Advocacy

I just got a phone call from a friend of mine who lives in "assisted living." The ombudservice showed up and she was able to tell them about some serious problems she has been experiencing at this institution.

The reason the ombudservice showed up is that I listened to her and then made several phone calls and e-mails. The ombudservice explained to me how they operate and I gave them the information they needed. Both my friend and I are really excited about the possibility of things changing for her.

I have a lot of experience in advocacy--I ran a battered women's shelter for 3.5 years. It was my job to see that women and their children got the services they needed. It was my privilege to watch people grow and change because they had the things they needed in order to do so, including my complete support.

Having worked in an advocacy role has strongly influenced my teaching. I believe that my job as a teacher is to be an advocate for my students--to be aware of their whole lives, to address whatever issues they are facing in whatever aspect of their lives, to set up a class so that nothing in the class trumps my advocacy role--including assessment.

So, I have looked up opthalmologists for a student who had an eye infection, provided food to students who came to class hungry, let a student who was cold wear my jacket, written lots of encouraging notes to students, and even helped a student who had been abused by her husband.

I teach reading methods, writing methods, educational psychology, and art. But I teach people who are often in that awkward stage of not being a child or even a teen but not yet really being an adult. They are getting ready to take on one of the most challenging adult roles, being a teacher--and I enjoy watching them grow into that role, since I have my students for more than one course.

The learning process is a fragile one. It can be easily derailed by unmet physical needs, by the feeling of emotional danger (the fear of being ridiculed, for example), by the feeling of being overwhelmed, by boredom, by teaching that is not in the zone of proximal development, by the lack of a relationship between the teacher and the learner.

I really want my students to learn. I kind of feel like Dr. Phil when at the beginning of the show the voice over says, "this is going to be a changing day in your life" or whatever. Learning is about changing and I want to be part of that process--of people "getting real" about what they know and what they need to learn and then getting ready to set goals and meet them. And part of my job is to make sure that all resources are in place for this process to happen.

Is this a counselor's approach to learning? Yes, it is. And, it works.