21st Century Students Need 21st Century Professors: Applying the Servant-Professor Paradigm Dr. Janet McNellis Holy Family University Dr. Dionne Rosser-Mims Troy University

Overview - Challenges with Teaching Adult Learners - Adult Learners Today - Faculty Today - Servant Professorship - Putting Theory to Practice

Challenges with Teaching Adults What are the most pressing challenges you have encountered while teaching adults?

Challenges with Teaching Adults What solutions have you tried?

Faculty Today How would you describe the appropriate role of a college professor today?

Adult Learners Today Demographics 75% of undergraduate students are 24 or older Many students are first-generation college students Diverse student population—i.e., race, age, culture, economics, and profession Working adults Rise in underemployed/unemployed adult student population

Adult Learners Today, cont. Learning Characteristics -Multiple learning styles and preferences -Different stages of self-directed learning -Prefer for learning to be practical and relevant to personal and professional life experiences Learning Context -What else is going on in the student’s life? -Are Maslow’s lower-level needs being met?

Paradigmatic shift in view of the teacher-learner relationship. Servant Professor – one who effectively supports, manages, and guides his or her students’ development - “The guidance is tailored towards each individual student’s highest priority needs” (Kitahara & Hannay, 2008, p. 6). Educators who are servant professors believe it is an educator’s role to “integrate work, academics, and leadership to promote the personal and spiritual growth of others and ourselves” (Derrick & Jordan, 2009; Greenleaf, 1977). Changing Students Requires New Paradigm

Servant Leaders Robert K. Greenleaf (1970) states: “There is an important difference between someone who takes a “leader-first” versus someone who takes a “servant- first” perspective…The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served.”

Servant Professor Role Serving In transforming the educational journeys of students Educating For personal and professional growth Imparting Specialized knowledge to others

Principles of Servant Professorship Connectedness Empathy Authentic instruction

Principle #1: Connectedness - Between the professor and the learners. - Both learner and professor play important roles in student’s learning process - Roles are not mutually exclusive. - Professor’s knowledge, expertise and leadership guides student learning experiences.

Principle #1: Connectedness Can you provide an example of when you have experienced connectedness in your classroom or observed it in other classrooms?

- Meaningful and significant - New material presented in a manner that closely resembles its use in “real world “ - Promotes: Higher-order thinking, Depth of knowledge, Connectedness to the world beyond the classroom Substantive conversation Social support for student achievement. Principle #2: Authentic Instruction

Can you provide an example of when you have experienced authentic instruction in your classroom or observed it in other classrooms? Can you provide an example of when you have experienced authentic instruction in your classroom or observed it in other classrooms?

- Feeling empathetic -Need to watch “knee-jerk” responses  Students’ life experiences, problems, feelings enter the classroom  Work, school, and life balance challenges -Assume students does not know how to overcome issues -Keep Maslow’s hierarchy in mind - Showing empathy -Let students know you understand and care -Refer students to appropriate support services - Maintain requirements and academic standards -Let students know it’s OK to take a break from school until they get their issues worked out Principle #3: Empathy

Can you provide an example of when you have experienced empathy in your classroom or observed it in other classrooms?

Putting Theory into Practice Using the principles of Servant Professorship, what other activities can we employ to address the challenges professors face when teaching adult learners?

Concluding Thoughts… Education for Transformation...

- Arreola, A. R., Theall, M., & Aleamoni, L. M. (2003). Beyond scholarship: Recognizing the multiple roles of the professoriate. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL. Retrieved from Boyer, E. L. (1997). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. - Galbraith, M. W. (Ed). (2004). Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company. - Gear, M. R., Krumrei, E. J., & Pargament, K. I. (2009). Development of spiritually-sensitive intervention for college students experiencing spiritual struggles: Winding road. Journal of College & Character, X(4), 1-5. Retrieved April 22, 2009, from Greenleaf, R. K. (1970/2012). The servant as leader. Quoted in The Robert K. Greenleaf Center, Inc.

- Kasworm, C. E. (2003). Setting the state: Adults in higher education. New Direction for Student Services, 2003(102), DOI: /ss.83 - Kirstein, K., Brommer, S., Cholewinska, A., Diamond, J., Flores, K., Gunhold, R., Kelley, G., & Minor, M. (2011). Authentic instruction and online delivery: Proven practices in higher education. In I. Candel Torres, L. Gómez Chova, & A. López Martínez (Eds.) Proceedings of the International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation (pp ). Madrid, Spain: International Association of Technology Education and Development. - Macfarlane, B. (2011). Professors as intellectual leaders: Formation, identity, and role. Studies in Higher Education, 36(1), Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., Baumgartner, L. M. (Eds.). (2007). Embodied, spiritual, and narrative learning. In Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide (3 rd edition) (pp ). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. - Tisdell, E. L. (2003). Exploring spirituality and culture in adult and higher education. San Francisco: The Jossey-Bass.