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Putting Myself in the Place of the Learner

Janet McCue

Middle-aged librarians in middle-management positions don’t often have a chance to take classes. This year I was fortunate to “enroll” in two classes. The first was an International Agriculture and Rural Development course (IARD 402/602) at Cornell, called Agriculture in the Developing World, and the second was the Frye Leadership Institute, a two-week intensive residential program at Emory University.

I was a faculty participant in the IARD class but also very much a student who learned about India, learned from the students who were in the course, and learned a great deal about how the library can partner with faculty to provide stronger support for their classes.

A recent article in C&RL News by Marilyn R. Pukkila, who was also an “embedded librarian,” says, “The more we can put ourselves in the place of the learner, the more we will experience the needs of learners and the more effective our teaching will become.”

I valued the IARD lectures. They ranged from agricultural biotechnology to gender to globalization and poverty alleviation, and I treasured the opportunity to travel in India with a group of graduate and undergraduate Cornell students, a cadre of faculty members, and two dozen students from Indian agricultural institutions. Still, it was the “insider’s view” that I cherished most as a professional librarian.

All the students who went to India prepared a presentation and a research paper during the spring semester. I saw how the library supported these students, many of whom were first-year graduate students, some hailing from as far away as Siberia and China, others from as close as northern Pennsylvania. I would frequently see these twenty-eight students meeting in one of the library’s group-study rooms or practicing their presentations. Sometimes they would be consulting with reference librarians or burning the midnight oil.

India

IARD Extension/Rural Development Student/Faculty Group meeting with farmers from the village of Anjur, in Tamil Nadu, India.

When I put myself “in the place of the learner,” I also saw how the library could better support this class and classes like it. Integrating a research session into the curriculum that would cover finding information, evaluating sources, and citing the literature would enhance the learning environment. Inserting a virtual presence on the course Web site would make reference help more visible. An embedded librarian can efficiently evaluate the complex research needs of such an interdisciplinary class and suggest research strategies and information resources, smoothing the research process and ensuring more-substantive and better-documented research results at all academic levels. Although I was the first librarian to be embedded in this course, I hope that I am not the last.

My second “course” was at the Frye Institute in early June 2006. Frye offers a nationally respected course in leadership for higher education. The students were a mix of IT professionals and librarians from a variety of institutional types: private, public, research, and community college. University presidents, provosts, faculty members, and higher education professionals from a similar mix of colleges and universities comprised the faculty for the course.

During the first week, we had sessions on issues in higher education, perspectives from current and former presidents or provosts of higher education institutions, and discussions of public policy and higher education.  The second week focused on personal leadership, scholarly communication, finance, and marketing. What impressed me most was the frankness and honesty of the institute. Perhaps it is because of the ground rule of confidentiality, the hallmark of the institute (“What goes on at Frye stays at Frye"), but the speakers were very frank about the issues and their own personal responses. They were just as comfortable talking with us about their challenges as their successes. Throughout the sessions, I was impressed by each speaker’s passion and commitment. In fact, one president, commenting on her passion for the institution, quipped, “You’ll do a lot for your lover.”

I have a little book of Buddhist aphorisms that a colleague gave me. The book sits beside my keyboard, and I’ll flip it open regularly when inspiration flags. One example: “If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear. If you let your upset mind settle, your course will also become clear.” After the Frye Institute it occurred to me that I could probably create a similar book of leadership aphorisms: “Make yourself an easy person to partner with. Leadership must be a shared vision. Educate up as well as down—in the language of your audience. Realize there is no “they” to blame. Avoid the Palace Guard and surrounding yourself with people who say what you want to hear. Don’t be consumed by the routine—force yourself to find time to think over the horizon,” and many more.

I was particularly struck by one comment that a university president made regarding the future of the university. He suggested that over the next generation the university will change so much that it will be unrecognizable, that the change will be as dramatic as the creation of the land-grant system. The global university, the meta-university, and universal access to knowledge and learning will transform the very nature of the university.

I have worked in higher education for the past twenty-five years and never had the experience of being surrounded by higher education leaders from a variety of institutions. My time at Frye was thought-provoking and inspiring, challenging and intense.

To take a break from the cityscape and the intellectual environment, I signed up for a rafting trip during the weekend intersession. Although I’m not a morning person, I set the alarm for 4:45 a.m. and embarked with a group of Fryers for the Chattooga River, on the border of Georgia and North Carolina. Our trip quickly became a lesson in leadership. Our twenty-year-old guide taught us how to paddle as a team, to understand the river, and to navigate the rapids. By the end of the five-hour paddle we were exhausted but impressed by the leadership skills of our young but experienced guide. He knew how to trust his instincts, take advantage of our skills, and read the signs of the riverscape.

Janet McCue

Intrepid white-water rafters on the Chattooga River. Editor's note: Janet is the one with her eyes closed. Hover over image for closeup view.

Both of my classes—IARD 402/602 and the Frye Institute—gave me a new perspective on higher education. Being embedded in the international agriculture class taught me so much more about the student experience at Cornell and the student experience in India. I could see the challenges of distance education, and I could experience the collaboration that can emerge as a result of meeting each other and developing a group project. I saw different types of leadership—from young adults in the class and on the river to wise and thoughtful leaders at Frye. I’m grateful to both Sarah Thomas and Dean Susan Henry for the opportunity to learn from Frye and from the excellent students and faculty in IARD 402/602.

Next: CUL Efforts Make 2006 New Student Reading Project ‘Wonderful’