Beyond Teaching: The Self-Fulfillment of Creating a Positive and Safe Learning Environment for Children Exposed to ACEs

Due to factors such as burnout, lack of support, heavy workload, and student behavior, teachers are exiting the field for other occupations. Retention has become an issue. However, teachers are finding a sense of value and self-fulfillment for the same reasons they are leaving, which restores their outlook. This opinion paper will focus on teachers finding value in creating a positive learning environment in the classroom and creating resilience for students exposed to adverse childhood experiences at home

Winona State University Alumni Blog: 2011-2022

The Winona State University (WSU) Alumni Blog includes articles and entries from May 2011- August 2022. Note: there may be format coding in the document.https://openriver.winona.edu/wsublogs/1002/thumbnail.jp

Attending to Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Agency: Lessons from a Graduate Course on Inquiry and Advocacy

Preparing pre-service teachers to enact professional agency is both critical and challenging, given how often school district mandates and assessment practices are in conflict with what these candidates have learned and come to believe about teaching and learning. Research also suggests that agency may lead to higher retention rates among teachers. Though the literature on pre-service teachers and the development of agency is growing, the number of studies looking specifically at coursework and agency is limited. This study is an exploration pre-service teachers’ perceptions of agency before and after completing a graduate course designed to support the enactment of agency via direct instruction, research, inquiry, and advocacy. Findings show that the majority of candidates had a stronger sense of agency at the conclusion of the course. Also included is a pandemic coda, comparing course data from 2019 and 2021, and discussing the possible influence of the dual pandemics (COVID-19 and the U.S. reckoning with race) on the focus of pre-service teachers’ agentic action

Winonan

This issue of the Winonan, the Winona State University student newspaper, was published on February 7, 2024.https://openriver.winona.edu/thewinonan2020s/1037/thumbnail.jp

Winona State University Wellness Blog: 2013-2023

The Winona State University (WSU) Wellness blog includes articles and entries from February 2013-February 2023. Note: there may be format coding in the document.https://openriver.winona.edu/wsublogs/1006/thumbnail.jp

Finding the Sound: The Women of El Paso Punk Rock

Finding the Sound: The Women of El Paso Punk Rock , is a a presentation by Dr. Tara López, Assistant Professor and Director of the Ethnic Studies program. In López\u27s talk, she will shed light on how women of the El Paso punk rock scene—particularly the Chicanas that dominated punk in the mid-1990s—used music to develop a fierce set of sonic expressions and innovations. By exploring opportunities available in this popular format, López invites us to reconsider how the messages that comprise these musicworlds illuminate the wide array of Chicanas engaged in the El Paso punk scene. From girls furtively Xeroxing zines at local Kinko\u27s to mothers hiding their kids\u27 earnings when punk rock shows were busted to girls taking the stage as lead singers of central punk rock bands in the city, their activity was wide-ranging and their commitment to music and community was indefatigable. Dr. López\u27s book, Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso is forthcoming from the University of Texas Press (June 2024)

Winona State University Improving Our World Blog: 2013-2022

The Winona State University (WSU) Improving Our World Blog articles and entries from September 2013-February 2022. Note: there may be format coding in the document.https://openriver.winona.edu/wsublogs/1005/thumbnail.jp

“I’m Staying and You’re Gonna Love Me”: Finding Authentic Freedom & Fostering Belonging as Black Female Early Faculty

The purpose of this reflection is to expand the knowledge on the retention of early Black female faculty by exploring their challenges and triumphs in dismantling Whiteness and developing an authentic sense of belonging in the academy. In higher education, Black women experience marginalization at the intersection of anti-black racism and sexism. Faculty of color experience racial microaggressions, excessive workloads and service expectations, and their expertise is seldom recognized. Despite these challenges, marginalized faculty authentically persist and find a sense of belonging within the ivory tower by building mentorship relationships, departmental DEI efforts, opportunities for innovation, and cultivating Black sisterhood. This article details the experiences of two Black female speech-language pathology instructors, a third-year tenure track-academic faculty member, and a first-year clinical instructor, at a rural, Midwestern predominantly White institution. The instructor’s perspectives can be used to create culturally responsive programming for recruiting and retaining Black women in higher education

Winona State University Admissions Blog: 2012-2022

The Winona State University (WSU) Admissions Blog articles and entries from October 2012- September 2022. Note: there may be format coding in the document.https://openriver.winona.edu/wsublogs/1003/thumbnail.jp

“Teaching…will it ever be all that we want it to be?”: An exploration of preservice teachers’ views of retention

The following paper sheds a qualitative lens on beginning teacher’s realities surrounding internship and the future of their careers in education. This action research study explores ten preservice teachers during their elementary and early childhood internship semester. Each participant wrote a reflective journal entry detailing their current and emerging ideas about their own future longevity in the field of teaching. Trends in the decision to teach despite hardship, realities of work/life balance, expectations for longevity, and desire for authentic encouragement ae discussed, as well as implications for policy makers, superintendents, principals, and higher education faculty