Due to the nature of our work and the lightning fast pace of the academic year, we are so busy that we often forget the many things that we do and various roles that we play. When asked about our jobs, it is easy to answer with a title, “I am the Director of the Bar Studies Program,” or “I am an Academic Support Professor.” Or, to answer with an important aspect of our work, “I help students prepare for the bar exam” or “I provide tools for academic success to 1Ls.” But, these statements do not nearly cover the many hats that we wear at our law schools.
Instead, listing the qualities that are fundamental to our work is more apropos. We educate, we advocate, we counsel, and we empathize. Interestingly, these attributes are strikingly similar to those of a good lawyer. We, like lawyers, balance our time listening, thinking and analyzing, instructing, and communicating with and for our clients or students. In a series of blog posts, I will explore the various responsibilities, tasks, and missions we have as ASP Professionals with the hope that others will better understand the work that we do and the essential needs that we fill.
Educator
Some of us see our main goal in ASP to be that of an educator. Simply put, we love teaching. And, as educators, we are constantly honing our craft. We research new teaching methodologies and strategies. We implement new techniques in the classroom and monitor student progress and their learning needs. We reflect on our own work and the impact it has on our students. We seek out curricular changes that will benefit the student body as a whole. We provide formative assessments so students can become self-regulated learners and remedy their weak areas. And, above all, we tirelessly work to help students achieve academic and bar success.
We educate our students in many ways with the work that we do. In ASP, we teach 1Ls the basics of reading and briefing cases, outlining and exam preparation, and school/life balance. We help 2Ls fine tune their legal writing, strengthen their legal analysis skills, and help them establish their professional persona. And, we usher 3Ls into the world of law practice by teaching them the fundamentals necessary to pass the bar examination.
Webster defines an educator as: “one skilled in teaching” and “a student of the theory and practice of education.” Academic Support Professionals are truly skilled in teaching and are the epitome of life-long learners. It is in our roles as educators that we engage students and help them utilize their strengths and improve their weaknesses. We constantly learn from these interactions with students and from our application of learning theory in our work. In ASP, we wear our "educator hat" most often, but we are also always perpetually being schooled by our students.
(LBY)
