Panel Guests:
Lisa Ross: Worked as a Special ED Teacher/Reading Specialist at Pennsauken School District, and an audience of Chef Dennis Littley.
Dr. Lynn M. Gangone, Ed.D.: Dean of Colorado Women’s College and associate clinical professor or higher education at Morgridge College of Education.
Dr. Robert M. Copeland, Ed.D.: Vice President for Student Affairs for Clinton College.
Introducing Lisa Ross
She was always a smart kid but it wasn’t easy for her to absorb information. Many people struggle on that part, which made them stop going to school. She became a Velcro Teacher: She throws everything at kids. Whatever sticks, that’s what she teaches to that particular student. You can’t do a one-size-fits-all in this case. In Special Ed, it can be difficult to stick to the standards. But Lisa does her best to incorporate all the different modalities, and try to help students the best that they can with what was their whole way of learning.
Introducing Dr. Lynn Gangone.
She used to be bored in High School, until she had a teacher who saw her potential and told her, “Look, I know you can do more than this.” Her career has mostly been in higher education, but spent some of it doing “Gender Equity” work for K12 teachers.
Gender Equity: It’s a life mission that’s emerged in terms of really wanting the world to be a better place for boys, girls, men, and women. Back in the late 70’s to early 80’s there was a lot of movement in education around not limiting boys and girls, based on what we expected them to be when they grew up. We had certain expectations for boys, and separate expectations for girls. Not every boy or girl wants to be an Engineer, or Firefighter, or Police Officer, or a Mathematician. It’s not necessarily gender-based. The idea was to open up an opportunity and to say to teachers and guidance counselors, “Just because a woman walks in, don’t just assume she doesn’t want to be an Engineer.”
Introducing Dr. Rob Copeland.
He went to an all-male College. As an African-American male, there were not many people around who would give him the inspirational talk Lynn had. It was eye-opening for Rob going to a historical Black college university. It was a school that made him realize what he could do and what he could be. He currently serves a population of “first generation” college students.
First Generation college students: These are students who haven’t had anyone in their family whom has gone to college. They have a lot of issues that traditional students may not have. These are the kids that are under-represented kids in college. They come from broken homes and have seen the abusive things in life. Rob zeroed-in on this population because he thinks that if we don’t educate these young people, they’re gonna go back to our community anyway. It truly is a fork in the road. And if Rob can make a difference and help these students along the way, that’s what he’s there for.
People are fascinated about the picture behind Lynn. It’s a compilation of sketches from women in history. It is called “All That We Are” by artist Helen Ragheb.
What we look out in higher education is if it’s affordable.
Aggregate Loan Limits: For students pursuing under graduate degree, the maximum they can borrow is $57,000. We think that what we’re doing is educating in terms of intellectual space: History, Political Science, Mathematics, Science, etc. But what we also have to educate in the outside of the classroom space—financial literacy. Most of the younger population don’t understand what that mean, when they sign that loan. This is not an unusual situation. Students are taking out loans, they’re not finishing, and they can’t do anything else. They can’t afford to go to another institution because they’ve hit their max.
“If I’m not educating the whole of you … then I’m failing you, and I’m failing the larger society.” –Dr Lynn Gangone.
At about 19, 20, and 21-years old, people start receiving credit cards. People at those age thought it as being real money. At that age, you don’t understand the concept of what it may be to pay back this student loan. So it is very important to educate these young people into what they are getting into. Yes, they’re investing on their education… But they also need to be intellectually financially astute, in regards to their education.
Educational Online Tools
In higher Ed, that’s been a huge conversation. We’ve been talking about online versus on-ground, and hybrid learning. We absolutely need to have all of these technologies available, and understand the application in them; the familiarity of gadgets and what we can learn through those mediums is amazing. For some learners, having them blended absolutely works. But then there are some kids who probably needs having that grounded way, in which we actually have to interact with students. For adult learners, more on the online options. It was price point, it was convenient, and no driving! Technology has got to be part in parcel of everything we do and how we use that as an educational tool. We need to figure out a way to blend the traditional with the new technology.
Title IX
It was really ground-breaking for women in terms of the capacity to create educational equity. Title IX covers a lot of different things. It was what allowed young pregnant girls to stay at school. But today, a lot of it is focused on sexual harassment and sexual assault. Part of what’s happening in the Title IX space particularly in the colleges and universities, the sexual assault and sexual harassment piece is being elevated. Title IX is now used as a way to help clean up what’s happening in college and university campuses.
Shout out to Erin Weed for founding “Girls Fight Back.”
Think globally, act globally.
There are 2 issues that are most prevalent right now.
1. Sexual assault.
2. Violence that takes places in college campuses.
The biggest part of what we need to do is exactly the type of things that we’re doing today: We need to be proactive instead of reactive. Sit down and talk, discuss, device, implement… Put the things in place while communicating each other. Certain colleges, as small as it may be, are dealing with the same types of issues. It is hard to talk about the violence piece. But it is real, it is part and parcel of all the ways in which we think about each other as men, women, boys, and girls. If we don’t talk about it, nothing will change. It appears that bullying is only addressed at the elementary level. It starts to get almost out of control and not used for its specific purpose in that. When something happens in college, you are not the victim and you do speak out and voice your opinion in a safe environment. We try it in elementary and we think something seems not quite right with the bullying thing right now.
What’s On?
It’s interesting what the panel came up with on today’s “What’s On?” portion. In this episode, I asked them what book is on their bedside table.
Lisa: The Book Thief. Just reading a fun book by Elin Hilderbrand.
Lynn: The Gold Finch. Game of Thrones. A Whole World Over. A Path With Heart.
Rob: Game of Thrones. Steven Rogers dissertation.
Mia: Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth.
You can tell by the mentioned books that the panel and I embrace our nerdiness. Or Rob would prefer calling it, “Intellectual Gangster.”
Bat Crap Crazy
Lisa: Being at the beach.
Lynn: Being in Colorado in the summer.
Rob: “My two wonderful kids.”
Mia: The batpack audience.
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