As a Program Head here at BCIT, I find sometimes a student will approach me to complain "This course is not what I thought it would be; this is not what I was expecting." Occasionally the complainant may even demand a refund. Of course, if it is confusion based on the course title or description or prerequisites, I completely understand. But sometimes a student is actually railing against a different teaching style, or an alien set of ideas, or a new paradigm - a new way of thinking or approaching the world or interacting with others.
At such moments I want to remind students (and us all) that higher education is not a "product" that we pull off the shelf and then return when it doesn't quite fit right, when it doesn't look or feel exactly as we expected. Higher education is an experience. Its sum is greater than the ingredients listed on the label. When we interact in a learning and teaching environment, we gain much more than a set list of "course ingredients" to be easily and predictably digested.
In fact, hopefully we get much more than what we bargained for, more than what we expected. And this "more" is not always predictable, not always comfortable or easy at first. But if we have faith in the experience, and faith in each other, we will come away with a much richer experience than we could have imagined.
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Having recently attended a friend's convocation, I had a chance to sit through several speeches that one typically hears at these sorts of events, all expressing the importance of "life-long learning". When we undertake higher education, our expectations should not be to come away with some sort of firm, quantifiable finished result--even in a professional program such as this. The goal, I believe, should be a continuation of our own personal growth, a growth that will continue far beyond our crossing a stage and receiving a diploma.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandably, individuals will expect some sort of return for the time, money and hard work they've invested. But that return should be seen to play out over the years to follow, and often in subtle, less noticable ways. Regarding higher education as a simple transaction where one exchanges money for a strictly defined set of skills fails to take into account the full spectrum of human growth.
One does oneself a disservice by reducing education to the mere terms of job training. Rather, by participating in higher education, an individual builds a foundation for their future achievements. What a waste higher education would seem if we measured it only by the job we had three months after graduation.
Shannon, thanks for posting this. I'm in total agreement that the experience one gains through education far outweighs the "product" of the eventual piece of paper. Unfortunately, the HR departments of most companies haven't gone past that, and still use academic degrees as a means to reduce the eventual number of applicants to interview.
ReplyDeleteUntil we stop using degrees to measure our status we will continue to see students working only to make the grades, not enjoy the experience of learning. That said, 20 years ago a waiter working toward a liberal arts degree set me straight. He told me that the purpose of our education isn't to get a job; it's to expand our minds.
I'm glad to find another blog to add to my RSS reader. Peace out!
In school as in everything else, you get out what you put in.
ReplyDeleteHear hear!
ReplyDeleteBCIT was fun!!! hahaha ... I have nothing profound to say. sorry. lol
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI had planned some complex post that describes the relative merits for different students of an educational experience but then I read Courtney's post above that pretty effectively nut-shelled what I was going to say.
ReplyDeleteHowever, perhaps I can illustrate the point with a personal example. I have been working on a Master's at RRU in Victoria. I needed a Master's to secure my position at BCIT. I wanted a piece of paper and figured I could tear through it and was a bit derisive when I read the advice that I should "prepare myself and my family for the impact".
Despite this cyncism and resistance at the start, the experience was transformative, mostly because of the impacts of some inspired educators who encouraged us to be open during the first residency. That's not to say my life did not intrude on my trips to the personal life-long learning buffet; I held down a full-time job, worked on my house, and had a baby (well, not me personally as I lack the plumbing, but my son was born 3 months in to the 3-year experience). I envied those with no job or dependants who could engage in more reading, reflection, and intellectual self-pleasure.
However, I did try to be open to what I did have time for. I feel the change in my perspective. I continue to engage with the ideas. I made some great connections with a bunch of kind, smart, and capable people. In the end, these elements are what made my education worth the price of admission.
I realize now that if had just obtained the piece of paper I would have seriously short-changed myself. And, I see these distinctions among my students at BCIT. There are those engaged with their lives and learning and those who are not. How do we engage others?
I also agree with Courtney's comments above.
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear management talking about our work here in terms of a business and in terms of "doing what's good for business" or "expanding the business", I feel distress. This is completely the wrong paradigm. Such a paradigm assumes nameless, faceless units being processed in ever-drecreasing units of time.
I am here to mentor and coach students and to help them become engaged with their chosen career. I value the face-to-face interaction in the classroom and feel that the most important part of my job is to build relationships with the students. That is what gives meaning to my work but it is not stated in the course outcomes or in the timelines for the course.
Hey Shannon,
ReplyDeleteA co-worker sent me this blog post today on the same subject. Every high school guidance counselor and college student adviser should collect a bunch of these posts and read through them with their students.
http://sheddingbikes.com/posts/1275258018.html
At BCIT I was less interested in the course study than I was in the people in my classes. I find I like to take random courses to get up to speed quickly on a tool or technology. However, the main benefit has been the connections I made with people from the variety of backgrounds.
But now I'm finding that without at least a Bachelors degree I can't even apply toward a masters degree program. At my age, I'm out of options. Which sucks to be me.
Matt,
Thanks for sharing openly and honestly of your thought transformation while working through the school system. It's great to know that even an instructor had felt initially that he was jumping through hoops to get something, then realized he attained so much more.