RUNNING HEAD: CSP Selections

CSP Selections: Part Two

Developing Professional Philosophy
Danielle Flack
Western Illinois University

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2
Core Philosophical Positions and Connections

When I allow myself to sit down and reflect on what I have been learning in our Intro to
College Student Personnel class and other classes as well, my thoughts are everywhere. Things
do not make sense and I feel like my learning is just a big mess. I ask myself, what is it that I am
taking away for me and what are my own opinions? I become frustrated and lose confidence that
I really do not know if I can even form a philosophy of my own. However, as we are getting
closer toward the end of the semester, I find myself starting to make some connections to the
readings and the discussions that we are having in class. The connections are small and I still
find myself as confused as ever, but I am learning. That is important to me and allows me to
keep motivated about what it means to be in this program and honestly to think about the bigger
picture of my journey in this profession. I realize that I could muster up some kind of
philosophy even if it is unfinished or most likely to change later. I understand that there is
something I can offer in this profession of student affairs. I also understand that this is the time
to be learning no matter how frustrated or discouraged I get. This is a time to truly understand
the passion I have for working with students and the passion that I have for working with people
in general. I have been learning more about myself and the way that I see the world more than I
could ever imagine.
The prompt asks us to explain the core philosophical positions that are present in the
readings and it was hard to not pick and choose what I wanted to mention or write about. All of
the information that we have been learning about in class is valuable but I know that I had a
tough time making connections to all of it and that is okay. I felt it was best and the most
efficient to discuss and connect what we spent the most time talking about in class. I say this
because I learned the most when we had discussions in class together or when we were

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discussing the readings in small groups. The class activities were helpful for me personally
because of my particular effective engagement goal of asking questions and having the
willingness to learn. Class was a great time to process and learn from others as they were
making connections to what we were assigned to read. I found this to especially true when it
came to Kuhn. I would struggle to comprehend what I read but when we got to class, I realized
that I was relating the chapters of that book to what we were discovering in the other advanced
readings. When you are learning something new for the first time, I do not believe it is all
supposed to make sense right away.
This leads me into one of the first core positions that we have discussed in class;
transformative learning. This is a concept that I have been starting to connect to when it comes
to my own learning and what I have felt like I have experienced in my personal life especially
when it comes to my faith. If there is one document that allowed me to make sense of the
concept of transformative learning, it was Learning Reconsidered 2. "Transformative learning
increases students' ability to think about the world, themselves, and how they think and learn."
This is the idea that students are able to learn about the world around them by understanding
themselves and also by relating what they are learning to their own experiences. Students are
asking themselves more questions about who they are and it becomes personal to them. When
something new comes in to what the students already know, it is a tough process to make sense
of. It becomes very messy and there are ways that we as student affairs professionals can be an
advocate for students and their learning. In the text, there is also the description of what
experiences students can engage in for transformative learning to happen. The two experiences
that we have talked about the most in class are expect the student to describe what the learning
means personally, in the context of his or her life experience and allow enough time to reflect

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on all of those questions. The reflection piece is critical because students can use that time to
understand what this new information means to them and how it fits in to what they already
know. This also ties into the experience of provide the opportunity to process the experience
verbally, either in writing or in conversation. Students need peers and mentors to process what
they are learning and experiencing, which is the idea of what a learning community can look
like. An example of this can be student affairs professionals having weekly one on ones with
their student leaders. The way that students can write out what they are learning in writing is
assessment of programs. Students are asked what they have learned and how it has changed
from what they already know.
We also see the idea of transformative learning presented in Kuhn. This is an example of
how the different principles are connected to one another. There is a class discussion that we had
in late October that discussed the idea of what a revolution would look like in higher education.
We said that higher education is always going to be transforming and the concept of developing
versus changing. There is development of new concepts that slowly happen but it does not
necessarily mean that there is going to be a willingness to change. We said that individuals may
be more on board with change if we are developing together. We understand that history is
relevant but ideas and things are changing. The paradigms that we all form for ourselves is
based largely on the values that we hold. However, everyone develops their values in different
ways. On page 93 of Kuhn, it discusses that the revolution depends on who you are and what you
believe in. Depending on what those values are, you as the student affairs professional can
create educational opportunities that are available. These are some of the small connections that
I made with Kuhn and transformative learning. These discussions made us consider how change
and learning can happen in student affairs and higher education.

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There are several principles that I made connections to in the document Principles of
Good Practice for Student Affairs. The first principle that I will discuss is good practice in
student affairs engages students in active learning. This may sound repetitive but this another
concept that can connect to transformative learning. Students are bringing their own life
experiences into the picture and also learning from the perspectives of others. I will not go into
much more detail about that one because I have already discussed it previously with the idea of
transformative learning. Another principle that I have heard us discuss in Intro to College
Student Personnel class as well as our Organization and Administration of College Student
Personnel Services class is good practice in student affairs uses resources effectively to achieve
institutional missions and goals. When creating these diverse learning environments, there are
different resources that can be pulled from several individuals. These different resources of
learning and educational outcomes are helpful to achieving the institutional mission and goals.
There is a collaboration piece that fits into this principle and that is crucial to making learning
happen for students. However, there is a complication of the willingness to want to collaborate
between the different constituents. This goes into the principle of good practice in student
affairs forges educational partnerships that advance student learning. The key idea in these last
two principles is collaboration. It is kind of an accountability piece that helps student affairs
professionals, faculty, staff, and administrators remember the commitment to the students. The
commitment looks to include everyone in the learning process and this could ultimately help
with fostering relationships between faculty and student affairs professionals. The collaboration
between academic and student affairs is a common theme that has been coming up in all of our
classes and one that I see as a key factor to student success and student learning. I will explain
further as I discuss the core philosophical position of academic and student affairs partnerships.

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In the document, Proceed with Caution: Uncommon Wisdom about Academic and
Student Affairs Partnerships, there is the question that is being asked that carefully considers the
intention of collaborating and what it actually means to do so. There is the willingness to want to
collaborate to further the learning of students but it is more than just saying it. There needs to be
this action behind the intention. With this being said, I think there needs to be an examination of
both sides and identify where each constituent is coming from. There is this common goal of
wanting to further the learning of students but a faculty member may have a different philosophy
of what that looks like compared to what a student affairs professional philosophy could look
like. What was really great about this document is that it mentions that before partnerships can
be successfully forged, the parties must first understand themselves and their own culture. If
one particular party is not aware of their own practice and what it is that guides their work, there
is confusion about how the partnerships can move forward. I see this particular concept
connected to transformative learning. The fact that one is understanding themselves and how
they make sense of the world or make sense of their practice is essential. Examples of how this
could happen are the different parties going to professional conferences, having discussions with
colleagues that are knowledgeable about one particular aspect of the profession, and just keeping
up to date with the latest news in the profession. In transformative learning, you also see that
individuals are processing what they are learning verbally and this can directly be connected to
academic and student affairs partnerships. There are discussions happening with other
colleagues and this can help to understand their own culture like I quoted above.
An example that I really got to see in action about academic and student affairs
partnerships is when I went to Webster University with my site visit group for our Organization
and Administration of College Student Personnel Services class. I talked with the Director of

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First-Year Experience Programs, Sarah Tetley. She said that understanding the culture of the
faculty and how they operate, is essential to help making her program successful. She talked
about going to conferences that the faculty go to and even taking the time to set up coffee dates
with them. I mention this particular experience because it excited me to see what we have been
discussing in class actually happening in the profession. This was one of the turning points of
when information was starting to make sense and I was making my own connections. This
brings me to the last point about academic and student affairs partnerships and it has to do with
conflict. Accepting rather than repressing conflict is important for those who desire healthy,
collaborative, and educationally focused partnerships. Learning to accept that there is going to
be disagreement and that there are going to be different values placed on the table is a good
thing. That means that there can be healthy discussion about student learning when you are able
to see it from different perspectives. I saw this being understood and displayed in the
conversation that I was having with Sarah Tetley.

One last core position that I would like to briefly discuss is from the document, Greater
Expectations. This was one of the documents that I connected well with because it helped me
make sense of my own learning in the education system. What I saw in this document is that
students are coming from many different backgrounds and that they are finding many different
ways to further their learning. There is the concept of online learning, attending the institution
part-time, and transferring from another institution. There is this concept that students will come
to the institution and graduate in four years but that is just not the case anymore. The text talks
about having a comprehensive vision and that is a vision that addresses the multiple hopes
Americans hold for college education. There are many different paths that students are taking

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these days and that can be held to any kind of reason. There are many barriers that one is facing
to get a college education. The reason can be financial, the reason can be socioeconomic status,
the reason could be their preparation in secondary education, and the list goes on. What the
students need is guidance and tools to help them navigate their journey. This can look different
depending on the individual and the direction they would like to have in life. What skills are
being learned throughout their time at the institution and what resources are needed as they are
walking this path. If we are going to set these high expectations for student learning, it is great
to have some guidance along the way. The text says, Every student needs a sense of direction,
markers as well as knowledgeable guides, and navigational tools to support the journey. This
was one of the pieces of the text that got me excited because it held true to my experience in my
education especially at my undergraduate institution. I had mentors, opportunities for learning
outside of the classroom, ways to connect what I was learning to my own personal values, and
access to the educational resources I needed to succeed in the classroom. Examples of these
resources were tutoring, study sessions with the class and professors, workshops that allowed me
to work on my writing, and also just one-on-one conversations about what I was learning in the
smaller classroom environments.
Comparison of My Beliefs and Values
As I have been discussing the different core philosophical positions in the profession of
student affairs, I am finding that this information is shaping the values and beliefs that I have.
There are connections that I never thought I would make but somehow it made sense to me. It
may not all be clear but I felt like I had moments of clarity where I could explain my beliefs and
values in accordance to what we have been learning. What I connect to the most is the idea of
transformative learning. I really value this because I have seen it happen with my own learning

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and the way that it connects to my personal life. When you are learning how to navigate and live
life a certain way for a long time, things tend to stick and it takes a while to chew on new
information that is coming your way. If you are not used to it or it is new, you need ways to
make sense of that information and what you are experiencing. When it comes to my faith, my
world slowly began to change when I started to develop a relationship with God. What I was
learning about God interrupted what I had known previously. It did not all make sense right
away but as transformative learning tends to happen, we have to understand ourselves and
putting ourselves in experiences where we can verbally process this interruption of new learning.
The experiences for students can look different depending on what they are learning and based in
the interests that they have. So for instance with my example of my relationship with God, I had
mentors that helped me understand my faith, I was going to Bible studies and asking questions
about how it connected to my life and personal values, I went to conferences that further allowed
me to understand who God was in my life, and it goes on. I see that happening with how I
approach students and the learning that is happening outside of the classroom. Providing
experiences where students can make sense of what is happening with their learning is what I
would like to do. However, I want to hold the position that this does not happen overnight and
that it takes time to develop how you see the world and how you are shaping the values that you
have.

I discussed in my competencies paper how I value the concept of collaboration when it

comes to leadership. I really enjoy working with other people that work toward a common goal
of helping others and helping students. I like the idea of being able to team up with individuals
that are different from me because I know that they are knowledgeable about something that I

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may not be. What I love to make the connection to with transformative learning and the
collaboration piece with academic affairs, is the fact that you have to understand yourself and the
culture of the profession. I am finding that the more and more you ask questions about what you
believe in and value, the more knowledgeable you are about yourself. An inconsistency that I
may find with the collaboration piece is that there are times where I can get uncomfortable with
knowing how to really defend what I believe so that I can collaborate with others. This may be
more of an insecurity rather than an inconsistency. Nonetheless, I am aware that it is there.
Overall, the collaboration piece connects well to a value that I have for working with others.

The desire and value that I have to care for students is one that I would largely like to
shape my philosophy. I believe in walking alongside the student in their journey so that I can
help them in any way that I can. This can mean having conversations with students about their
learning, guiding them to the right resources for academics such as tutoring, or even areas such
as counseling. Those are just some examples but that is where I would like to help students. I
want to be a constant advocate for them at whatever point they are in their journey. I see this
being connected to providing students with guidance and a sense of direction that was discussed
in the document Greater Expectations. Overall, I see a lot of connections to what we have been
discussing in class to the values that I hold. In my last CSP selection, I listed the three values of
care, serving others, and faith but I now see that I hold so much more. I am interested and
excited to keep forming my philosophy.