Scholar - Practitioner Journal 3

16 weeks. My first semester of graduate school has come to a close. Throughout the past 16 weeks, I have learned more than just content about theories and the field of student affairs, I was given the opportunity to explore my own values and areas of passion within the field. I have been able to make numerous connections within all of my courses, as well as my graduate assistantship (GA). The learning process over the last 16 weeks has been inspiring and thought-provoking. My passion for the field of student affairs continues to grow every week and I am so grateful for the wonderful experiences and learning opportunities I have had during my first semester of graduate school. Along with new experiences and knowledge comes questions and the determination to learn how to best prepare myself for my future as a student affairs educator/career advisor.

As it relates to insights, I have gained about myself throughout the semester, one is my passion and appreciation for the field of student affairs. At the start of the semester I wasn’t aware of what was going on within the field. Through taking time, three to four times a week, to actively look at news articles to become informed on current affairs, I have begun to feel more connected to the field. My favorite sites to look at are, Inside Higher Education, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and About Campus. The articles I have read have helped me to make meaning of the content we discuss in class. One article in particular provided a wonderful insight, according to Edens’ (2018), “free speech gives us the opportunity to practice tolerance, but only if we are willing, that is, make the conscience choice, to listen in the first place” (p. 27). The concept of free speech has been of great interest to me and we discussed it briefly in-class. However, I continued to seek out more information and learn how other colleges and universities were broaching the topic of free speech. The recent issue at Georgia Southern University, a book burning, brought to light the conflict and legality of free speech and how there is no easy or “right” way to handle a free speech situation when it arises (Anderson, 2019). The concept of free speech inhabits the gray area of ethics and I am fascinated by the topic’s unknown quality. Throughout the semester, I have been able to pose questions and further explore the concept of free speech. While I don’t think there will ever be an easy answer for how to promote free speech while concurrently thinking about the impact said free speech may have on others, I look forward to continuing learning more about the topic through courses and personal research.

While I have spent time looking at current affairs topics within higher education, I feel ready to begin incorporating scholarly research articles into my rotation. The reason I finally feel ready is in part, due to my statistics course, as now I am able to understand and interpret numerous inferential statistics and thus am able to understand the results section of research articles. I am excited to learn more about what scholars are studying in the field of higher education/student affairs. As I began to dabble in reading scholarly articles, I found an interest in questioning the findings and looking at what else needs to be studied further for a more rounded picture of topics. Through reading scholarly work, I am developing my scholar-practitioner identity. My inquisitiveness comes out when I read, and I am able to formulate my own questions. Through the process, I begin to wonder how a scholar could frame new research topics based off the concepts and experiences I have gained throughout the semester. As I think about how to further develop my scholar-practitioner identity, I can’t help but think about my newfound desire to contribute to the field through my own piece of scholarly work. I’m not sure how to go about the process of creating scholarly work, but I am determined to learn so I can better myself and the field. In the meantime, I look forward to reading more scholarly work and enhancing my understanding of the field of higher education/student affairs.

As it relates to concepts and skills I have learned throughout the semester, there are far too many to discuss in a short reflection paper. However, many are interrelated, so I will discuss the bigger concepts and weave in the smaller ones as they fit. One concept that has significantly shaped my understanding of the role of student affairs educators, is Sanford’s theory of challenge and support. According to Jones and Abes (2017), “Sanford suggested that students need an optimal balance of challenge and support for development to occur” (p. 145). I think it is important for student affairs educators to encourage students’ growth and development. By encouraging students to think beyond their preconceived notions and examine different schools of thought and topics, it allows for a more holistic approach to student development. However, within the context of being a career advisor, I honestly don’t know how I could go about using challenge and support in an authentic way. While I may not have an answer now, I remind myself that I am just stepping into the field of student affairs and I’m not required to know everything now or ever. My passion for lifelong learning drives me to seek out new methods for bettering my own practice as a future student affairs educator. As a result, I am determined to discover a way to incorporate the theory of challenge and support into my practice as a future career advisor to promote holistic development and help create a more inclusive campus environment.

Another concept that has made a positive impact on how I view my role as a student affairs educator and has helped shape my scholar-practitioner identity is self-authorship. According to Magolda and Taylor (2017), “these demands to make meaning in complex ways represent demands for self-authorship – what Baxter Magolda (2001) defined as the developmental capacity to internally define one’s own beliefs, identities, and relationships” (p. 154). Self-authorship is weaved into my professional values. It can be seen in my determination to promote holistic development, by encouraging students to question what they think they know. Also, self-authorship can be seen through my desire to foster relationship development to help aid in creating an inclusive environment for every student I interact with. The concept of self-authorship has also allowed me to see my own progress throughout my first semester of graduate school. Reflection allows me to see that I have become more aware of my own values and beliefs, I have learned about how I view my role as a student affairs educator, and that questions still remain as to how I can be the best version of myself as a student affairs educator/career advisor. While the concept of self-authorship has played a large role in my development this semester, I don’t believe a person ever becomes “self-authored”, rather, we are all constantly on a journey towards better understanding the world/the field we work in and our role in it. As I continue to gain more insight about the field of student affairs, I look forward to learning more about the topics that have piqued my interest and how I can better incorporate theory to practice.

As I look towards what is to come during the rest of the program, I am excited to continue delving into the field of student affairs and learning more about my own professional identity. I have enjoyed being able to put into practice content learned so far this semester. While I have learned about many topics that are intriguing and have helped shape my role as a future student affairs educator/career advisor, I have begun to want to do more. Through my desire to contribute to the field of student affairs through scholarly work, I look forward to further developing the “scholar” side of my scholar-practitioner identity.

References

Anderson, G. (2019). Georgia southern defends book burning as student right. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/10/14/georgia-southern-students-burn- novels-after-author-visit

Edens, J. (2018). Civic aspirations and a new path forward for free speech on campus. About

Campus, 23(2), 24-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086482218785888

Jones, S.R., & Abes, E.S. (2017). The nature and uses of theory. In J.H. Schuh, S.R. Jones, & V.

Torres (Eds.), Student services: A handbook for the profession (6th ed., pp. 137 – 152).

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Magolda, B.M., & Taylor, K.B. (2017). Holistic development. In J.H. Schuh, S.R. Jones, & V.

Torres (Eds.), Student services: A handbook for the profession (6th ed., pp. 153 – 168).

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.