As I sat and read article after article through the last few days, I have realised that my initial goal was to orient and learn more about my new environment and how to shift from being a clinical boots on the ground social worker to an academic. What I have come to realize is that I do not need to change. I in fact need to go back to my roots.

While I have had the opportunity to start to explore and get to know and understand our students as well as my new colleagues, I have had the awe struck awareness of this new defining role. And that this role required me to hold individuals to set of expectations and that they have to meet my expectations. While, yes there has to be some accountability and ways to demonstrated knowledge and skills that they are acquiring. What I have come to realize is that my initial misguided process was derived from my own academic experience, which really was not the best. I produced the work that was asked, but I did not delve and really strive to learn more or was as engaged as I could have been. This was driven from the style that I was being taught in.

My new understanding and goals is to over the summer reinvent the majority of my courses, and create meaningful ways to assist and guide the skills and knowledge base that the students will be able to use in life.

More importantly it’s making me realize that I never needed to adjust the way I presented or engaged myself or the work to the students. The students should not meet me where I expect them to be. Rather I need to meet the students where they are as a whole person and take the holistic approach in designing their course. Engage them and invite them to have a say and be apart of the process. Create the base foundation, but allow them to help shape the path.