Middle Institute SP 2017 Blog post II
Based on the research and readings, what makes a strong advisory program? What would this look like in practice.
From the readings and my experience in class it seems that what makes a strong advisory program is the length at which the advisory program goes to support its students. During this tumultuous time for adolescents what they need most is a sense of self worth and peacefulness and through strong support that is what middle educators must strive to provide through their advisory programs. Advisers must do their best to get to know and understand their students to provide effective support as well. In practice, this would require the learning institution to ensure it dedicated enough time for it’s faculty to advise and meet with students. For the educators working with students this means they have to do their best to make personal connections and deeper understanding with their students. Doing so will help educators understand the student’s perspective and will provide educators with further insight on how to most effectively teach to all of their students needs.
Hello Patrick,
ReplyDeleteBeing able to ensure that students feel a level of self worth is essential for an advisory program in my opinion. I had a tale of two middle schools growing up. My first middle school had an advisory program where it was clear the teachers had no direction and were not trained on how to make an advisory meaningful. The second advisory I had pushed us into choosing electives that would allow us to make a community level difference. When we would have our advisory time, our advisor would have us reflect on our electives and what we have accomplished, and he would make connections for us. Though it would have been nice to have community service incorporated directly into the advisor program, this reflection and community service we had in our electives made us feel self worth and importance, which a lot of middle schoolers lack.
Hi Patrick, Reading your reflection is very uplifting and empowering for teachers. I think we all wish we could make those important personal connections that you are talking about. The tricky part is that whoever is "assigned" to you in your advisory won't always be someone that you can make that kind of connection with...or, worse yet, you might get a kid that you can make connections with, but he/she does not have any interest in making connections. So my question is, what happens then? How can schools provide professional development or training around such an obscure topic because each kid that "refuses" to make connections will be different and will have different reasons for their refusal. On the flip side- some teachers take it too far and become too friendly with these kids. They end up oversharing about their lives or becoming "friends" on facebook. All of this crosses a lot of professional boundaries that are unacceptable. Teachers have to dig deep and get "personal" which is MUCH easier said than done. Teachers need to be trained in how to approach all situations.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate you highlighting the importance of advisory supporting the development of "a sense of self worth and peacefulness and through strong support". This is the key to a successful advisory. Yet, as Jess pointed out above, this is not necessarily something that is natural for all educators and it is essential that educators receive support and training.
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