INTRODUCTION

A fundamental component of my definition of Self includes the cluster of concepts that comprise my teaching identity. I am proud to be a teacher. I re-invent myself over and over again into "new and improved" varieties of teacher. I am, presently, a transpersonal teacher, and as such consider myself “....a steersman, a catalyst, a facilitator -- an agent of learning...” .

I have and continue to extend my role as a teacher into a broader, more complex learning environment -- the so-called "client community" -- merging my identity as a transpersonal teacher with another important component of my self-definition – an agent of social change.

I am as much concerned with the transformation of the client community as I am with the intellectual, social and personal development -- personal transformations -- of my students. And in my own progressive re-inventions (transformations), I have shifted my respective teaching and social action paradigms -- letting me know that I was partially right before, and I am a bit more partially right today!

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

I am presently an Associate Professor, Senior in the School of Education and have been in this rank since 1996. In this position I am responsible for teaching the introductory lower division education courses, Introduction to Education (EDF 1005); American Education in Transition, EDF 2060; Introduction to Exceptional Education, EEX 2000, Teaching Diverse Populations, and EDG 2701 as well as Introduction to Instructional Technology, EME 2040. I also teach upper division general methods courses. These are: Human Development and Learning, EDF 3111 and Classroom Management and Communication, EDG3410. (See performance reviews/faculty self-evaluations)
I am Honors College certified and certified as well in clinical supervision, which enables me to supervise interns doing practicum and student teaching in the four-year degree program. I am a faculty registrar and have and continue to recruit, train, and help to retain traditional students, educationally disadvantaged students and students from underrepresented groups in higher education, in pre-service teacher education and training programs, and in the baccalaureate degree program in education here at the college. I have been responsible for giving pre-teaching interns a complimentary mix of introductory theoretical content and opportunities to apply that theory in the form of developmental teaching behaviors and competencies performed under supervision in realistic, formal learning environments. These may be pursued on a volunteer basis or in partial fulfillment of course requirements. (See performance reviews/faculty self-evaluations)

I have been responsible for creating and maintaining educational outreach components for each of my educational courses, including opportunities for students to volunteer under supervision in numerous Dade County Public Schools. In addition, I continue to articulate pre-service teacher training and education efforts as well as supervise interns in the bachelor's degree program at several Miami-Dade County Public Schools. (See performance reviews/faculty self-evaluations)

I regularly review and assess college/university instructional delivery systems in several education courses I model "best practices" in my own approach to teaching and learning, a broad rubric which includes "Transpersonal Education" pedagogies, developmentally appropriate practices, variable multi-sensory and multicultural/diversity/anti-bias teaching styles and authentic assessment approaches to facilitate and support student learning. These strategies are applied particularly in educationally disadvantaged, marginal and nontraditional students and/or students from underrepresented groups. Over the past several years, I have become a leading innovator in educational technology as applied to instructional delivery including a near paperless classroom. Since August 2000, I have created for student use a central online home site for all of my classes [faculty.mdc.edu/jmcnair/indexa.htm], containing topic outlines for each class I teach, links to all my syllabi, to all required online readings and to my learning management system, WebCt. Students are enrolled in WebCt and submit all of their written assignments, take their tests online, and communicate with me and each other through e-mail and message boards. At the end of the course, each student publishes a website on a rewritable compact disk [CD-RW] which contains all of his/her written work (reflections and assignments), tests, articles read and downloaded, evaluations of teacher and field experiences. This is submitted as a digital portfolio. (See performance reviews/faculty self-evaluations)

I am an Alliance + Saavy Cyber Teacher trainer working with Community College Faculty and K-12 teachers helping them use the internet in the classroom. The Alliance + Saavy Cyber Teacher training program is a “professional development project that prepares teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum in innovative ways that enhance student learning and support higher levels of achievement, Alliance+ unites the expertise of 35 state, local, and higher education partners and builds on a training model that has been proven through extensive experience in the state of New Jersey and successful adaptation as a demonstration phase program implemented in Cleveland (OH), Phoenix (AZ), and Miami (FL). The project addresses three key professional development needs shared by the participating states of Arizona, Florida, and Ohio. These include the need to:

Enhance and support student learning in core content areas;
Improve teacher content knowledge across the curriculum;
Provide leadership through a network of locally-distributed peer experts.
Alliance+Saavy Cyber Teacher [URL] http://k12science.org/alliance/ overview/background.html

In addition, I taught five semesters of EDG5325, the required graduate course for all new Miami Dade College faculty sponsored by Florida International University. This course was designed to ensure that Miami Dade College faculty was exposed to theory and best practices for effective community college teaching. Faculty were exposed to many of the innovations mentioned above, including the writing of reflective journal entries and uploading them into WebCt, online testing and the use of chat rooms and message boards. These innovations are proven strategies to engage students, give them control over their learning, encourage them to become self-regulated learners and thus ensure their academic success. (See Attached)
I have created and implemented since 1999 several alternative approaches to traditional college instructional delivery systems including "state of the art" coordinated studies learning communities, the G.E.M.S program and the “Reading and General Methods Cohort” with Melinda Prague during the initial semester of the baccalaureate program and an honors college linked course learning community with honors College education majors, all with great success. A synopsis of one of these, the Great Expectations of Mentors and Students (G.E.M.S) Learning Community is described below:

The Great Expectations of Mentors and Students (G.E.M.S) Learning Community: A Coordinated Studies Model was offered over four semesters 1999-1, 2, 3 and 4. The G.E.M.S Learning Community evolved from a simple linked courses-specific cohort prototype to a coordinated studies model. The intent of the G.E.M.S program, the initiative that engendered the learning community was to facilitate the retention of underrepresented groups in higher education and to authentically prepare pre-teaching/human resource development students for service in their respective fields. Like all learning community models, the G.E.M.S. program was a curricular structure which linked together "...several existing courses ...so that students have opportunities for deeper understanding and integration of material they are learning and more interaction with one another and their teachers as fellow participants in the learning enterprise...."(Anderson, 1990 p. 19)

The G.E.M.S program coordinated study learning community model provided students and faculty alike the opportunity to be fully engaged in active, interactive and interdisciplinary learning around broad themes and sub themes. It provided the opportunity to experience learning as an integrative and intensely intellectual, emotional and personal experience. It, in addition, provided opportunities for faculty to plan and team teach a unified body of material over an extended period of time.

The G.E.M.S. learning community model was organized around the following theme: Reinventing American Culture: Perspectives of Inclusion. It was team-taught by three (3) instructors from the disciplines of education, history/sociology and English (writing). Students were enrolled in twelve credit hour units which constitute for most a full academic load. Course combinations typically included at least one education class (EDF 1005, EDF 2060, EEX 2000, EDG 2943 and EDG 2701), one or more history/sociology classes (ISS 1120, ISS 1160, AMH 2020, AMH 2035 and AMH 2091) and/or one English reading/writing class (REA 0010, ENC 0021, ENC 1101, 1102, 2301).

Classes met twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, four hours a day from 9:00a.m. to 1:00p.m, with an additional three to six (3-6) hours per week of educational outreach activities. Direct instruction and planned in class and/or extra-classroom learning activities were presented in a mix of plenary and small group environments flexibly scheduled throughout the instructional period. All faculty members were present and participating during the entire instructional period.

The experiment was a great success with a majority of the students completing their A.A. and A.S. degrees from Miami Dade and continuing and completing their baccalaureate degree. Many have kept in regular contact with all three faculty involved.

In the summer of 2003 I co-chaired, with a colleague, Dr. Melinda Prague, a faculty curriculum committee responsible for building curricula, standard folios, task descriptions/artifacts for the School of Education's Four Year Degree Program. In this role, I was responsible (along with a small group of faculty specialists) for designing the six baccalaureate degree programs in teacher education. I was personally responsible for establishing a structure for assessing student progress toward meeting Florida Educator Accomplished practices.
I was personally responsible for writing Standards 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the initial 8 Standards required for program approval. A Standard serves as the decision-making point for initial program approval or recertification. The state of Florida requires programs of teacher education to prepare and address 19 such Standards. During an institutional review for initial certification, folios addressing compliance with Standards 1-8 are required for each new teacher education program certification along with an institutional report addressing the remaining Standards. Each Standard comes with a rationale and a set of decision-making questions that the College [through the writer of the Standard] must address to comply program approval requirements. These decision-making questions are used by review team members as guides to reach a “met” or “not met” decision for each Standard.

Standard 2 addressed the issue of essential teacher competencies and behaviors fostered by the teacher education program. The decision-making questions were:

Has the program effectively used input from school practitioners in program design?
Has the program effectively used the professional literature in program design?
Has the program effectively used national standards/guidelines in program design?

In addition to answering each of these questions, I had to provide supporting data for the assertions made to assist the reviewers in making the judgment that standard had been met.
Standard 4 addressed whether the teacher education program curricular offerings provided sufficient opportunity to learn and practice appropriate theories, concepts, and strategies required of all Florida educators, as defined in the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices and all other appropriate State mandated program content and delivery components. The decision-making questions were:

Are courses and experiences sufficient for students to learn and practice each of the Educator Accomplished Practices?
Are courses and experiences sufficient for students to learn and demonstrate other requirements specified in Rule 6A-5.066 (3)(b)1., 2., 3., F.A.C.?
Are state-mandated requirements adequately implemented and monitored?

As in Standard 2, the provision of supporting data was required.
Standard 5 addressed whether teacher education program curricular offerings assured competence in teaching in subject matter at the grade level(s) for which the teacher is being prepared. The decision-making questions for this Standard were:

Are courses and experiences sufficient to assure competence in teaching the subject matter based on the Florida Subject Matter Content Standards (or the Florida Adopted Subject Area Competencies in cases where no Content Standards have been identified by the Education Standards Commission)? Do they include at least 30 semester hours in the area of specialization and a clinical program providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate content mastery in an instructional setting?
Are courses and experiences sufficient to assure competence in teaching the subject matter at the grade levels for which certification is being sought?
Are courses and experiences sufficient to assure that candidates are prepared to implement the Florida Sunshine State Standards in their K-12 setting?

Again, supporting data was required and provided.

Standard 6 addressed whether the teacher education program's instructional delivery system facilitated competency acquisition in the professional and specialization areas. The decision questions were:

Are education courses well-planned?
Does the program consist of a cohesive set of courses and experiences?
Are a sufficient and appropriate variety of instructional strategies used to model best teaching practices?

Supporting evidence for Standard 6 was required and provided.

Standard 7 addressed whether teacher education program students participated in a planned series of clinical experiences, which included a progressive set of experiences beginning early in the program and culminating with the final internship; which gives students the opportunity to demonstrate the attainment of competencies and is well-monitored and supervised on-site. The decision-making questions were:

Is the set of clinical and field-based experiences well-planned?
Does the set of clinical and field-based experiences provide for an adequate progression of experiences?
Are students afforded adequate opportunity to demonstrate competency acquisition?
Are field experiences well-monitored?

As in all of the other Standards, supporting data was required and provided.

In addition to writing these standards, I wrote the course descriptions, competencies and syllabi for the general methods classes, EDF 3111 and EDG3410 which are still in use in the program. I also wrote the descriptions, competencies and internship syllabi for the Exceptional Education degree program, advised on the development of the other professional core courses, and adapted 44 task assignments and descriptions for achieving the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices for inclusion in our program.

Members of the faculty committee, including its co-chairs, spent countless hours, including late nights and weekends, over and above our required duties and responsibilities to create a baccalaureate program representative of the college's mission and to the ideals of excellence to which we all ascribe. It is clear that without our efforts, the program would not have been approved. The baccalaureate program received full certification by the state in 2005.

I regularly conduct School of Education Bachelor of Science in Education certification seminars for college faculty wishing to teach in the four-year degree program. Seminars include presenting and explaining Florida Educator Accomplished Practices, “What are Learning Communities?”, and adapting 44 task assignments and descriptions for achieving the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices for inclusion in our program.

The foregoing only begins to suggest my own motivation to be an excellent Miami Dade College faculty, my ability to motivate others, my interpersonal skills, my knowledge base and the application of that knowledge base. The following paragraphs expand on these qualities and characteristics.

MOTIVATION

What motivates me as a transpersonal teacher is my belief and faith in the power of transformation. What excites and compels me to teaching excellence, to re-invention, is witnessing the non-linear, quantum jumps in a student’s awareness, especially when I know that I have played a small part in facilitating the same. I am intrinsically rewarded when I detect in my students the emergence of what Kuhn calls "paradigms," or personal ways of looking at things. I am particularly gratified when I see these paradigms expand or shift because I know that I am looking upon the “face” of transformation.

According to Harrison Owen, learning, in one of its many characterizations has been described as nothing less than the evolution of consciousness. It would seem, then, that the central role of a learning community (and particularly a college) is to facilitate that growth in consciousness, both in the individuals involved and in the culture of that community -- what we might call the "organization consciousness."

IThe bits and pieces of learning e.g. bodies of knowledge, skills and attitudes require a context. That context is the state or level of consciousness achieved by the learning community and the individuals involved. Growth in consciousness, at the individual and at the organizational level, is nothing less than transformation. To facilitate this growth of consciousness:

I motivate my students by first establishing rapport and resonance.(1)
I learn their names, and am able to call all of them by name in class and out. They telephone, email and or visit me regularly.
It is important to me that they know that I remember what it means to be a student and that I have a sympathetic understanding of their “predicament.”
I m accessible to them, often performing multiple roles as counselor, registrar, friend and confidant.
I make course content rich and significant.
I challenge them emotionally as well as intellectually. (1)
I attempt to connect course content with my understanding of the “felt” personal, social and psychological needs of my students, in effect placing those needs at the center of my curriculum. When my students realize that they can meet some (if not all) of their needs by learning the course curricula, their interest in course curricula elevates.
My instructional delivery draws out unspoken needs, conflicts, hopes and fears. While respecting their opinions, autonomy and privacy, I encourage them to articulate the urgent questions of the course, and of their lives if they choose to do so, rather than exclusively demanding right answers.
I encourage my students to evaluate my classes and me as a part of their reflective practice.

I have developed, implemented and improved upon instructional strategies rooted in a belief system that is consistent with “best” teaching practices and the expanding body of constructivist/transpersonal knowledge.

I give each of my students the opportunity to assess themselves with simple instruments (1),(1a), (2),(2a) (3),(3a), (4), (4a),(5), (5a),(6),(6a), (7),(7a),(8),(8a), (9), (9a) either at the beginning of the course or at strategic points through out the course to reveal their respective learning styles, hemispheric dominance, core beliefs and values and their areas of interest. Based upon the results of these instruments, I can modify (if I choose) my course content to conform to class profiles.

My teaching strategies encompass a range of techniques including traditional lecture/demonstration, story-telling, instructional conversation, various cooperative/collaborative learning techniques including small group discussions, internet search and inquiry, telecollaboratives, collaborative examinations, reflective journals, individual and group projects and presentations. I employ extensive, multicontextual and ongoing assessments including on-line quizzes (1), (2), (3), daily reflections (1) and digital portfolios (1), (2) (3), (4), providing (or eliciting from) the student something more than the usual psychometric criteria to evaluate performance, feedback, and opportunities to reflect on his or her performance throughout the learning process.

KNOWLEDGE BASE

A knowledge base is typically a collection of data or facts organized in such a way that it can produce information from which more valuable knowledge can be produced. My knowledge base is derived from educational preparation, training and real life experiences over the past fifty years. Relevant to this narrative:

I have a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Planning (with specialization in curriculum and instruction) from University of San Francisco/Antioch College University Without Walls Program. I have a lifetime teaching credential in elementary/secondary (K-9) education in the State of California. I have held administrative (supervision) credentials in the state of California. I have completed several postgraduate classes in leadership, analysis of teaching and multicultural education at the University of Miami, Florida International University, and Florida Atlantic University. I have completed graduate studies at the Holocaust Institute for Educators at Florida State University. I have completed the Alliance+ training in Educational technology.

My areas of expertise include:

Behaviorist, Constructivist and “Transpersonal Education” pedagogies,
Developmentally appropriate practices,
Variable multisensory and multicultural/diversity/anti-bias teaching styles
Authentic assessment approaches to facilitate and support student learning particularly in educationally disadvantaged, marginal and nontraditional students and/or students from underrepresented groups
Alternative approaches to traditional college instructional delivery systems including a “state of the art” coordinated studies learning communities, use of internet and computer based technology as a major strategy of instructional delivery.
am an accomplished power user of both the Macintosh and the IBM PC platforms. I create and or alter test banks for my instructional use as well as a full array of documents for instructional purposes. I am proficient in all standard word processing programs, three (3) spread sheets, five (5) paint and draw programs as well as the Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop, Page Mill, Microsoft FrontPage and Power Point and Macromedia Dreamweaver and Flash programs. I am also an Alliance Trainer
Professional development school (PDS) partnerships between Miami-Dade Community College, several south Florida universities, Dade County Public Schools and several Volunteer and Advocacy Social Service provider agencies. (1)
Graduate of Holocaust studies at Florida State University, Holocaust Institute
Being a highly sought after speaker, facilitator, presenter. (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7)

Experientially, I am currently or a former

I regularly conduct, provide or have provided

APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE BASE

At Miami Dade College I have earned the rank of Associate Professor, Senior. My faculty role over the past thirteen years of employment, as stated previously, has included teaching college courses and training pre-teaching interns, and has extended beyond the classroom to recruit and help to retain traditional students, educationally disadvantaged students and students from underrepresented groups in higher education in pre-service teacher education and training programs at Miami-Dade Community College, North Campus. In the specific applications of my knowledge base as demanded by my employment role and by my commitment to teaching and learning, I have:

Provided pre-teaching interns a complimentary mix of introductory theoretical content (1), (2) and opportunities to demonstrate the same in the form of developmental teaching behaviors and competencies performed under supervision in field experiences conducted in realistic formal learning environments (The AGAPE ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT CENTER, 1991-1995 (1) and The I HAVE A DREAM Program in collaboration with Miami-Dade Public Schools 1995-1999) (1), (2), (3) whether on a volunteer basis or in partial fulfillment of course requirements.
Articulated preservice teacher training and education efforts at MDCC-North and several south Florida universities and continue to work to establish and maintain professional development school (PDS) partnerships between Miami-Dade Community College, North Campus, several south Florida universities, Dade County Public Schools and several Volunteer and Advocacy Social Service provider agencies.
Modeled “best practices” in my own approaches to teaching and learning (1) (2)
Written two (2) college textbooks (Personal Transformations: The Practice Of Multicultural Awareness/Consciousness [1996/Revised 1998] revisions and Individuals in Society: Social Science in the Twenty first Century [1996/Revised1998] as well as several artistic works.
Become an innovator in technological interventions applied to instructional delivery including a near paperless classroom, including creating and maintaining several websites. (1) (2)

As a result of several knowledge base applications to my instructional deliver system, student output and the quality of student work in my classes are at all time highs due to the improvements I have made in my instructional delivery. It is fair to say that few if any of my colleagues demand as much or get the kinds of responses that I get from students in any given class. Yet the work is designed in such a way to treat a wide variety of learning styles, a broad range of academic skills, habits, and value sets, and ensure that each student has a more than fair chance for success in the class. My students are routinely the most computer literate students outside of specialized computer and compugraphic classes. They have routinely extended their learning resources to include the whole of the world wide web to supplement text and materials that I may have prepared for them. Indeed, they must prepare for every class period by bringing in pertinent (and notated) research e.g. articles, and citings, to augment their understanding of subject matter. My students communicate with me by e-mail. They receive instructions and assignments from me and submit assignments to me by the same medium. They regularly communicate with each other using the same medium and web-based chat rooms.. They form permanent collaborative learning groups to help them successfully complete the large volume of work that is only possible with collaboration and effective computer literacy. All of this can be authenticated by a review of their performance portfolios which each student of mine must produce and submit at the end of each course.

My students write weekly reflections on what they have learned in each class period or what they have read as a part of regular course assignments. They can use this evaluative devise to develop ideas, ask questions or express their heartfelt opinions and positions about subject matter studied. They have also used this devise as a way to communicate their concerns about personal issues affecting not only their studies but their lives as well. The majority of my students attest to this in the written evaluations they submit to me at the end of each of my classes.

I am pleased to report the completion of the transition of all my classes to the almost paperless classroom. All of my students demonstrate proficiency in requisite computer applications and competencies to perform most tests and assignments online. This has freed up class time for more intense and focused student teach interactions. I believe, personally, that I am at the top of my “game” pedagogically; that I am enjoying teaching more than at any other time in my professional career, and that my student performances reflect the same. Outside of the classroom I am engaged in an enriched and totally rewarding cycle of professional growth which expand my knowledge base. In the specific applications other than those already mentioned, I :

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

My attitude toward my students and professional colleagues has been described as professional, positive and supportive. I work hard to make student and colleague alike comfortable when they are around me and, above all, to treat them with the same respect I demand for my self. I enjoy warm, longstanding relationships with fellow faculty, staff and administration. Positive interactions with colleagues include collaborating on curricula, writing folios, standards and syllabi, providing and receiving information on teaching and evaluation methods and, sometimes, just "being there" for colleagues in crises. I provide support and feedback to faculty members as a union representative in such capacities as representing them on the UFMDC bargaining team to representing individual faculty in interactions and corrective interventions involving administration. Many of these relationships have been strengthened by my involvement as a facilitator in at least five Master Teacher Seminars, as the instructor of EDG 5325, a course all new faculty must take to get continuing contract or take for continuing education credit, coordinator of the Zone School Volunteer initiative, President of the local MDC Chapter of Council of Black American Affairs, President of College-wide College Academic & Student Support Council, Vice President of UFMDC at North Campus and other such activities.

I am considered a "go to" person when it comes to planning programs and initiatives. In programs that affect me directly, such as my role in facilitating the accreditation of the School of Education baccalaureate program, the coordinated studies learning community, the paperless classroom, or the mentoring of adjunct faculty requiring enrichment in technological skills, I am well-regarded as a co-contributor, mentor and friend.

I attend, and contribute to course, program, and school of education meetings and activities, and have served on a number of campus and college-wide committees by appointment and election. I have collaborated with colleagues on the following committees: The Faculty Commission (which created the college-wide and campus College Academic & Student Support Councils), College-Wide Endowed Chair Committees, National Advisory Board for the Center of Urban Education (FIU), Foundation for Democracy in Africa Advisory Board, UFMDC Commission of Faculty Evaluation, UFMDC Commission of Four Year Degree Program, Co-coordinator of School of Education's committee to prepare folios for state accreditation of the baccalaureate degree in education, and the College-wide College Academic & Student Support Council (CASSC), to name just a few.

Although I challenge some of my students with my insistence on rigor, hard work and technological proficiency, I work at imparting my care for each of them and their welfare, as well as my passion for teaching and learning in the learning climate I create for them and in all of my interactions with them. I have already described in the foregoing section my relationship with my students. A visit to my classes will reveal a bond between students and their professor that is palpable. Many of them trust me with much more than their education. They realize that what they are getting in these classes is much more than “chalk and talk” or an excessive amount of homework, but an opportunity to participate in life-changing even transformative experiences. My students are quite articulate in talking about their respective paradigms and paradigm shifts or how they choose to respond to the challenges life presents to them. They recognize that they do have choices and that those choices when they make them can change their lives.

My experience here at Miami Dade College, with these students and with my faculty and administrative colleagues has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my professional life. If there is anything about this experience that stands out, it is that the people and the environment have allowed me grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. I have become over my fifteen years at the College expert in creating learning climates and environments that accommodate different ways of learning. I have expanded my knowledge and deepened my understanding of the powerful and compelling ideas of my discipline and the principles of learning that ensure student success. I have become proficient in stimulating intellectual curiosity both in my students and in my colleagues. My skills at developing affective educational programs are at their zenith. I am an excellent Miami Dade faculty and am proud to be associated with this institution and the people that make this College excellent.