WELCOME and THANK YOU for reading! This newsletter covers what happened in July and will give you a heads up on what to look for in August and the months following.

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

Upcoming Board Meetings

Second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 – 8:00 pm Eastern
Aug 8, Sept 12, Oct 10, Nov 14, Dec 12
Zoom information is available on the Member’s site

(Psst! You can visit the Academy Calendar on the Member's site and click to add the board meetings to your personal calendar!)

Here’s hoping that all of our members are surviving the unprecedented heatwave, smoke, and storms of this summer. Sometimes I’m reminded of the summer days in northern Wisconsin when we could hardly stand to get into the chilly waters of our rivers and lakes because they did not warm up until August! Of course, I also remember a few summers when it snowed on my birthday in June! Despite the travails of global warming I sincerely hope that you are resting and rejuvenating as you contemplate the beginning of another academic year in the fall.  

The new board has found time to gather this past week to get organized for the academic year as well. We welcomed new members, Will Ofstad and Christopher Sweeney to the group.  We also re-welcomed several board members who have assumed new Board positions including, Chaya Jain as President Elect, Peter Smith as Finance Officer, Steve Spicklemire as Secretary, and Colleen Taylor as an At-Large member. ...

From the Editorial Board

Welcome to the thirteenth volume of the International Journal of Process Education in which we present a collection of Process Educator’s collaborative research efforts. Within this volume we explore the psychological perspectives and functions within Process Education, are introduced to new methodologies, and develop a deeper understanding of the roles of coaching and performance mentoring. ...

(click a title to read or see the whole volume HERE)

• Nine Psychology Perspectives for Process Educators
  (Cy Leise, Dan Apple, Wade Ellis, Steve Beyerlein)
• Roles of Performance Mentoring and Self-Growth Coaching in Developing Human Capability
  (Grady Batchelor, Dan Apple, Auston Van Slyke, Cy Leise, Wade Ellis)
• Lessons from a Large Scale Implementation of Academic Coaching
  (David Leasure, Steve Beyerlein, Marsha Fortney, Stefan Günther, Allison Patch)
• Developing Transferable Knowledge Using the Methodology for Generalizing Knowledge
  (Tris Utschig, Dan Apple, Wade Ellis, David Leasure)
• An Insight Methodology to Guide Creation and Validation of Discoveries
  (Cy Leise, George W. Dombi, Dan Apple)
• Evolution of Six Functions in the History of the Process Education Framework
  (Cy Leise, Dan Apple, Wade Ellis, Steve Beyerlein)

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Sept 5 through Oct 3, (4 weeks) ONLINE

Mostly asynchronous with a synchronous 1-hour Zoom meeting each week

$500 with a 35% discount for Academy Members

For institutions or individuals interested in converting from a traditionally-oriented classroom to one that is learner and learning-centered, this event offers the opportunity to grow and develop as an educator. Attendees participate in a learning community that mirrors an active learning, guided inquiry course. You’ll leave this event with renewed enthusiasm for teaching and a strong motivation to mentor the growth of your students and yourself.

• Develop an understanding of an instructional design process that supports active learning, critical thinking, and assessment.
  
  
• Learn to value the importance of self-assessment in the growth process and identify ways to make better use of specific assessment tools.
  
  
• Act as researchers, deciding which strategies, tools and techniques work well (or not) in different learning environments.
  
  
• Observe and learn top professional practices from the perspective of a student: analyze, learn, and apply new material.

This article will feature a different learning skill each month and instead of talking theory will ONLY give ideas for targeting/strengthening that learning skill for ages 2 to 102! Remember that you can find ALL the learning skills in a free interactive tool.

Memorizing: intentionally committing information to memory

The Levels of Learner Knowledge includes Level 1 Knowledge: INFORMATION

At this level,

• The learner can talk about a concept, process, tool, or context in words and can provide definitions or descriptions.
• The learner has some sense of what information is relevant and not relevant.
• Limited comprehension makes it difficult for the learner to carry on an extensive dialog.

Key words are: who, what, where, when, which, find, choose, define, list, label, show, spell, match name, tell, recall, select, organize, outline
Typical questions include: What is…? Where is…? When did…? What facts or ideas show…? Who were the main…?    Which one…? Can you recall…? Can you select…? Can you list the three …? Who was…?

Unfortunately, some educators tend to downplay the importance of Level 1 knowledge. It is not the goal, but without mastering definitions, rules, and formulae, students won’t get much further. When you hit new information that must be memorized, trying to understand how it is organized or related to what you already know can be the best first step. This is an excellent strategy to keep in mind for ANY learner.

This monthly column shares a small idea or low-stakes practice that everyone can try out whether in a classroom setting or other learning context. Remember that all current Academy members have free access to the e-Faculty Guidebook through the Member’s site!

STRATEGY: Intervene on PROCESS, not content

But WHY??

“Whenever an expert or outsider, acting as a facilitator, introduces their expertise on content, it implicitly says that the participants’ abilities are discounted; it reduces their ownership of the content/outcomes, and they become more passive, opening the door for the facilitator to do more. By focusing on the learning process, especially the learning skills that underlie learning new content, facilitators affirm participant abilities and build greater capacity for future performance."

FROM: 3.2.1 Overview of Facilitation

This column features one or two Academy members each month, until we run out of members. And then we'll just get more! The point is that we're curious about each other and few people enjoy reading professional bios. Each member is asked the same set of questions:

• 3 books you love and why
• The best class you ever took and why
• The class you would most want to teach, if you could choose
• One piece of advice you'd give to a teacher about to begin a teaching career

3 books I love:

• Being Peace by Thích Nhất Hạnh
  I first read this in the Buddhism class I took as a non-western elective in college. It was the first time I experienced anything like what I was “supposed” to have experienced from going to church or reading the Bible.
  
  
• The Plague by Albert Camus
  I love a good group of misfits battling seemingly insurmountable forces, and this is one of the rarest cases where the characters are not reducible (and in fact, actively resist being reduced to) their team roles.
  
  
• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
  It’s much easier to choose my least favorite Murakami (Kafka on the Shore made Chris snore) but I will choose this as the best of his because what is reading anyway if not being translated to an alternate timeline?

The best class I ever took and why: 
As a junior in high school I took a half-year elective that was simply called Humanities, and it was a survey of art, music, and literature from the Renaissance on. It was both interdisciplinary in a way that most high school classes aren’t, and also sort of un-disciplinary in the sense that you could choose to respond to a novel, for example, by producing a watercolor, or to a painting with a poem. If we can say that standardized testing is part of the factory-ization of education, we might also say that the development of the academic essay as a product is part of the attempt to exert “objective” control over a profession that was growing increasingly feminized. Responding to art with art is much more natural.  

The class I’d most want to teach if I could choose: I am incredibly spoiled and have always been given carte blanche to design the courses and programs I teach, so for me it would be less a matter of subject or topic and more a matter of format. I’d love to teach a class where a whole bunch of work was done up front and then it didn’t finish until like 5 years later. Or I’ve always thought that graduating students should be given the option to purchase a subscription, where they could come back and take like 3 classes in every ten year period or the like.

One piece of advice I’d give to a teacher about to begin teaching: I like to repeat the best advice ever given to me: there is a fine line between being rigorous and being an asshole, and the art of teaching is really knowing which side of the line you are standing on at every moment.

Including (BUT NOT LIMITED TO)
workshops you'd like to attend!

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As a lead facilitator, YOUR success is THEIR success

After 40 years of successful collaboration with a wide variety of universities and colleges in implementing change projects, Pacific Crest has developed a variety of professional development resources and tools that have evolved into Institutes.

We combined these institutes (events) with self-growth (coaching) to create a fast-track program to help promising faculty members become leaders in teaching effectiveness and facilitating change. All Institutes encourage participants to focus on their current projects during the event, but participants can learn just as effectively with other participants’ projects.

We're ready to help you choose the right combination of events to cultivate the performance capabilities YOU want to develop.

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