Education Commons^™

Covid-19, Middle Level Teacher Candidates, And Colloquialisms: Navigating Emergency Remote Field Experiences, Brooke B. Eisenbach, Paula Greathouse, Caroline Acquaviva

Middle Grades Review

COVID-19 challenged teacher educators and teacher candidates in ways we could have never imagined. Colloquialisms regarding the move from educator preparation to practice shifted from common truths to dynamic considerations in light of the pandemic and transition to emergency remote teaching and learning. In this essay, we share our experiences working with middle level teacher candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identify the ways in which our teacher candidates rose to the challenge and demonstrated critical thinking, creativity and compassion beyond our prior expectations of rising middle level educators amidst a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.

Acknowledgements, The Vermont Connection Executive Board 2019-2020

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

New Connections

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

(Dis)Connection Through Language: Interrogating Buzzword Culture In Student Affairs, Arnelle Faye Sambile

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

They’Re Crying In The All-Gender Bathroom: Navigating Belonging In Higher Education While First Generation And Nonbinary, Jo D. Wilson

The Vermont Connection

Maintaining the sociocultural and interpersonal supports needed

to succeed in higher education as a first-generation student can

be very difficult due to a lack of familiarity with what brings

success. When this identity intersects with a nonbinary gender

identity, it further complicates higher education’s challenges and

may make solutions impossible to come by. My experience sits at

the intersection of these two identities and their gradual collision

and connection with success in higher education. Through this

narrative, I seek to unpack potential difficulties and nuances

for the increasingly diverse body of first generation students and

bring attention to the barriers …

Start With The Self: Modelling Constructive Self-Statements And Growing With Others, Benedicto B. Llave

The Vermont Connection

I explore in this paper the importance of starting with the self

to model constructive self-statements and create both individual

and collective healing. My intended audience within this paper

is student affairs professionals of color who exist in predominantly

white institutions (PWIs) of higher education. I ground this paper

in my lived experiences as a queer and 1st generation student

affairs graduate student of color at a PWI. Within my writing, I

detail practices that help me manifest constructive self-statements,

to share with other student affairs professionals of color to practice

healing self-statements for themselves. Lastly, I conclude with

the …

The Space They Take: Evaluating Historically White Fraternities Through Critical Race Theory, Fonda M. Heenehan

The Vermont Connection

Fraternities and sororities are not often thought of as the starting points for social justice education, especially not historically White fraternities and sororities. In this paper, I outline the missions and values of a select group of historically White fraternities to better understand the foundation from which they are starting their organization. I give an overview of Critical Race Theory (CRT) that gives context for how critical race theory can work in higher education. I conclude with recommendations for reworking historically White fraternities with a CRT lens; recommendations are written for national organizations and students, and then for professional staff …

“Raining” In Your Emotions As A Student Affairs Professional, Chantel J. Vereen

The Vermont Connection

As younger generations of student affairs professionals become

more involved in the field and aware of their mental health

identity, there appears to be a disconnect between young professionals

and those who are older and keep the state of their mental

health hidden. The author questions whether young professionals’

openness about their mental health identity lines up with the

institutional/general professional expectations for dealing with

emotional trauma in their field. In this narrative, I discuss my

understanding of how student affairs professionals encounter

tragedy while holding their own mental health wellness. I will

further delve into how professionals can feel …

Power Within. I'M New To Putting Me First, Dr. Michael R. Williams

The Vermont Connection

I’m kinda in this new space where my space is my space and I don’t care about nobody but me, only me (Samoht, 2019,0:56).

In a field that exists at the exigency of civil policymakers, tranquil institutional borders, and the revolving demand for connected- ness, I’m new to putting me first. No one is below me, but I understand the need for integrated clarity—valuing the basic needs of my existence in the workplace. In this article, I outline how social media, Hip-Hop, and non-violence communication strategies enabled me to protect my space and reduce burnout as a scholar-practitioner.

Mic Check? Mic Check! Amplifying Our Voices, Kirsty Nicole Bocado

The Vermont Connection

Content Warning: discrimination, suicidal ideation, violence

When I write about mental illness, I use the terms: disability, identity, and relationship. However, no word captures what mental illness means to me. Mental illness is somehow both a part of me and a separate, intangible entity. Every day is an exhausting struggle to live with and understand it, and during my first year of graduate school, I experienced covert ableism. This harm caused a long and tedious recovery process on top of ongoing unlearning and healing. Through recovery, I adopted the practice of “embracing the whole” of emotions, feelings, symptoms, and triggers. …

From Disconnection To Sentience: Creating Space For Practitioners Who Experience Student Death, Kevin L. Wright

The Vermont Connection

Student crises are a common issue within higher education. When a student comes to a college campus, it is the duty and responsibility of student affairs professionals to empower them and contribute to their holistic success. Unfortunately, some students fall through the cracks and the result can conclude with a student transferring to another institution, failing their classes, dropping out of college, or in a worst-case scenario, death. Working in higher education requires hard work and heart work. There is an emotional investment in the work that is produced by scholar-practitioners. When unfortunate situations occur that result in a student’s …

The Difference Between Fixing, Helping, And Serving In Higher Education And Student Affairs, Bianca Natalie Ramos

The Vermont Connection

Although student affairs professionals in this field strive towards serving students, it is common for them to fix or help students by default. In this commentary, I examine how disconnection with students can manifest in fixing and helping, while serving can embrace students’ wholeness and strengthen interconnectedness. Additionally, I explore the difference between fixing, helping, and serving in higher education and student affairs through the critical lens of Rachel Naomi Remen (1999) and my lived experiences as an emerging student affairs professional. Student affairs professionals must understand the difference between fixing, helping, and serving to acknowledge how each of these …

Developing Community Through Energy: The Impact Of Student Extracurricular Collaboration, Tiyana L. Dorsey

The Vermont Connection

Students collaborate in order to educate one another and to develop community. Students often use their own personal experiences for collaborative events in order to appeal to their fellow classmates' empathy to inspire change. Discussions centered on objective systems of oppression can be less effective than subjective experiences and require more student affairs professional assistance to create a fruitful experience. I examine two student events, Happy in a Hijab (HH) and Real Talks: The Race Thing (RTRT) to demonstrate how the discussion's subject relates to its effectiveness. I review the timeline of the events, what type of energy, and how …

Connecting Rural Students To Higher Education, Joel Ontiveros

The Vermont Connection

Rural students in the United States have a difficult time envisioning themselves at a college or university. K-12 education and culture in rural communities play a pivotal role in developing rural students’ perceptions of higher education. Additionally, guidance from college counselors, parents, and admission officers’ impacts rural students’ confidence in college attainment. These students are less likely to pursue college due to distance from higher education institutions and feeling a lack of connection. If rural students are eventually recruited, admitted, and enrolled into higher education, they must navigate obstacles in academic and student life differently from their peers. In this …

Building Resilience Through Culturally Grounded Practices In Clinical Psychology And Higher Education, Catarina Campbell, Phyu Pannu Khin

The Vermont Connection

There is no “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the process of healing, particularly for individuals who are continuously affected by the many barriers and impacts of systemic oppres- sion. This reality demands the sustained development of a praxis rooted in trauma-informed and culturally grounded care so that we may better serve our most-impacted communities (such as Black, Indigenous and People of Color [BIPOC], disability, queer, and survivor communities). As practitioners in the fields of Clinical Psychology and Higher Education, we engage in cross-disciplinary analysis so that we may amplify and share our tools for collective healing. …

Both/And: Self-Authoring A Feminist Christian Identity, Molly M. Williams

The Vermont Connection

This article is my attempt to make sense of the conflicting, confusing, tumultuous journey of making peace with my religion and my commitment to social justice, particularly feminism. I frame my journey using Baxter Magolda’s (2001) model of self-authorship, connecting the development of my religious and gender identities to the learning, questioning, and eventual personalization of external messages. I weave Baxter Magolda’s model, my narrative, and existing scholarship together to present a framework by which self-authorship can be applied to understand the needs of a young woman experiencing spiritual struggle within Christianity. I then consider the limitations of such a …

Are Asian Americans Poc? Examining Impact Of Higher Education Identity-Based Policies And Practices, Janelle Raymundo

The Vermont Connection

Asian Americans may not be considered “people of color” (POC) in higher education because of stereotypes of Asian Americans such as the model minority myth. White supremacy creates a racial hierarchy that creates a misperception that Asian Americans are not marginalized compared to other POC in order to cause strife among all racial minority groups. In higher education, this racial hierarchy manifests through exclusionary practices in diversity programming, recruitment, and admissions that can lead to the disconnection of Asian Americans from the rest of the POC community. Issues regarding affirmative action and the recent Harvard lawsuit are salient examples that …

An Act Of Courage: Providing Space For African American Graduate Students To Express Their Feelings Of Disconnectedness, Dr Frederick V. Engram Jr

The Vermont Connection

The purpose of this article is to discuss the lived experiences of African American graduate students (master’s level) enrolled at a predominantly white institution (PWI). I explore the experiences of graduate students lacking connection to their institution. I will also explore how institutional and systemic racism impact creating a space for African American graduate students to persist. I examine how persistence allows for these students to complete their degrees and feel a sense of connectedness to the institution. I will use the television (TV) series A Different World and The Quad to draw comparison and contrast to African American students’ …

The Transformative Power Of Embracing The Whole, Brian Arao

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned And Unlearned On The Journey Towards Embracing My Full Self, Rosemary J. Perez

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.

Executive Board Editors' Note, Brie L. Hornig, Laura M. Aguilera

The Vermont Connection

No abstract provided.