Love and Respect

Topic:

Ephesians 2:20-21 states “Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” How can a culturally-relevant online education model be used to bring unity to students of diverse background while still meeting the needs of a specific culture?

Justin Utherguy's Response:

The United States is a nation of immigrants who have all come together to create an extraordinary blending of cultures.  This blending of cultures presents a unique challenge for educators in that each culture brings its own history, customs, traditions, and language.  Creating an education model that is relevant to each student’s cultural background is a difficult task.  Ephesians’ example of Christ as the chief cornerstone from which a holy temple grows, an educational model which has relevance to all learners serves the same purpose for developing a unified learning community.  Online education offers a layer of flexibility that can enhance learning opportunities for students of all modalities and abilities. 

A culturally relevant educational model should not focus on how students are different, but on how much they have in common while acknowledging that where everyone comes from is unique and special.  Many online resources can open a new world of information about each student’s culture.  These resources should be leveraged in a way that helps students develop self-confidence and pride in their heritage while learning how they fit in the larger community of learners.  This does not mean that a Christ centered approach to teaching.  Though the secular approach of most educational systems rejects the use of Christian vernacular in the classroom, teachers and administrators can still impact students by modeling a Christian attitude.  Jesus teaches us that Christians are obligated to follow the laws set forth by government.  For some, this is a major stumbling block.  However, 1 John 1:7 (NKJV) says, “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”  Modeling a loving Christian attitude can affect students and open up opportunities they may never have had before.  Love in the form of respect for a student’s cultural background can have transformational affects, both academically and spiritually.

Welcome EDUC 629 Classmates

I just want to say hello to any of my fellow classmates that care to check in with Justin Utherguy.  I'll be publishing copies of my class blog here for further input and response outside the normal confines of the digital classroom.  Please feel free to share. 

Oh, I missed that part of the plan...

Looking back on this class I find myself thinking about communication.  Communication is so very important to effectively executing a plan.  To borrow a line from an 80's TV show, "I love it when a plan comes together."  Every level of involvement must be briefed on the plan for it to truely be effectively executed.  Leadership must understand what we intend to do and privide feedback and approval.  Teams must understand how they fit within the whole of the plan.  This will help with synchronization of all the different parts of a complex plan to meet the end result complete and on time.  We cannot forget the bottom line.  How much is this going to cost?  The "almighty dollar" can bring the best laid plans to a screaching halt before they even get started.  Communicating the costs, risks, control measures, and all the other finite parts of a plan can save an inordinate amount of wasted energy when there aren't enough coins in the coffers.  Communication, not just for email and text messages anymore.

Hindsight: Leading the Way Ahead

As I read through the last few chapters of Picciano, I found myself recounting my experiences with the introduction of technology throughout my elementary and secondary education.  I remember when my elementary school got its first two Apple IIe computers.  They were in the library and if we were fortunate, some of us would get to play Oregon Trail or play around with some basic programming.  It was very “cool” to get to play with the computers.  I think that was around 1983.  Just a few years later, in high school, we could take a computer class, Computing I or Computing II if I recall correctly.  We learned some programing in BASIC and PASCAL.  Unfortunately, our teacher was the cheerleading coach so most of the time was spent printing banners for pep rallies and games.  Still, it was interesting.  The advent of the World Wide Web and internet access for most everyone brought changes in leaps and bounds.  Distance learning moved from mailed in correspondence courses and clunky video lectures (similar to my first few classes with Liberty Online) to a very interactive educational experience.  I found myself in a state of awe as I reflected on how much I was a part of these wide reaching changes. 

There is a generation of educators who have experienced all these changes first hand.  We’ve seen where we’ve come from and that has given us a unique position from which we can observe and direct the ongoing changes and technology implementation within schools, corporations, government, and the military.  Many of us have observed the folly of embracing the next hot pieces of technology or software (called apps today).  Too many times has the shiny new toys caught the attention of a technology department leader resulting in a unfortunate expenditure of funds, underutilized equipment, or a untrained, uninterested staff.  Educational technology leaders cannot afford to make snap decisions when it comes to implementing new technology tools.  They must be methodical and intentional with their decisions, carefully considering a holistic technology plan that includes hardware, software, training, and infrastructure.  Even then, the “all mighty dollar” must be factored into the equation as well.  Tax payers won’t stand for wasteful, over the moon like budget requests.  We should expect to do more with less.  It can be an overwhelming thought.  I’ve come to appreciate how Covey approaches these types of leadership challenges.  Begin with the end in mind and take care of the big rocks first.  Everything else will start to come together once the big rocks, or largest, most important concerns, are dealt with first.