Running head: IMPLICATIONS

Learning Outcome Narrative: Implications for Professional Practice Theresa Brostowitz Seattle University 4/4/2014

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Learning Outcome Narrative: Implications for Professional Practice Integrative Theme The integrative theme I have chosen to best represent the direction I see my professional practice taking is Socially-Just Leadership and Teaching. Drawing from my strengths and areas for growth, I feel called to lead and teach others as they participate in personal meaningmaking and development of self-awareness. Specifically in the field of student development, I concur with the work of Marcia Baxter Magolda which states that learning outcomes of higher education should include effective citizenship, critical thinking and complex problem solving, interdependent relations with diverse others, and mature decision making (Baxter Magolda, 2007). I want to support others, specifically individuals in early and mid-adulthood, as they struggle with the challenges of hearing their vocation or the way in which they will serve the world. I see myself utilizing tools such as emotional intelligence, restorative practices, and research and best practices in management and supervision. I was changed by Encouraging the Heart: A Leaders Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others by Kouzes and Posner (2003) as it validated the way in which I want to lead and supervise and made me feel confident that I have the passion and skills to be effective in both roles. Learning Outcome Dimensions Learning Outcomes 4 &10: Artifacts A, B, C1, C3, E, F, G, H, I & K1 My area of focus as I think critically about implications for my professional practice is learning outcome 4. The dimensions involved are leading from a place informed by social justice advocacy, empowering students to change themselves and their communities in meaningful and

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powerful ways, and thinking critically about where my vocation and social justice converge. The artifact that I will chose to highlight to serve as an example of this learning objective in professional practice is artifact C3 as it is a narration of my commitment as a professional to lifelong learning and social justice advocacy. I have also chosen to include learning outcome 10 as it feels nature to assume that my professional identity will change and develop as I continue to reflect on personal and professional experiences. The dimensions of learning outcome 10 focus on establishing a professional identity that incorporates my passion for working toward social justice, my value of life-long learning, and my desire to teach outside the formal classroom. The artifact that best expresses my professional identity is artifact B2, my professional mission statement, which highlights my professional commitment to social justice and student-centered practice. Demonstration and Development in Learning Outcomes Past When I entered the program, I entered because of the focus on holistic education. I did not understand what social justice was. My values were firmly rooted in the integration of academic excellence, leadership, and vocational discernment. I assumed that I would work in a more transactional role with students, and I was unaware of how much compassion, empathy, and love I bring to my work. Present My growth in learning outcome 4 was prompted most by conversations with peers on colleagues outside of the classroom and in my capacity as a graduate assistantship. I had hoped to grown more in this learning outcome in SDAD 578, however, I felt stifled in my growth by the facultys inability to facilitate conversation that navigated the tension between this being an

IMPLICATIONS academic and emotional subject. This is where Encouraging the heart: A leaders guide to rewarding and recognizing others (Kouzes & Posner, 2003) filled a gap in my understanding of how to successfully care for the individual while also developing and challenging them. I grew tremendously in learning objective 10, most specifically in my graduate assistantship and internship in retention. In these roles, I came to saw myself as a student development professional, and after these experiences was better able to articulate where my skills and passions converge. I attribute this to having the opportunity to make meaning through experiential learning. Future Showing up authentically is one space where I can continue to grow both personally and professionally and is facilitated by my passions and skills for reflection. I feel called to BaxterMagoldas work with self-authorship (2004) and using it to develop critical thinking skills and a strong sense of community in myself and those that I work with in higher education. I strive to continue to become more self-aware as I navigate what it means to be socially-just.

IMPLICATIONS References Baxter Magolda, M. B. (2007). Self-authorship: The foundation for twenty-first-century education. New Directions For Teaching & Learning,2007(109), 69-83. Magolda, M.B. (2004). Making their own way. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Kouzes, J.M, & Posner, B.Z. (2003). Encouraging the heart: A leaders guide to rewarding and recognizing others. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.