Medford, Franklin

Robyn, Elisa

Rumfelt, Janet L.

English

epublications@Marquette

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 46 Article 12September 2014"Leading Lives That Matter": A Classroom-Centered Approach to Mission Integration forPosttraditional LearnersJanet L. RumfeltFranklin MedfordElisa RobynFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationRumfelt, Janet L.; Medford, Franklin; and Robyn, Elisa (2014) ""Leading Lives That Matter": A Classroom-Centered Approach toMission Integration for Posttraditional Learners," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 46, Article 12.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol46/iss1/12Conversations 23Jesuit universities and collegesall share the same challengesof integrating mission valuesinto the experiences of ourstudents. These challengesinclude finding the right cur-ricular vehicles, providingfaculty with a well-designedorientation to our Jesuit, Catholicidentity and aspirations, and linkingclassroom content with cocurricularexperiences, such as service learning,community-based engagement, andinternational immersions. But thesechallenges are magnified with post-traditional adult learners – that is, stu-dents over 25 who may also be bal-ancing work and family responsibili-ties – as they pursue degrees in accel-erated learning formats, diverse aca-demic term options, and, particularly,online coursework. These students often have full-time jobs and family commitments,and as a consequence, they lack thetime to participate in cocurricularopportunities, campus ministry pro-grams, and other mission activities.Online learners often face additionalconstraints due to geography. Adultlearners typically come to this phase oftheir higher education experienceswith varied educational, religious, andpersonal backgrounds, and a higherpercentage of them are first-generationcollege students, which may providebenefits such as resiliency and a clearcareer goals, but they often face finan-cial and familial challenges. Regis University has grappledwith these issues for many years inboth our College for ProfessionalStudies and our College for HealthProfessions, both of which haveinvested considerable energy intostrategies for incorporating Jesuit mis-sion values into curricular offerings.We recognize that the classroom,whether online or on-ground, mustbe the place where mission integra-tion takes place for working adults.Efforts have included redesigningcore curriculum courses, such as reli-gious studies and philosophy, to fitthe needs and experiences of posttra-ditional learners, incorporating serv-ice-learning opportunities into cap-stone courses, and preparing facultyserving these learners to redesigncourses with Jesuit mission themes.While these efforts were success-ful, we also recognized the need tobroaden our strategic approach. Weneeded to respond not only to theneeds of adult learners but also tothose of learners who had alreadyfulfilled core requirements at com-munity colleges and were thereforenot enrolling in the core course “Leading LivesThat Matter”A Classroom-CenteredApproach toMissionIntegration forPosttraditionalLearnersBy Janet L. Rumfelt, Franklin Medford, and Elisa RobynJanet Rumfelt is associate professor of liberal arts at Regis University.Franklin Medford is chair and assistant professor of liberal arts atRegis University. Elisa Robyn is deanof the school of humanities andsocial sciences at Regis University.1Rumfelt et al.: "Leading Lives That Matter": A Classroom-Centered Approach to MisPublished by e-Publications@Marquette,24 Conversationspreviously redesigned to infuse Jesuit values. At thesame time, the online student population was growing,and their geographical distance required new avenuesfor mission integration. This challenged us to rethink our strategy and askwhere Jesuit values “live” in our curriculum. If not in ourcore, then where? In response to these questions, wedeveloped a required undergraduate course that allowedfor focused reflection on values fundamental to Jesuiteducation – a strategy that made economic sense forfinancially strapped students unable to take a series ofnew requirements and one that accommodated the busyschedules of learners with little time for contemplation. This course, Humanities 366: Leading Lives ThatMatter, is based on Jesuit educational principles anddraws directly from the Spiritual Exercises. It was desig-nated a humanities course in order to provide accessiblepathways into the content without respect to religiousbackground. The course had to be taken at Regis – inother words, it could not be transferred in – and, bymandate, it would be among the first four Regis coursestaken by the student. These two requirements ensuredthat all learners would have a facility with Jesuit valuesthat could be further enhanced as they moved throughtheir coursework. In order to develop this course, the curriculum com-mittee, composed of interdisciplinary humanities faculty,developed a classroom-centered approach to missionintegration. They provided learners with a solid intro-duction to Jesuit values through the cultivation of aspace (either virtual or on-ground) that allowed learnersto reflect on how these values shaped their lives andtheir learning experiences. The end product was coursecontent that coalesced around thecentral question of what it meansto lead a meaningful life.Consistent with the principlesof adult learning undertaken in anIgnatian key, the course openswith learners narrating a personallife experience and, in doing so,exploring how telling a personalstory can facilitate the contempla-tion of meaning in one’s life. Theyreflect on the stories they are cur-rently writing and on the ways inwhich their stories can bereshaped and retold. This is anespecially important exercisesince many of our learners arereturning to college, finding anew career path, recovering fromdivorce, and experiencing othersignificant life transitions.Learners go on to explore therelationship between morality andmeaning and to ask how their identity – cultural, familial,psychological – and their experiences of suffering haveshaped their sense of life’s meaning. They focus on themeaning of work and vocation, as well as the differencesbetween the two, and ask how tradition – whether reli-gious, cultural, or familial – shapes meaning in their lives.Finally, through investigating opportunities for servicelearning, they can explore how their personal gifts mightbe used for a greater good. In addition to the required course readings (amongother things, Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass’s editedvolume Leading Lives that Matter), each section of thecourse is infused with a video introduction, followed bya discussion, to the six values that are central to Jesuiteducation at Regis: cura personalis, magis, men andwomen for others, unity of heart and mind, contempla-tives in action, and finding God (or the sacred) in allthings. These videos were filmed at a location recogniz-able as the Regis campus and are one example of howcourse content can bridge the gap between distancelearners and the campus. The final learning activity in the course requireslearners to renarrate their autobiographical narrative inlight of what they have learned and to reflect on howthis revised story differs from their first narrative.After taking Humanities 366, learners are exposed toJesuit values infused across the curriculum, most espe-cially in the required senior capstone that also focusesattention on the kinds of issues raised above.Additionally, we developed an online learning commu-nity to complement Humanities 366, providing studentswith a more informal, self-directed environment inwhich to continue the conversations begun in class. ■Regis University.2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 46, Iss. 1 [], Art. 12http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol46/iss1/12

Leading Lives That Matter : A Classroom-Centered Approach to Mission Integration for Posttraditional Learners

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Leading Lives That Matter : A Classroom-Centered Approach to Mission Integration for Posttraditional Learners

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