muslim and an adult learner.

When looking at my voice it is important to define two things when morality is brought up.  First, that her morality will be guided by her religion.  Secondly, that the morality of others will be a concern about her well being.  Religion, which is Islam in this case, Allah commands several things from a devoted Muslim like Noor.  These are:

-Islam is a religion of peace and well-being

-Allah condemns mischief

-Islam defends freedom of speech

-Allah has made the killing of innocent people unlawful

-Allah commands believers to be compassionate and merciful

-Allah has commanded tolerance and forgiveness (Paki, 2008)

When looking at Noor's life, she tries to spread her culture when asked and is open to questions about her religion and way of life.  She has lived in this country since she was a little girl and throughout the years she has experienced racism and intolerance.  Even though respect has not always been given to her, she takes pride in her culture and religion in order to be dignified enough to not seek revenge but instead be open to educate.  For Noor, she tries to empathize with others in order to see what they see.  Mostly, when doing this, she sees fear, misunderstanding, ignorance and people who are generally uneducated about the Islamic culture.  Noor, in my view, is in the later stages of middle moral development or early advanced development.  This is justified because Noor cannot often express what she is feeling or know how to communicate her morals and standards of ethics towards others.  She may be even in Rest's transition from goodness to truth.

When entering college, Noor will experience many younger classmates with the early stages of moral development.  They may be selfish, self-centered and stubborn with their ways in contrast to their whole environment.  In contrast, she may have classmates who are in the middle stages which keep good images in comparison to the environment and try their best to be considerate, nice, and kind. As an educator who has identified Noor with such an advanced stage, it would be helpful to continue encouragement and help her become an advocate for herself and her culture.  With this, it will help earlier staged students to become more aware of their assumptions in order to get a more worldly view of a different culture. 

Taken from in-class handout:

Comparison of Gilligan's Morality of Care and Responsibility and Kohlberg's Morality of Justice

Resources

Paki (2008). The true Islamic morals. Retrieved July 17, 2008, from http://ipaki.com/content/html/27/429.html

The Female Adult Learner and Cognitive Development

When reflecting on the theories of cognitive development, two questions came to mind.  The first being:  What stage is my voice? Secondly is: How do the life experience of an adult learner effect their stage?

When examining my voice, I first had to understand Noor's past life experiences.  She was stated as being strong, independent, and highly motivated for attending college.  The field of education is something that she is passionate about and wants to learn more but be progressive in the field.  She has enough life experiences to make her own opinions about events, facts, and is willingly to search for the correct answers to fit the context.  I suspect that when in the classroom, Noor is a diligent student who isn't afraid to ask questions concerning the validity of techniques and educational practices.  Therefore, Noor would not be in the early stages of cognitive development where she accepts all truths as final and knowledge is viewed as certain.  She would not be in the advanced stage either.  Though she does not accept everything as fact without careful research, she is still exploring her voice and gaining confidence in her specific content area.  Additionally, she does not think of herself as the authority but more of a learner when starting out her college career.  She does though have enough experience in her life to be in advanced stages in other parts of her world.  For Noor, in an educational setting, she is categorized in the middle stages of development.  She is on a quest for the self, trusting in her own voice over others.

When assisting Noor in developing into the advanced stages of cognitive development, the main goal is for independent thinking to occur but also being able to create justifications for information she may think as true.  As a professor, practicums with reflection papers on experiences and identifying items that worked in education would be beneficial in not only creating confidence in the classroom but being able to be a reflective educator to show what positive techniques that are being used.  As an advisor or counselor, I would suggest to Noor to find activities that challenge her to expand her knowledge base and give her an opportunity to gain confidence in her career.

Looking at Noor's experience and her cognitive development, it would be safe to say that adult learners are in various stages of development.  But one cannot assume that since a person has more life experience that they come into college with being in the middle of developing.  For example, a man who has shifted from job to job and doesn't really know what to do in life except to go back to college may start in an early stage.  He may not have confidence in his knowledge base and tend to look at a professor with ultimate authority.  On the other hand, a women who has a decent job, great marriage, and supportive friends may have had ample opportunity to express her opinions.  With this experience she may be accustomed to developing individual conclusions, supporting her self, and looking contextually at situations.

In either case, as student affairs professionals, we too must look at situations within the context and look at the experiences of the person before we make assumptions.  The professional must always be willing to help someone progress and keep in mind at the appropriate pace in which to help with a person's development.

Taken from in-class notes:

Cognitive-Structural Development

Josselson's Women Theory

When connecting my voice using  Josselson's Model of Women's Identity Development, it was hard figure out in which particular type of status my voice was at in her life. The fact of the matter is that she is going through a change in her life and she has yet to complete her identity. 

In some sense, Noor has foreclosed on her identity.  She has a strong sense of heritage with her ties to religion and her family.  She has maintained certain values because she is a Muslim and worshipping Allah is what made her unique and reinforces those standards.  On the other hand, Noor is in moratorium.  She is an adult learner and while her friends and family said that she was too old to go into teaching or too inexperienced, she created motivation to enroll into college. In the end, she may have broken the confines of her family, in terms of career, in order to be an identity achiever.  She might become a career woman with a balance of work, friends, religion, and a family.  

It is not uncommon for women to jump around between statuses but the limitations of the women theory is that it could be held strictly to the United States and to women born in America.  Since Noor immigrated at such a young age, her family kept the culture of her home in the religion and the emphasis on the kinds of values she was taught.  Noor seems to be a women in constant transition but may finally settle as a conglomerate of several identity statuses never truly fitting into one category. It seems in Noor's case, she will identify more with her culture and religion rather than solely on being a woman.

Taken from In-Class Handout:

Women's Identity Development: Josselson's Model of Women's Identity Development.

The Impact of Schlossberg and Levinson's Theory

Exploring Transition Theory

When examining Noor's development with the Schlossberg and Levinsson transition model, it is easily to see the events that led up to my voice's decision.  She has experienced all kinds of anticipated events such as marriage, having a kid, having them go to college, and having an "empty nest" but her major non-event was not going to college due to having a wealthy husband. In terms of Josselson's Women Development Theory, she is a searcher but through this change of pace to seek education, she is opening the door into identity achievement.

 Noor's life seemed to be normal in terms of the the eras of Levinson.  She went through childhood and adolescence and halfway through early adulthood before a major shift in her life occured.  It was through this shift that her decision to come back to school was made.  She is in a "period of transition".  Like stated, this is non sequential and she explored the possibilities of change first, followed by commitment.  She now is finding out about the stresses and consequences of her decision and hopefully, through her program and support, she finds a balance to creates stability.

When using Schlossberg's four S's, her coping with transition is ongoing and I am finding that the less resources a college has, the more Noor will have to rely on support and strategies.  As stated in my past post, some colleges work with social networks to help create opportunities for this interaction and support.  I can feel the frustration that Noor would have if everytime she thought she was doing something with consistency, that due to lack of college resources, stressors kicked in and she had to go into coping mode.  This would increase her inability to focus solely on her education and may lead to other areas of her life, like her marriage, to become under stress due to pent up emotions.  Like the scenarios in class, it is important to listen and suggest rather than direct situations since everyone is different.  Staff in higher education, like in the past post, need to be able to be facilitators and great resources in order for students to have the opportunity to succeed.

Odds and Ends

I looked at my past experiences again and remembered seeing an art exhibit in Italy and a certain piece stuck out in my mind.  In was a video art piece that featured Muslims in American and European films over the past 10 years or so.  Throughout the video, it was more or less a violent, terrorizing, sword welding, depiction of Muslims.  The artist's intent was to show how the media has create a stereotype for the present day Muslim or Middle Eastern individual.  In the end, it said some disturbing statistic that over 90% of Muslim in films are depicted inaccurately or with stereotypical imagery.  Unfortunately, I do not remember the artist's name or museum but its impact was as great as some of the pieces I saw in Europe.  I find that through art or other media, that issues can be used as great examples of expressive the views of the oppressed.  When working in higher education, I find it important to use a wide variety of resources to help in the development of an individual. 

Resources:

In-Class Handouts: Schlossberg, Waters, and Goodman's Transition Model & Levinson Handout

The Needs of the Adult Learner

Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education states that "location and schedule" are the two most important factors when it comes to adult learners coming back to college (2005, p. 2). With this be stated, higher education institutions are now marketing to those items, but those are not the only factors that need to be accounted for in adult-learner development.  The adult learner has unique wants and needs in order to accomplish their goals.

  

The main reason behind going back to college is to have a change. The ability to transform their lives is motivation enough to push through many obstacles. The question arises about what student affairs personnel are doing to make sure this transition is done in the smoothest of manners.  Both Coyahoga Community College and Pima Community College seem to grasp the concept of the "location and schedule" need for adult learners.  The class length for one is eight weeks long and utilizes locations in the surrounding areas to facilitate classroom such as recreation centers, churches and hospitals (Luckie, 1999).  The programming to accommodate individuals can get costly and many institutions find that funding and staff shortages prevent these programs from flourishing (Luckie, 1999).  

There can be significant stress and conflicts placed on the adult learner naturally, due to their multiple roles in the community.  In Noor's case, she must be a mother, spouse, religious leader and student.  One of her fears was how she can have a support group in college when her friends and spouse, may not in the present in order to help.  These stressors may result in "burnout, premature withdrawal from school, and/or absenteeism at work" (Gary, Kling, Dodd, 2004. p. 18)  

One of these stessors would be finances. Since she is going into education, federal funding may reveal the tuition, book money, and other financial burdens at the beginning.  For a public university in New Jersey, they used counselors to help with the stressors of being an adult learner.  Two professional counselors were assigned to a cohort of 41 minority adult students. The contacts were kept brief, due to the scheduling need and they offered a wide variety of referral programs such as "child care, tutoring, academic/personal issues, medical treatment, and long term counseling" (Gary, Kling, Dodd, 2004 p. 20). These were merely referrals to other programs but counselors in higher education settings need to be conscious of adult needs in order to find resources for them to turn to when needed.  

Another aspect of this program was group counseling.  This program helped tackle issues that the learners may need to express or vocalize and in turn the counseling seminars became a support group.  This reduced the sense of isolation and created motivation when they saw adults who were struggling with similar issues.  These sessions were themed, monthly and mandatory.  The topics ranged from setting realistic goals, feeling guilty about missing family activities, and handling crises .  They met prior to the start of class and worked around work schedules (Gary, Kling, Dodd, 2004 p. 21).  A unique area of counseling was the cultural support services.  This involved collaborating with members of an adult learner's natural environment.  This connection may be spouses, church members, or friends but the counseling provided literature to help the support group understand the adult learner and even included personal contacts.

How great would it be if every institution had a similar program?  With my voice of Noor in mind, these programs, especially the cultural support services would put her mind at ease and have an educated support group to being around outside of academia.  Unfortunately, this is not the case in every institution but the important thing that I learned about was the concept of timing and being personable.  With adult learners making up a large majority of the landscape in higher education settings, working in smaller groups, if possible, helps make the educational experience feel more wanted.  In turn, this personalize work creates a better learning environment that is supportive and resourceful.  If a large endeavor is not manageable, having a faculty advisor facilitate a cohort of adult learners can be an effective technique in the development and easing the stress of students.

Resources

Luckie, J.C., (1999) Case studies on success variables in older adult learner programs. Educational Gerontology. Vol. 25. 253-268. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from EBSCO Host.

(2005) 10 predictions for adult student market. Recruitment & Retention. Vol 19.  1-6. Retrieved July 6, 2008,  from EBSCO Host.

Gary, J.M., Kling, B., Dodd, B.N., (2004) A program for counseling and campus support services for African American and Latino adult learners. Journal of College Counseling. Vol 7. 18-23. Retrieved July 6, 2008, from EBSCO Host.

The Fears of the Adult Learner and Other Concerns

On this Independence Day, I poise a question on what it means to be an American.  Does an American dress a particular way?  Do they speak in a certain manner?  Do they even have to be born in the country?  I raise these questions after watching a special put out by ABC News Prime Time Special: What Would You Do? Muslim Discrimination (2008).  This was a staged event wear an actor played a store clerk who would make anti-Muslim and anti-Arab comments to a Muslim woman actor in order to see how bystanders would react.  They did this 18 times.  Of the 18 times, only six bystanders reacted by defending the woman while the other six times, people commended the store clerk and offered their view on the right to not serve Muslim individuals.  Sadly, six other bystanders did not even react to the situation and were passive. Though I have not witnessed this intense amount of "Islamophobia", I believe that it is important to react in an intelligent manner by being an advocate not and agitator in defending people who cannot defend themselves.  People have the right to live their life without getting berated by racist comments just because they don't dress "American".    This video was a turning point in the voice project, because for the first time, I was able to see what is going on around the country happening in the daily lives of Muslim Americans.

Where do I go from here, from my in-class readings, I found that the field's next great challenge is working with the "global community" and becoming an advocate for social justice. From beginning to end, the profession has been about collaboration with faculty.  It is not an unreasonable offer to re-connect with faculty in order to work with them to become leaders of anti-discrimination and intolerance for racism in the classroom.  Why should faculty and staff do this?  The classroom and college environment is suppose to be a safe place. Without this safe place, students will report dissatisfaction with classes and eventually will have an impact on revenue. Indefinitely its starts with myself.  It is in the actions I take and the words that I say so I am able to create a environment where people feel safe.

In order to get better acquainted with my adult learner identity, I created a list of questions that dealt with going back into higher education. I've been largely intrigued with the religious side of the identity and how through questioning, I am able to synthesize the two better. Through this I hope to search for these answers through reading, investigating and looking through higher education programs and what they do to cater to the adult learner and what I can do to be of assistance.

Will I have a separate orientation program that other freshmen?

Will my professors and classmates respect my life experiences?

Where will I go to get computer help?

Will my writing skills be up to par with other students?

How will I deal with a husband, work, and school?

My friends and husband won't understand my problems, who do I go to?

What kind of support group will I have?

How do I relate to my classmates who could be my kid's ages?

How will my prayer schedule effect my schoolwork and classroom performance?

Video Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1UFEzqOZso

Resources:

Hays, J.N., & Sorkowitz, A. (2008). Witness to discrimination: What would you do? [Video]. Retrieved July 4, 2008 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1UFEzqOZso

The Development Of A Voice

Author, Anniqua Rana (1997), explores a question on what it means to be a Muslim woman in the present day. The purpose of this project is to become an advocate and learn, firsthand, what it means to be a Muslim female adult learner. Being Muslim can not be defined by a race, ethnic group, culture, age or gender. With over "25% of the world being Muslim", it is hard to fathom that this culture is not known more widely (Rana, 1997, p. 169). This may be partly because of  a lack of knowledge but I believe it is mostly because of ignorance in the fact that we know little about ourselves as well as other religious groups. If one thinks about a question such as "What is a Christian", a person may find that stereotypes are abound in many cases.

 

Though my voice may not think too hard about being Muslim, and focus more on being an adult learner, being Muslim might be how people will view her.  From the literature I have read, I interpret that Islam will be the primary focus of my voice.  Religion helps define her and many Muslim women.  Independence has been a strong aspect of women in Islamic literature such as the wives of Mohammad and through this, I believe that is where this Muslim woman will get her strength (Abdul-Grafur, 2005).  Veiling or wearing the hijab, I see as more of a cultural development than pyscho-social development.  Through the readings of Latino, African American and others developmental theories, I can see how the environment and strong sense of family can influence the meaning of the hijab and how a woman might wear it. Rana says "Muslim women choosing to wear the hijab as a way of asserting their identity as Muslims", with this being said, my voice will wear the hijab over her head to honor Allah and to have pride in her heritage (2006, p. 172).  Since she is going back for education, I believe that this is a correct manner of wearing cultural items because she has a strong passion for educating others about create a global respect for cultures across the world.

Chickering and Reisser's seven vectors can be directly applied to the adult learner.  Though an adult may have developed an identity long before going back to school, they may have shifted purpose in order to come back to college.  It takes some independence to create a new life for oneself and I can respect the fact that they will probably be going through all vectors in some vicinity to find their new self-image and career path. Even though it is said that the first three vectors can happen in any order, developing competence both intellectually and physically are going to be a main priority of an adult learner.  Items such as reading aggressively and developing effective listening, and typing are all skills that need to be developed.  Another aspect that may need development is establishing mature interpersonal relationships.  My voice is going to be exposed to a variety of new people and working on communication skills are an important part in acceptance and being successful in class.  In a post-911 climate, emotions  and ideas may arise and it is important that since many do not understand the culture of Muslims, that misconceptions should be dealt with in an appropriate manner. Managing emotions and working towards educating classmates will help with initial encounters and creating a better chance to develop interpersonal competence.  Developing integrity may have already been established but there is a chance that an adult learner with new views and ideas may incorporate more values into their core identity.  Independency is important for this particular voice and being able to commit to going back to college is important in developing purpose since she may face criticism from all angles of her life.

In the readings, I've observed that a Muslim person cannot fit into one dimension and that stereotyping leads to skewed views on a culture.  I've learned that women of Islamic faith, are strong, independent people and who many, develop through their culture.  I hope that I will be able to research more of the adult learner angle in order for the two aspects of my voice to combined.

Current Readings

Abdul-Ghafur, S., (2005). Living Islam out loud. Beacon Press, Boston.

Rana, A., (2007). On being a Muslim woman. [Electronic Version]. Vol. 18, 169-175 Intercultural Education, Retrieved June 29, 2008 from EBSCO Host.

Turner, H.G, (1997). You can do it: A guide for the adult learner and anyone going back to school mid career. Merritt Publishing, Santa Monica.

Beginning Reactions

The voice that I will create will be named Noor, which means light and is a commonly used 

name on the Indian subcontinent. It represents the openness that I hope to achieve 

through this project by being able to empathize with another culture, religion, and 

gender. Her background story is Noor's to tell and she would explain to you that she is a 

Middle Eastern family woman who's child had recently entered college and she hopes to 

achieve a degree in education. She would have to balance school, having a husband and

being a devoted woman of the Islamic faith. The college would be like Bowling Green in 

hopes to capture the Mid-Western culture and the interactions that take place

between the adult learner, Muslims and the predominately white student body. 

Since I am involved in Bowling Green State University's CSP program, I hope to explore 

what it means to be a present day adult Muslim women functioning in a post-911 

collegiate environment. The bias and limited views of America seem to be at its most 

hostile when it comes to the Islamic faith and culture. I have been enrolled in religious 

classes, read, and gained knowledge that tell me otherwise, but the 

question of an educator is how one can become an advocate for diverse types of person.

 

The knowledge I currently know about my voice is taken from a religious studies 

course, an Asian art course, and reading a book about the hijab in an anthropology 

course. I understand the basic structure of the religion entails for a person of the Islamic 

faith having to pray towards Mecca five times a day, fasts during several events, and Allah 

is the name of God. In contrast to the Chirstian religion, Jesus is considered a prophet 

and Muhammad is a very important figure in the Islamic context. The Quran or Koran is 

ancient literature and includes information from the Christian Bible. The purpose in 

which the covering worn by women of Islam is changing and I hope to come in 

contact with individuals who wear traditional clothing.

The adult learner I believe would be apprehensive about a return to college and 

expectations may range from very high, in terms of practical knowledge, to very low, in 

terms of writing and studying skills. The adult learner may seem lost in a 

faster paced environment and examples from the lessons may be cultural items for which

she would not be familiar. Technology would be a problem for someone who's life has been 

devoted to raising a child. The assumption that I have is that the husband is the bread 

winner and her life has been relatively normal. With this being said, Noor would not have had

the need for email or researching. Her typing skills may be slow and she would be

unfamiliar with search engines, Podcasts, downloading PDF's or anything that a normal 

college-aged student would have common knowledge of through the

culture.  With networking being just the friends she has around her, this would too be an issue. 

With students using Facebook, Myspace and iChat to have virtual conversations that are 

fast and convenient, any adult would have trouble being able to stay up to speed with 

discussions. Furthermore, due to her commuting to campus, she might not have any 

established friends or support group in the beginning. An adult learner may feel a 

disconnect to the campus and have no obligation or interest to join any clubs or 

organizations even if they have a past expertise or interest.

 

The goal of an advocate was stated but I hope to focus my beginning research in finding 

out more about the religion and the impact on everyday life, the feelings of an adult 

learner and what programs are being offered in higher education. I look forward to this 

journey and hope that in the future weeks I can develop my voice to create change within 

myself and eventually the field of student affairs.