The More You Know

Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning are two of the most basic functions of life. From infancy, every person begins a journey into the world of knowledge and education. Initially, we focus on the information essential to existence. However, we quickly acquire preferences and appetites for information above and beyond what is needed for sustaining life. These preferences make each of us unique and exclusive. Over the course of a lifetime we all have the opportunity to be the student and the teacher in one regard or another. Those who actually chose to become formal teachers quickly realize that it is in that capacity that we do the most learning.

Students

Students are like clay in a potters hands. A teacher has such great influence over her students that she virtually aligns their trajectory. For a formal teacher, students are those who attend their classes and institutions. However, in a less formal capacity, students are those who can benefit and learn from our experience, knowledge, intellect, and wisdom. While student are heavily influenced by the expectations of their teachers, they also have their own responsibility and role to play in their educational journey. A great teacher is able to find the motivating factor for each individual and use it to draw out their potential.

Knowledge

The more knowledge we acquire, the more we realize we don’t know much at all. Knowledge is such an intangible yet priceless asset, not only to individuals, but also to groups such as families and communities. Varying types of knowledge become useful in diverse settings. Most relevant is the sum of information that ultimately promotes health and wellness. In some contexts this may be academic or intellectual knowledge, in others it may be social skills or street savy, in yet another context it may be familiarity with routes and terrains.  Whatever the context, some things are undeniably more “worth knowing” than others.

Worth Knowing

Knowledge certainly is power to the extent that it is applied to practice. The information that one acquires over time is the knowledge base that should be drawn from for decision making, critical thinking, and conceptualizing the world around. However, knowledge is most profitable when it is used to benefit the whole and facilitate productivity. Each person holds an exclusive bank based on their experience and perspective. Nevertheless, without application, knowledge is useless. Therefore, it is only the useful, timely, and effective application of knowledge that makes it precious.

Educational Philosophy

Formal education holds relative value. I also greatly value informal means of  learning. My views on the process are quite flexible. Still, the value, importance, and in some cases urgency remains critical. Interestingly, idealism and pragmatism, in some aspects, may appear to be contradictory philosophies. Actually, they work in perfect harmony, complementing one another.

Idealism, in short, is the belief in absolute truths. Education proves most valuable and useful when established absolute truths are supported and acknowledged.  By observing this principal, we are able to avoid repeating prior lessons and mistakes.

Pragmatism, basically, is placing equal emphasis on the content and the process of learning. Learners glean a great deal from simply  progressing through the learning process, in addition to the content itself.

Conclusion

Our education determines who we are and become, as well as how we operate in every function of life. Naturally, each of us is born with an exclusive set of gifts, talents, and abilities. Knowledge and education are the boosters that catapult us from good to great, normal to exceptional, student to teacher.

By Rochelle Davis, MAEd/TEd
http://mrsrochelledavis.wix.com/wutsoevrthngsrluvly

Play To Win!

Wouldn’t we all love to live in a world full of limitless opportunities? A place where everyone is treated fairly and equally sounds like Utopia. Unfortunately, this is not the reality of the society we live in. Truth is we all have limitations to overcome in order to achieve our goals. Some limitations are self imposed. Yet others are imposed by our socialization and training.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to be able to meet their goals with ease and others struggle time and time again? Our culture and gender determine our starting point in life and often heavily influence our destiny. However, there is an alternative. There is a way to escape the self defeating habits we’ve been taught and stop making mistakes that limit our possibilities.

Do any of these common mistakes sound familiar to you?
-Mistake #3: Working too hard. The truth is, no woman was ever promoted purely because of hard work. Learn to “waste” a little time.
-Mistake #26: Decorating your office like your living room. Unless you’re an interior decorator, it doesn’t pay. Reevaluate your office decor.
-Mistake #27: Feeding others. You’re not “Mom”or Betty Crocker. Think twice before you put food on your desk.
-Mistake #59: Asking permission. Children, not adults, ask for approval. Be direct, be confident.
-Mistake #73: Smiling  inappropriately. When men don’t smile they’re taken seriously. Make your demeanor fit the situation.

I recently discovered 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers, many of which I have made and am currently working to correct myself. These mistakes are grouped into eight categories beginning with the foundational understanding that, in business, it’s all about how you play the game. Pretending it isn’t a game, doing the work of others, being naive, and protecting jerks are a few of the ways that women quickly fall behind on the career scoreboard; and we all know numbers don’t lie. Recognizing unspoken rules and acknowledging imaginary boundaries is one area where women are not quite as skilled as men (if dating isn’t a prime example of this I don’t know what is!?). As a result we tend to be at a disadvantage. Business is a game and you can certainly win, but only if you play.

Although we may not be auditioning for a role on the silver screen, we are judged by how well we understand the nuances of what it means to act in a professional manner. Soliciting the input and opinions of others before making a decision, offering too much help, and denying the importance of money are common mistakes made by ladies. Our organically nurturing, helpful nature informs how we chose to behave. This can be detrimental in a professional setting. We can avoid these pitfalls by learning to balance our inclination to serve others with serving ourselves.

How we think, look, and sound make up our personal brand and help when it comes to marketing ourselves. One mistake I decided to correct immediately was to stop letting people waste my time. Other mistakes listed were staying in your safety zone, over explaining, apologizing, and grooming in public (which I think all of us ladies have been guilty of). We have to learn to view the workplace as a marketplace where you are the product. Once we identify what distinguishes us from others we can market those distinctions as our unique brand.

Historically, disenfranchised groups live according to the will of those who hold the money, power, and respect.

“Those with less power live in a zone circumscribed by people with more power. White men, being on the top of the hierarchy, decide what’s appropriate behavior for everyone else, including women.”

Reading about these 101 Mistakes has thoroughly illuminated my understanding and consciousness as it pertains to my potential in business and in life. As the fog of a lifetime of gender bias, and  socioeconomic prejudice clears I am challenging myself to be intentional about wielding my power to achieve success every day. What will you do to correct the mistakes you’ve been making in your career?

By Rochelle Davis, MAEd/TEd
http://mrsrochelledavis.wix.com/wutsoevrthngsrluvly

School Aged Children of Alcoholics

A Critical Look At School Aged Children of Alcoholics

A Research Study Article Critique

Introduction    

Reading an article or publication laden with generalizations or determinations about social groups always requires a healthy dose of skepticism. Despite the writer’s spin, the reader employs her own objectivity as a filter to try and score balance. After reading and reviewing “School–age children of alcoholics and non-alcoholics: Their anxiety, self-esteem and locus of control” an article published in Professional School Counseling, I realized just how important a critical eye can be. The following is my analysis of the article mentioned above. I discuss the accuracy and validity of the article, relevance and applicability of the resources, instruments used, and the proposed results. In sum, I share my opinion of the overall value of the publication and it’s contribution to the field of research.

Accuracy and Validity

            The research topic addressed in the article regarding school-aged children of alcoholics was stated at the beginning of page one. It is important to describe the topic at the start of a publication for the reader’s benefit. This serves the reader by informing him of the issues to be addressed in the coming pages.  However, the entire article, including the first paragraph lacked consistency and uniformity in how the subjects were addressed and who the actual subjects were.

            On page one, in the introductory paragraphs, the subjects of the study were introduced to the reader as “young children of alcoholics (YCOA)”. However, in the title the subjects are referred to as “School-age children of alcoholics”. On page two, the subjects are referred to as “school-aged COA”. Finally, on page three the subjects are referred to as “COA” and another group “ACOA” is mentioned with no introduction at all. The clear inconsistency in how the subjects are referred to may raise questions for the reader about who the actual subjects really are.  Furthermore, because of the inconsistencies, the reader may begin to question the true validity of the entire article.

Relevance and Applicability

A primary source for any research publication must include references to previously published sources. Information from past research is always applicable and does impact the shape, plan, execution, and outcome of any new projects. With this in mind, a thorough review of previous research in the field is a fundamental prerequisite to prevent redundancy. Reviewing past research also helps to design projects most relevant and applicable to present needs.

The article on “School-aged children of alcoholics” did mention many sources, however, those sources were quite outdated with some dating back more than 10 years from the date that the article was published. At best, this is poor practice. Without reviewing more recent data, research could be unnecessarily repeated as well as time and resources wasted pursuing results that may not be relevant based on other, more recently published, data.

The article also included a variety of tests as instruments for determining which children did have alcoholic parents and the impact of that parenting. Theoretically, there must be some way to distinguish between children with and without alcoholic parents and determine the impact to the child. There were four test instruments used to gather the results presented in the study.

Results

Each of the tests instruments used in the study of “school-aged children of alcoholics” had proven test-retest validity except for one, the Nowiki.  The Nowiki test was used to determine where the subject’s locus of control rests. As the results of this test were directly related to the primary prediction of the article, which is, “that school-aged YCOAs would score higher on anxiety, lower on self-concept, and higher on external locus of control than a control group of school aged non-YCOAs”, the results should have been amongst the strongest. However, the internal consistency of this test was only .12 compared to .96, .87, and .63 of the other tests used. This causes reason to question the validity of any assertion made based on the results of the Nowiki test.

Also, the primary test used to determine which children had alcoholic parents, “CAST Questionnaire”, was so leading that it was not at all a reliable measure for the purposes intended. It was also a very long and laborious test for a school-aged child to take all at once. This likely impacted the responses, further compromising the results of the study.

Conducting research that involves the study of large groups should always be done on the broadest scale possible. Sample group size is particularly important when the results will be used to make generalizations about all people within that group. In the case of the article regarding “school-aged children of alcoholics” this rule appears to have been neglected. The size of the group was 108 children, all of whom were from the same area, attending the same school. This narrow test group is not nearly reflective enough of the entire population of school-aged children of alcoholics to make any reasonable generalizations or predictions. Results gathered from such a narrow research study hold very little validity or general pertinence.

Conclusion

There are limits to the applicability of any study. In addition to those mentioned above, this article itself also mentions “generalizing the findings too broadly” on page four, and that all the measures are “self-reports from the student” also on page four. These findings undeniably reiterate the necessity to think critically about the information we read. We must take care not to place too much confidence in the validity of information we hear, read, or see presented, in the relevance or accuracy of sources, or in the reliability of results.

By Rochelle Davis, MAEd/TEd
http://mrsrochelledavis.wix.com/wutsoevrthngsrluvly

Blurred Lines

What do Education and Sexual Orientation Have in Common?

Introduction

From birth each person begins to acquire knowledge. We learn how to communicate our needs, wants, likes and dislikes. We learn to articulate our feelings and share our emotions. We also learn about our environment and our communities. Each person, at some point, develops an understanding of what it means to be a part of a culture and begins to decide where they personally fit. Such is the case with California’s youth. However, in 2007 legislation changed the course of the progression of knowledge and self awareness forever. The law is known as California Senate Bill 777 (SB 777), and it is designed to protect the rights of those who experience discrimination (Ponte, 2008). However, from the time this legislation was put in place it appears it may have done a great deal of harm rather than help. The following is a brief discussion of SB 777, the specific legalities involved, the politics that surrounded this movement, and the result as it pertains to expected guidelines for teachers.

Controversy

In October 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, of California, signed a controversial measure into law that subtly but markedly redefined the way that gender and sexuality may be addressed and taught in public schools. The law is SB 777 and what it effectively does is redefines the specific terminology used to describe what is permissible in school materials, discussion within the classroom, and even extra curricular activities (Ponte, 2008).

SB 777 adds a new law to California’s established educational code. Under the previous law it was illegal to present instruction or any type of activity that “reflects adversely upon persons” due to sex, color, race, creed, national origin, ancestry, or handicap (Ponte, 2008). Under the new law the list of protected persons is revised to gender, disability, ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, and sexual orientation. The new law also changes the verbiage in the phrase “reflects adversely” to “promotes a discriminatory bias (Ponte, 2008).” Ultimately, what the new law does is deletes the original definition of sex as completely male and female and creates an environment of ambiguity and neutrality to permit students to decide for themselves what gender they are.

Conservative Views

Clearly, with an issue as controversial as this one, there are many strong and opposing views. Some more conservative critics and politicians say that SB 777 is a means of promoting the homosexual agenda throughout California. This law can be used to eliminate the portrayal of marriage and family as exclusively a union between a man and a woman. Other conservatives fear the repercussions of male students who feel more appropriately oriented as females and therefore feel it necessary to shower, share a locker room, and participate in other all female activities, all of which are now protected by law. In the Los Angeles Unified School District a policy has already been implemented that permits a boy perceiving himself to be a girl to use the girl’s lockeroom and restrooms (Ponte, 2008).

Liberal Views

In contrast, those who hold a more liberal perspective hold that SB 777 is not a means of destroying the traditional pictures of “mom” and “dad”, it simply changes the content requirements for instructional materials such as text books (Ponte, 2008). Many assert that this new law, in fact, does not actually change very much about California’s Education Code. This new law simply provides a consolidation of definitions in one location for reference by administrators and parents.

Impact to Teachers     

The impact to teachers is marked and clear. While the original law was not violated when a prom king and queen were elected, or if a transgender student felt uncomfortable in the girls locker room. Under the new law, however, legal action can legitimately be brought against all of the above as “promoting discriminatory bias (Ponte, 2008).” Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters describes this new legislation as “another troublesome step down the slippery slope of politics dictating what version of history and current events children should be taught…. [L]lawsuit-leery educators may see it as forcing them to censor or repress anything that even indirectly touches on sexual orientation in a way that someone somewhere might consider offensive (Ponte, 2008).”

Conclusion

SB 777 illustrates the progression of State and Federal agendas and interests in education. The Governors office and a third grade class in Spring Valley are worlds apart. Yet, one is controlled and manipulated by the other with no recourse. The results can be detrimental to the morale, effectiveness, and possibly even deter the interest of individuals with a more conservative view from teaching. Ultimately, the most amicable solution that I can imagine is that both conservative and liberal perspectives meet. Clearly there is a huge difference between the original law that prohibits those things that “adversely reflect” on some groups and the new under which it is illegal to “promote a discriminatory bias” towards some groups (Ponte, 2008). While homosexuals and groups that choose alternative lifestyles typically feel discriminated against, Christians, Jews, Muslims an other conservative groups are also among the less tolerated and more excluded groups in schools. I feel that the best solution is for all groups to use SB 777 to maintain the balance between value systems, conservative and liberal alike.

Reference

Ponte, Lowel (2008). New Law Redefines Gender in California. Newsmax. Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Schwarzenegger_education_/2008/01/11/63761.html 

By Rochelle Davis, MAEd/TEd
http://mrsrochelledavis.wix.com/wutsoevrthngsrluvly

Stay At Home…Mom.

Month after month you’ve planned, prepared, prayed, and anticipated what your life would be like once your little bundle arrives. Decorate the new nursery…check. Pack hospital bag…check. You even researched your companies maternity leave policy and have a strategy to combine sick, disability, and vacation hours to spend as much time with baby as possible.

The fateful day comes and your world is changed forever. You’re in love. You never want to leave this perfect little jewel. Nevertheless, after just a few short weeks anxiety is building as the clock tic-tock tic-tock’s towards your impending split as you prepare to return to work.

Sound familiar? For working mother’s this is an all too familiar drama. Placing a newborn baby in childcare is both expensive and heart wrenching. For most women, “during the postpartum period, there’s an enormous desire to take care of their own child.” Yet, millions of women ignore their most basic maternal instincts and leave their infants anyway. My question is why?

Why go back to work? After having participated in the miracle of conception, carried life in your womb, and performed the superhuman act of labor and delivery offering any occupation a place of priority that interferes with that seems ludicrous. For more and more new mom’s and dad’s trusting someone else with their bundle is simply is not an option.
If you’ve never seriously considered staying home it may be difficult to trust your intuition and see past the obligatory return for social, professional, or financial reasons. However, if you have marketable skills, products, or services to offer, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t do it from home.

Before you dismiss the idea and resolve that it’s not for people like you, consider the following;
– $12,000 average cost of childcare for two children.
– $2,870 cost of transportation ($200 car payment, $70 insurance, $2,600 gas).
– $300 wardrobe.
That’s just over $15,000 in savings, as a start, by staying home. Not to mention travel time (…time is money!), money saved by preparing your own meals, and a host of other money syphoning traps that seem to lie in wait every time you leave your home. As if this were not enough, those who do choose to return to the workforce are having to earn considerably more than before to cover childcare expenses, plus pay taxes on that income before they even pay their childcare providers.

Of course starting your own business does require a considerable amount of work. It will require discipline, dedication, and patience. With most businesses you rarely hear about the months and years of hard work behind the scenes.

Most kids begin Kindergarten at 5 years of age. Coincidentally, the incubation period for most new businesses is about the same length of time. While you may not have much capital to start your new business, one thing you will certainly have more of, once you decide not to return to your old occupation, is time. Invest this time. Use the first few months to research, read, grow, educate yourself, and develop your business idea…all things you can do from your smartphone while holding your gorgeous new baby.

Unlike other business models, being a Work At Home Mom, or Dad, is somewhat of a juggling act. You are the COO of your home and family, first and foremost. Still, if you’re diligent, by the time your newborn becomes a toddler, you can have a viable alternative means of income to supplement the more than $15,000 you’ve already been saving each year by caring for, training, and nurturing your own children. If you’re feeling torn about returning to work and don’t know what to do, take the plunge. It’s worth a shot! Your children are only young once. The rest of the work world will be there waiting should you ever decide to return.

By Rochelle Davis, MAEd/TEd
http://mrsrochelledavis.wix.com/wutsoevrthngsrluvly