Experience as an instructor but new to the institution
It is always hard to come into a new institution to teach no matter how much experience you have. I try to be prepared for clinics and learn the protocol for the new school but it still takes time to build up trust in your students and faculty. It is also hard not to compare the different institutions I have taught at.
There are many things that can inhibit or prolong the "feeling" of not being integrated. An objective assessment is often essential for a correct reevaluation to realign the parties.
Jackie,
Short range thinking is so common for many students. Your comments highlight this in relation to your work to get them to see the personal accountability that goes with career success and the creation of a future for themselves.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Thank you Dr. Meers. What has been a challenge is that even though the student fails the class, they have the opportunity to repeat it. They seem to have no attachment to the fact that this will now delay their graduation by additional terms, but the cost of the course(s) is added to their student loans. The criminal justice career path is not a forgiving one. For many of the students, I found they have no idea what the level of accountability will be if the make “the grade†and become employed. I am trying to change that, so by the end of a term, or their degree, they can decide if they really want to invest the rest of their adult lives to a criminal justice career.
Jackie,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Even though tough you are forming the program into something the students can be proud of being in and moving through. I support your effort to hold the students to the standards of the profession. So many students today do not want to invest the time and effort needed to be successful in classes as well as their career. They need to realize they are not entitled to an A just because they have paid tuition. They must earn their grades and to do that they must have self discipline.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree with you Lori. I came from instructing as a law enforcement officer, providing specific skill set courses to highly motivated adult learners in law enforcement. I retired and for the past six months I have been the sole instructor/Program Director of a vocational institutions criminal justice academic Associates degree program.
The person I replaced had a completely different classroom management style, treating the students more of a High school setting than that of a post-secondary institution. There was no transition for me, nor were any of the course materials provided. I found the instructor did not even follow the course textbook.
I have 32 years of street experience, with 20 years of instructing, but I was not prepared for such a dramatic change in both the classroom environment and the students themselves. I have been on survival mode and not able to be the creative instructor I am known for being. Although I teach as an adjunct instructor at the University level, I was not prepared for the vocational level where student retention is a critical aspect. I have had to hold some students accountable for either their academic or attendance issues in the classroom, something that they were not held accountable for with the previous person (not a popular position at times). But I stress that in a criminal justice position, accountability for ones actions is of utmost importance. I also explain that as a part of their hiring process, a full background is conducted where their post-secondary education is reviewed, and their past instructors contacted.
It has been a tremendous challenge for me.
Lori,
All good points in relation to getting settled into a new environment. All of these factors need to be blended when it comes to your personal perception of how you fit into your new school setting. Little by little you become more familiar with procedures, polices and institutional operations until you feel that you are now a part of your new faculty.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
