Edd4

=Andy Mork= Directions: To enter text click Edit this Page, enter text, and Save. I will create additional pages as needed. Please start your entry with the following information.
 * Dr. Andy Mork, Technology Integration Specialist Coach for the School District of Superior, Wisconsin
 * Graduation Date: May 21, 2011
 * Name of Course: Leadership within the Doctorate Program, I was in EdD5
 * Title of Dissertation: Exploring Leadership in Schools with a Social Justice and Equity Mission


 * capacity to encourage students to actively reflect on their personal growth, pedagogical approaches, and professional practice;

One clear memory that I have of working with Dr. Johnson on my dissertation are of the moments when she requested, "Andy, I need to know what you are thinking about what I have commented on." I believe in the power of reflection, but can also recognize that reflection alone does not lead to change, progress, or learning. Dr. Johnson's facilitation and leadership through the dissertation process demonstrate her understanding of the importance of reflection and its potential as a catalyst for action and change. During the courses she facilitated in the EdD 5 program, she always challenged us to synthesize our own themes and questions from readings and class discussions to then use as springboards for reflection. Both of my examples illustrate Dr. Johnson's belief in constructivist learning, that we can only learn when we start with our existing knowledge as a base. She never just gave us simple questions to reflect upon, it was about generating our own questions, reflecting upon those, and coming up with new understandings.
 * skill in successfully measuring student learning, interpreting data, and using results for continuous program improvement;

I can remember clear examples from the classes Dr. Johnson facilitated in which either overnight, or in the time between meetings, she would adapt time, facilitation, instruction, and dialogue as a result of feedback that she received.
 * ability to articulate student outcomes and convey these in ways that facilitate candidate (learner) performance and ability to convey the same among learners they teach;

Dr. Johnson was very clear throughout the dissertation process with me on the topics of student outcomes. I always left our meetings with an understanding of what I needed to do next. Even when the goals were complex and multifacted, there were enough opportunities for information to make it possible to keep going forward. I consistently felt like I had a clear grasp of the process, steps, needs, and my role because of Dr. Johnson's clear communication skills and efforts.
 * ability to effectively advise, supervise, and mentor students-particularly those aspiring to be teachers and leaders in P-12 settings. (Standards for Tenure and Promotion Evaluation, Hamline University School of Education, 2010).

I feel very strongly that working with Dr. Johnson as a mentor, advisor, and dissertation chair will have long lasting effects on my professional and personal life. Dr. Johnson always expected my best. If I tried to put half effort into something, she noticed and commented. It got to the point, where I would start giggling in our meetings when she pointed out areas in need of refinement in my writing because I knew what she expected and that her goals for me were to write clearly and with a purpose. Dr. Johnson impacted my writing because she helped me understand that every word needs to have a purpose. I don't know that all dissertation advisors communicate this, and that all dissertation writers come out actually better writers. I did, and I believe Dr. Johnson would agree. Dr. Johnson showed amazing finesse in encouraging the balance of the lofty goal of a dissertaion with real world issues like family, work, and life. Through our time together I could see that she was able to be open about some of her own struggles with these topics. I certainly felt like there was an acceptance and realization that high level academic work requires some holistic inclusion for it to be transformative. I came away from the dissertation experience transformed, with a new personal understanding of the importance of leadership. I believe this was partially due to Dr. Johnson's allowance of constructivist concepts that the whole person is involved. Dr. Johnson was empowering in my understanding of who I was, am, and became through the dissertation process. I remember very clearly the moments when she would point out examples of when I demonstrated behaviors that she thought were important in the dissertation process. For example, she encouraged me to ask my own questions, allow my research to be shaped by the literature, and finally to stand up and defend my decisions to the dissertation committee. I left Hamline with an astounding increase in my own confidence as a leader and researcher. I believe that Dr. Johnson's mentoring and advising continue to have an impact on my professional and personal life. I am in a different job that has many people looking to me for my leadership and are trusting me to make wise decisions. I may have been terrified and lost in this job pre-Hamline, but Dr. Johnson was instrumental in giving me the tools to become a leader who listens, learns and leads, a leadership phrase I have repeated throughout my changing roles.