Camosun Story #75: Kristin

Kristin is an instructor in the School of Health and Human Services.  She has a background in mental health and curriculum and instruction and was hired by Camosun over 20 years ago on a contract to start a community mental health credential.  She has since worked not only to grow that program, but to develop other credentials. Today, Kristin teaches courses in the Mental Health and Addition program, as well as in the Interprofessional Mental Health and Addiction post-graduate diploma, and the Community Family and Child Studies program.

Kristin says “I came to Camosun with a non-traditional perspective of teaching. I was working with groups in psychiatry and mental health and was drawn to building relationships with students.  Our programs attract many students with their own mental health and substance use challenges, so it’s important to meet students where they’re at to recognize their strengths and support their motivation. Nothing warms my heart more than hearing grads tell us how much they changed through the program, or even partway through.”

I wondered where the students in Kristin’s program come from.  “Many times, they’re coming from support or work positions in residential settings, street programs, outreach, etc. In the classroom, students engage in reflection and self-awareness so they can become more grounded in their own values and beliefs;  if you’re going to develop relationships with the people you’re supporting, you need to understand your own perspectives to be accepting of others’ values, beliefs, and perspectives.”

I asked Kristin what impact the past three years have had on her teaching.  “Being online during COVID highlighted engagement, because if we can’t engage students in any context, online or face-to-face, then they’re not to grow and become who they need to be in order to support others. That experience pushed us as faculty to be responsive and figure out how we were going to keep students engaged and motivated when we didn’t have the containment of the classroom.” But luckily, the programs were approved to have some in-person sessions during the height of the pandemic. “It was worth the work to get classroom time on campus, and students appreciated the opportunity to work on their skill development with others.”  Kristin herself is skeptical of how relationships can be built online but appreciates that many of their grads will need to engage with clients through online platforms, making online learning relevant for them. “Some of our graduates will need to use technology to connect with and assess clients and right now we’re revamping our professional communication courses to include content on digital literacy to help students think more about the benefits of technology, and  ultimately help their clients navigate the Internet to find relevant information and reliable resources.”

One activity in one course in the program Kristin has kept from the online teaching days was one where students work in small groups and record video of themselves leading group sessions.  The video allows students to not only observe the activity and evaluate things like facial expressions, but also allows them to watch the video again and conduct a self-evaluation of the session. In addition, an assignment that required students conduct interviews at an organization on-site, but had to move online during the pandemic, has been revised to include online interviews as an option.  “This helps because professionals out in the field are very busy and the online interview option means students have more opportunities to connect with them while being more respectful of the professional’s time because they can choose what works best for them.”

Since Kristin has been teaching at Camosun for so long, I knew she must have some memories that stick in her mind. “I recall the first graduation ceremony I went to and seeing the excitement in the grads waiting to get their parchment. I was ready to shake their hands as they crossed the stage but instead, I got hugs! It was amazing to see that I meant more to them than I thought, and I felt very blessed to be a part of their learning journey.”  Another thing Kristin appreciates is the diversity of students in her classes and the relationships they build together. “We get such an eclectic group of students in our program, of all ages and with all kinds of experience and education. I still have grads from years ago contact me to let me know what they are doing now – it’s those relationships I always think about, as well as the collective wisdom that the variety of students brings to the program.”  But what Kristin really wanted me to know about her students was how much they want to be here.  “We get a lot of people that need to make career changes and have put a lot of thought into what’s going to bring them purpose in their lives. Some have retired and decided retirement is not for them, some have been in recovery and want to learn how to help others in recovery. There are so many different reasons people come to the program, but everyone’s passionate and thirsty for knowledge, and that’s what’s so exciting.”

I asked Kristin what advice she might have for new instructors in her program or at Camosun in general. “Connect with other faculty to ask about strategies and talk about challenges. Don’t take things that happen in the classroom personally because you never know why someone might be reacting the way they are. Instead, engage with that student and figure out what’s going on rather than make assumptions because that personal engagement goes a long way to help that student sort out what’s getting in the way. New instructors might not feel confident in responding to something unexpected happening in the classroom that might have them questioning their ability as an instructor.  It’s ok to say, ‘let me think about that and get back to you’ and not feel compelled to say something right then and there.”

As we wrapped up our discussion, Kristin said, “I’ve been really fortunate to be in a program with students who are passionate about learning, and I also learn from my students – I’m always changing the way I do things and am grateful that we have that freedom as instructors and as a program to be responsive to what’s going on in the community. That ability to adjust and respond to the needs of students and the people they will ultimately be serving, as well as the students themselves, makes it all worthwhile”.