Jodie,
Real world experiences is what we're preparing our students for, true. We want them to have the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that make them successful and promote sustained employment. It's always so heartening to hear of one of my graduate's successes, and to feel like I played a small part f their success.
Barry Westling
Helping students to relate the material they are learning and be able to apply it in the field and real life situations.
Matthew,
Understanding, yes. Of course that has to include knowledge, skills, attitudess, and professionalism that will carry them to success in their new professions.
Barry Westling
I believe that the goal of educating a student is to give them a good enough understanding of the material that they can apply the information in different situations under different circumstances.
Mary,
Great! Boy, if we can give confidence along with skills, knowledge and attitudes, we'll have achieved something great!
Barry Westling
Kelsey,
It's a wonderful feeling to know we have made a positive contribution in ones life. You're right, we can fulfill the school mission, but that doesn't mean we have to limit our expectations we have for our students. That hope for greatness is the key to instilling great creativity and accomplishment in the students we have for the short time we have them.
Barry Westling
Patricia,
Yeah, like the saying, "it's the journey, not the destination". Inspiring students to be lifelong learners is a terrific goal to shoot for, and kudo's to you and others who achieve this awesome learning outcome.
Barry Westling
For me the goal of educating students is to give them all the instruments they need to achieve success in their field from knowledge in the classroom to the confidence of applying that knowledge in their field. Students don't care about how much you know but they do care about how you teach them what you know. Teaching to every student and reaching every student in the class is my personal goal.
When I look at our institutions mission statement the goal is to prepare students for entry level employment in their chosen field. But for myself I want them to not only have the education for an entry level job but quickly be able to prove that they know much more and would be able to advance quickly with in the company due to the education they received with me as their instructor.
I love to hear graduates tell me how much I prepared them for their field and their career goals.
I want to be able to encourage students to think of education as a life long process - to never "stop" learning. In the immediate future, I want to make them excited to keep learning, and to know that once they are a qualified allied health professional, their learning curve is just beginning. They need to know that education doesn't happen in an institution but it is a daily occurrence.
Maurice,
That's a great thought! I think if we can prepare the students with the skills, knowledge and attitude that's needed for their career area they're being trained for, we'll have laid the foundation for future growth and success when the enter the workforce.
Barry Westling
My Goal in education students are for the student to go out in the real world and change many lives
Jana,
What a wonderful tribute! It's all those "between the cracks" kind of information that contribute to a well rounded professional, and this definitely is part of a mission all teachers can aspire too. I think its possible if we just opt to care for the successfulness of our students. In doing so, these extra benefits will just natually flow.
Barry Westling
The goal of educating students is to teach them skills, both hard and soft, they need to do be successful in their chosen profession. Feedback from a student several years later was so meaningful to me. They said other faculty taught them pathophysiology but I was the one who taught them how to be a nurse. I felt I accomplished the goal.
Daniel,
Yeah, the merging of what we know with what we need to know oftentimes bridges the gap for learning new things competently. And life experiences definetely help that new knowledge become applicable to the carrer area the student is training for.
Barry Westling
Hi James, while I personally believe that the goal of educating students reached far beyond the scope of just understanding what the objectives for the course are, it would be impossible for a student to meet the objectives unless they know what they are trying to achieve. Most classes would be confusing to students if they did not understand the overall and daily course objectives, it is truly imperative that they know why we, as instructors, are presenting the information that we do and how it applies to them.
Dan
The goal in educating the adult learner is to provide the necessary instruction that allows the learner to gain an understanding of the subject matter in a that they can apply the new information with both existing and new knowledge. Adults have a vast array of life experiences and many times they poses the tools necessary to do jobs outside their prior field, therefore our goal as instructors it to help them make these connections as well as provide some specific training that will allow them to assimilate into a new field.
Julie,
Sure, when we provide segments of instruction, we know that's just part of the picture. It's great when we can continuously reference the big picture, and liken it the current topic to how that will be applicable to the time when the student is employed.
Barry Westling
The goal as an educator is to help the student receive the tools they need to succeed. If I share personal experience and help them apply the different skills that will be used. I like to encourage the students to look at the whole big picture (the future) not just the moments in the classroom.
Shelly,
Good preparation gets our students readied for work; not just knowledge and skills, but the professional aspects that will help someone get and then keep a job.
Barry Westling
