Five Non Academic Goals

I did not remember initially, Elmaz, that these goals were to be non-academic. I found that to be a challenge, coming up with non-academic goals strictly speaking. What is non-academic seems to bear on what is academic, and vice versa. I tried to look at this from the perspective of my own needs and shortcomings and what I would want to come away with, and I’m not sure there are any clear divisions between the following:

1. Students will take away a sense of accomplishment by completing a creative piece to her satisfaction during the course of the academic session. She will take away an understanding that hard work and focus will result in a product of which she will be proud, and will leave with a sense of having had her needs met by having taken the course.

2. Students will go away with a sense of the advantages to be gained in a protective and supportive environment.

3. Students will learn the art of meaningful engagement. Each student will discover that what she has to say is intrinsically valuable to her classmates and is worth sharing. She will learn to master the art of active, objective listening and responding.

4. Students will learn to appreciate their classmates as instrumental and valuable resources for furthering the development of their own individual voice.

5. Students will learn the art of reciprocity and its importance in terms of a healthy group dynamic.