In all honesty, the term “transformative education” was unfamiliar to me prior to arriving at Loyola University in the fall of 2011.  However, since my arrival and after working within this institution for over two years now, I can say with confidence that not only do I know what transformative education means, but I have been a supporter of it my entire life.  Over the last six years, I have worked in the field of education as a student support professional.  I have served as a school counselor with the Chicago public schools and now as the director of tutoring with LUC.  Both positions, although quite different, have allowed me to experience the role of a transformative educator on a daily basis.

While working for CPS, one of my main responsibilities was to prepare students for successful post-secondary experiences; mainly preparing them for college. I happened to work in a school that was 100% African American and low income.  All of our students were on the free/reduced lunch program.  Most of our students had never visited a college campus before and didn’t know anyone in their family or neighborhood who went to college.  Nearly all of our students would be the first in their families to attend college.

Once I accepted this reality and learned more about my students and their background, I made it a goal (both professionally and personally) to expose as many students of mine to the world of higher education.  I needed them to understand that college could be a reality for them.  I assisted them in navigating all the aspects of financial aid, grants, loans, and scholarships in order to help them see that they could afford college. I planned one college tour per month, each accommodating 40 students at a time. I had hoped that this would allow them to really see themselves as future college students. I planned and hosted the schools’ first college fair so that our students could learn about the various colleges and programs first hand, in the comfort of their own school.  I was attempting to prepare my students to lead extraordinary lives, and at the time, I didn’t even know it.  I was literally transforming and enhancing their educational experience.  

It made sense that my next career move would be working in the field of higher education.  While working as a school counselor and visiting college campuses each month, I was able to learn a lot about the field of higher education and I became quite interested in learning even more.  In the summer of 2011, I applied for a position with LUC and although I did not have higher ed experience per say, I knew that I had several skills from my school counseling days that would be transferable to the work I could be doing within the Center for Tutoring and Academic Excellence. I was excited to try something new and was motivated by the challenge of learning a new skill and working with a new type of student.

I quickly learned that transformative education was the foundation of everything that Loyola stood for.  Transformative education was embedded into the school’s culture, classrooms, mission, and organizations.  It was obvious from the get go that Loyola was dedicated to exposing its students to not only the world around them, but to the world beyond them as well.  Our students are encouraged to explore the world, build relationships with individuals from various backgrounds, and to immerse themselves in service learning opportunities that will advance their knowledge and skill sets, while enhancing their educational experience.  Loyola wants to produce graduates who will make a positive mark on our world.  Working in the CTAE, I am able to interact with hundreds of students per month.  I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, and so, I created several new programs within the CTAE that would help advance LUC’s mission and commitment to transformative education. 

One program that I created and would like to highlight here is the “In Class Tutor” program. To me, this program is transformative education in action.  Essentially what this program does is place tutors into biology lecture halls in order to support the professors and connect better with the students.   When a student from a particular class requests small group tutoring, they are then matched to the tutor that served as their in class tutor.  The goal here is that the tutor is equipped with firsthand knowledge of class content and material in order to ensure an effective and task driven tutoring group.  Our in class tutors are encouraged to meet with their assigned professor throughout the term in order to gain insight and feedback. These meetings provide our peer tutors with the opportunity to develop working relationships with LUC faculty members, thus enhancing their own student experience. 

I am excited to continue implementing new programs within the CTAE through the lens of a transformative educator.  I believe that an organization always has room for growth, and the CTAE is no exception.  I am committed to promoting LUC’s mission within the work I do with students and will challenge myself each and every day to find new and engaging ways that I can embed aspects of transformative education into not only my professional life, but my personal life as well.