Like Father Like Son: The Kids Are All Right

Many teachers (adults) are ready to criticize students (young people) for misbehaving and for their lack of motivation. The authors help us to look at ourselves as adults to realize that we are no different than our students (young people). We seem to expect students to be better people than we are. We seem to expect them to live that life that we could not and cannot live. We seem to forget how life was for us when we were students. The following statement will get all of us to rethink the way we view our students: “In reality, we are much more like our students than we care to acknowledge. Who among us can say they have read all of the recent journals in their field, have never submitted a less than perfect manuscript or grant proposal, have never procrastinated on a project, have never missed a deadline, have never been late to class, have never skipped a meeting, or have not paid astute attention while a speaker provided information? If you have any doubt about this last one, I urge you to look around the room during your next faculty meeting to see how many of your colleagues are otherwise occupied.” Are we any different than our students? This is really something to think about. This article can help us to better parent as well.
Here is the article “The Kids Are All Right”: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/28/lewandowski

Maintaining & Modeling Everyday Ethics in Student Affairs

The title of chapter 9 summarizes very well all three chapters. Chapter 10 discusses professional standards which I would describe as whether or not a program is credible. Credibility is closely associated with ethics. Chapter 11 deals with professional associations for student affairs. I believe these associations will aid in getting the appropriate resources to follow the mission of student affairs. All three chapters can be summarized in two words: “professional integrity.”
As professionals, we must act and deal with students and individuals within our circle with integrity. Students are looking for role models and adults want to be sure that the individuals who are servicing their children are professional and ethical at the same time. Standards, as unpopular as they can be, provide the framework by which professionals in student services should strive for. These standards also set the stage for commonalities among professionals or provide measurable outcomes which in turn can be called instruments to measure the strength of professional integrity.
The reading also provides a long list of professional associations within higher education and especially in the area of student affairs. In the future, I can turn to the list as a resource. We are called to be more than just professional but to serve with integrity. To serve with integrity, I believe, requires a lot of dedication, preparation, and a lifelong of professional growth.