ANDREA RORRER

In addition to conducting research and mobilizing research to impact practice, development of scholars and practitioners through my teaching and advising is part of my core professional identity. My teaching and advising are rooted in the intersection of transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1981), adult learning theory (Knowles, 1984; 1990), and transfer learning theory (Baldwin & Ford, 1988; Ford & Weissbein, 1997; Holton et al., 2000). Moreover, my teaching and advising are informed by my previous (e.g., teacher, principal, policy analyst) and current professional (e.g., researcher, professional learning facilitator, higher education leader) roles. Taken together, my teaching and advising are designed to build both confidence and competence in our emerging leaders, scholars, and practitioners.

My courses reflect my belief that learning is a shared responsibility of both the instructor and the class participants (i.e., graduate students) and there must be reciprocity in the learning relationship between the instructor and the students. Each party—instructor and students—come with personal and professional experiences, assets, and expertise that can be further developed through intentional planning, instruction, and engagement.

My course learning experiences and advising are designed to achieve five goals.

1.     Challenge graduate students to reflect critically upon taken-for-granted beliefs, assumptions, and practices regarding their leadership and engagement in the field of education.

2.     Support graduate students’ acquisition of new knowledge, perspectives, skills, and competence to enrich their understanding and leadership practice in education. This requires attention to the stages of development—from awareness and consciousness-raising to knowledge development to behavior change—needed to ensure professional growth.

3.     Promote praxis, which is the interdependence and the integration of theory with practice.

4.     Ensure transfer of learning is built into the design so that the knowledge, skills, and experiences are applicable in multiple settings immediately.

5.     Attend to student reflection, self-authorship, self-concept, previous (personal and professional) experiences, readiness to learn, orientation to learning (i.e., need for immediate application), and internal motivation to learn.

To achieve these goals, course instruction includes a mixture of critical perspectives in readings, facilitated lectures in tandem with class discussions, interactive exercises and protocols (e.g., case studies), reflection activities, invited guest presentations, individual/group assignments, and meaningful writing tasks. My advising and mentoring will be addressed further below.

In addition to my teaching, my advising and mentoring are also intentionally designed to scaffold learning and application experiences from the graduate program, provide networking opportunities, ensure the availability of supplementary materials based on individual needs for progress and development, and cultivate a community of practice among my advisees to reduce isolation and increase a sense of belonging and support. Again, similar to my approach in teaching, my advising is designed to meet students where they are in their scholarly and professional development and attend to both their educational needs and personal/professional goals.

Since my initial appointment at the University of Utah, I have chaired 53 students 41 to successful completion of either their EdD (capstone) or PhD (dissertation) and served on the committee of an additional 55 students.  The graduate students who I have chaired have gone on to roles as university faculty, district and school leaders (e.g., superintendents, associate superintendents, executive directors, school principals), university faculty, and university leaders (e.g., assistant vice provost for academic advising, associate dean, assistant vice president for undergraduate studies, associate vice president and dean of students, vice president of student affairs).