UWP 104D: "Purpose, Process and Reflection: Taking Bright Adult Students to the Next Level"

Purpose, Process and Reflection:

Taking Bright Adult Students to the Next Level

Sue Rooney reflected on the question for a moment before she answered. It was not a long moment; much of what she wants to say has already been said before, in other conversations at other times. She has always wanted to be a teacher; so much of what she is telling me is restatements of what she has told herself, her family, her friends, her children and her students over the last twenty years of her career. “You see,” she starts out, “I remember being in school, as young as grade school, and I could never understand why students who were really bright—I mean, really, really smart, you could just see it and hear it when they talked—why they would do so bad in school. They were the ones I was interested in. The ones who had learning disabilities always had extra help, but those smart ones, they never did—they were the ones I wanted to help.”

Professor Sue Rooney was my teacher for a class titled Academic Textbook Reading at American River College during the fall semester of 2005. She is an inspirational teacher who judges each student on the own potential and pushes them to achieve what she knows they are capable of. “When I was first hired at American River College, back in 1989, I noticed how little help there was for students who were not ‘basic skills’ but not quite ready for university-level college work. There was a gap that needed to be filled by English reading courses to help those students reach the next level.” She teaches every student in her class ways of improving their reading strategies, and by doing so, opens doors for students who never knew they were capable of achieving even the most fantastic dreams. Without her motivation and guidance, many students would have given up on their educational goals before even knowing their own potential.

“Reading is a process in the mind: when teaching a student to write well you have their finished product in front of you to judge, critique and see their problems. It is not the same with reading and poor writing is always a reflection of poor reading.” Professor Rooney saw a gap in the college education system for those students she wanted to help, and immediately sought to fill it. Her first step was to create a department at the college to be the foundation for those classes that students needed, and, with the help of another instructor, she founded the Reading department as a sub-department of English. “Teaching at a college is different from teaching K-12. People choose to go to college, and by doing so have made a decision to seek out their own education. Education comes from the Latin word educere which means to ‘lead out.’ That’s what I’m here to do—lead them out into the world better educated, amply prepared for their next stage, be it work or university.”

“So,” I ask, “is it safe to say that you take responsibility for your student’s learning?”

“No, absolutely not,” Professor Rooney answered. “I take responsibility for what is in my power: as a teacher I can only provide them with the right environment, give them the tools, and be there for them, but I do not take what is theirs. I want my students to be responsible for their own learning—these are adults, and I treat them like adults.”

“How do you do that?”

“I challenge the students to ask ‘why.’ I want them to question what they do in their classes, in my class, and it is when they find the answer to the ‘why’ they realize the power they have as students. They can think critically about their own education and they know what they are working for. I also ask myself the same question: an effective teacher should always reflect on why they do what they do. It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach as much as it is the student’s responsibility to learn.”

Her philosophy on teaching comes alive in her classrooms, as Professor Rooney challenges her students who prove what they know. It is not only about passing tests; it is about the application of what they are learning in her class to their other classes that is the mark of the successful student. “I want my students to have ah-ha moments, when they realize how they can improve themselves.”

“Can you explain?”

“Well, just the other day in R.A.D. [Reading Across the Disciplines] I had a student who is seeing me for help with his political science class. He missed some questions on his last exam and we went over it question by question, and I was asking him why he missed each one. As it turns out, he knew exactly why he missed each question and could tell me those things he neglected to study in the first few weeks of the semester. The student was amazed! And, more importantly, he identified his weaknesses and strengths and is already changing his tactic to do better on the next exam.”

“What do you teach students in your class that you think is the most important?”

“Three things: purpose, process and reflection. These are what drive everything I do with students in my lecture class and in R.A.D.” I thought back to her class when I took it several years ago and remembered having to do different reading exercises and writing journals on them. “Is that why we did those journal entries in your class?”

“Exactly why! Metacognitive journals are an important part of the learning process. After students identify ‘why’ they are doing something, and they have completed the task, they then must reflect on the activity from beginning to end. This brings the student recognition of their strengths and, more importantly, their weaknesses, and by doing so, they can begin to identify how to improve their next attempt.”

Sue believes that many teachers focus too much on the products of learning and not the process. In order for students to move through the learning process effectively they must have the ability to identify their purpose for learning because if there is no purpose students feel as though they are wasting their time and it becomes a mental block for learning. At the end of the interview, Sue offered me advice:

“Jolene, when you begin teaching and you’re standing in front of that class for the first time, remember that each student is an individual and for every student you have a different approach to the material. Always work on improving your class, your style, your approach, your interaction—the students will see the work you put into it, and they will match you. And, most importantly, never, ever, ever lower your standards. The moment you lower your standards to accommodate your students you are no longer a teacher and you are not instructing. I love this job, and the moment I stop loving this job I will retire.”

Professor Sue Rooney has seen her dream through for more than twenty years. She set out to help those students who needed a push to the next level, be it through instruction, encouragement, or a little of both. I am proof of her strength as a teacher; I give her credit for inspiring me, indeed many students, with making successful transitions to a four-year prestigious universities. Reading Across the Disciplines, or RAD as it is called around campus, has grown steadily and silently for eight years in a room slightly larger than a walk-in closet. Students now flock to the program en masse, leading to an expansion of the program outside of English students, to assist students in programs such as electronics, nursing, engineering, mathematics, paramedics and science. Her vision has taken off, leading to years of students who realize the importance of reading in their classes, and have gone on to be successful in four-year universities.