Statement of Professional Philosophy

Margaret Erickson

Department of Education, Springfield College

PSYC 629

Dr. Kari Taylor

Feb 13, 2023

Introduction

I have five main principles that drive my professional philosophy that works

interconnectedly to create my professional practice. Those five principles are Intentionality,

Flexibility, Servant Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion, and Holistic Growth and Learning. Within

each of these are underlying and connecting ideals that I value. Throughout this paper, I will

outline what these principles mean to me and how I put them into practice.

Intentionality

Throughout all of my work, I want there to be a level of intention. Though the level and

depth of each decision may differ, I keep underlying questions in my decisions. What do I want

the student/participant to get out of this? Why is that important? How will this help them grow?

How will this help me grow? What are the ways I can best support this outcome? Being

intentional allows for more targeted programming and better support of goals. Also, since I know

the core of why I'm doing something, it allows me to change and adjust as needed without

losing the integrity of the decision.

I use this mindset and talk about it extensively in my Graduate Assistantship. One of my

duties is the coordinator for a middle school mentoring program, where Springfield College

undergraduates mentor local youths. Since the program works with children, I want our

programming to be fun and active while we help the youths grow and create a lasting influence.

This last year I've had the staff focused on what goals we want to set for the youths. After

discussing some of the areas in which we thought the children could grow, I facilitated an

intentional programming workshop that outlines how those become goals for our programming

and how we create programming to meet those goals. My mentors initially struggled with the

idea that programming can have rich intentions yet still be fun and interactive. Still, through
examples, training, and continuous conversations, the staff as a whole has developed a richer

ability to program plan.

How I prepared my staff to meet my programming goals was also very intentional. As I

will soon graduate, I know I will not be in the program next year; however, I care for this program

and its success. I prepared my staff through scaffolding expectations and requirements to

support the growth and learning of both my mentors and my leadership team. I now have

confidence that my undergraduate staff is developing a deeper understanding of intentional

programming that will last even after I graduate and continue to improve the program and

themselves as planners. Intentionality is part of every plan. You will see that throughout the rest

of my principles, there is a deep level of intention interwoven at its core.

Flexibility

I am a person who always has a plan but never expects things to go according to it. Life

is everchanging, and things happen outside of our control. When that occurs, it's better to

respond with grace and care rather than with frustration or anger. I always want to have a next

step in mind; this relates back to intention; I always want to know where I am headed and why.

Because if I know that, it becomes easy to edit the plans as needed and still come to an

outcome that suits the needs. The ‘why' is really what is important here, not the ‘how.' When an

issue occurs, I will take a minute if needed, but then I set my sight back on the goal and

evaluate my plan. I've found this focus and ability of flexibility have allowed me to be a more

compassionate and caring leader while still obtaining results.

Students are here because they are still learning; they are going to mess up; in fact, we

should give them space to mess up. Students learn just as much, if not more, from 'failing’ as

from succeeding. However, we still want to accomplish our program/office/institution's goals.

On-going communication, and the flexibility to step in or step away when needed, are how I can

balance those two priorities. I utilize my one-on-one meetings and evaluations to discuss this

with my staff and keep the focus on learning rather than discipline whenever I can. I also create

policies that allow me to be forgiving and judge situations on a case-by-case basis; this gives

me the space I need to be a considerate, caring, and flexible supervisor.

This semester, I needed to use this skill when one of my site leaders could not come to

work but failed to communicate with the team or myself. As they were the lead for the day, the

program could not run without them. I worked with my staff quickly to find other solutions while

we coud not contact them. It took us only 20 minutes to get back on track and continue the

program; however, in those 20 minutes, we already had people come and go, not willing to wait

in uncertainty, had had to field calls after the fact to reestablish our commitment to consistency.

The situation had lost some of the trust we'd built over the years. Though my team's and I's

flexibility was able to solve the situation, it didn't solve the underlining problem or the outcomes

that came from it. Before this situation, I had no issues with this leader, and they had been

reliable. Due to this, I went into the discussion with them with a learning mindset and focused on

this as a growth moment rather than a disciplinary one. I allowed them to explain to me what

happened and why from their perspective; I listened and empathized with the situation they

were going through, but then I outlined the consequences of their actions and had them lead the

charge in reaching out to our participants to apologize and confirm we would be open moving

foreward. I also had us talk through action plans on what they could have done and how that

would’ve affected the outcome. Through this discussion, we also talked about how they need to

prepare now, so that way should a situation like this occur again, they know what they need to

do and have the support network in place to do it. As a first strike, it hasn't affected their

long-term disciplinarily, but the lessons they learned from the situation will follow them into their

professional career.
Servant Leadership

Another principle that you will see interwoven throughout my philosophy is Servant

Leadership. A servant leader is someone who leads to help others grow. Servant Leaders

believe in leadership development and in development through service to the community. Still,

most of all, I believe that our positions of leadership are to be of service to others rather than as

a commander for our own self-interests. Any leader in the public sector should stand with this

position, in my opinion. We are here to serve others. I utilized this mindset when I was an

elected official for six years on the Hamilton Township School Board, and I use it every day as a

student affairs practitioner. On the school board, I served many stakeholders, the constituents

who had elected me, the taxpayers who help fund the school, and the parents who entrusted

their children to our district. Still, most importantly, I served the students. I made every decision

with them in mind and with their voice and opinions considered, and I listened to best practices

to try and do my best by them. As a student affairs professional, I work similarly. Our roles are

for the students to support, encourage, and uplift them. The students are why I do this. Helping

the next generation grow and go further than we ever could, learning from them while teaching

them and giving them the tools they need for success, is at the core of every student affairs

position. How we do it, and our specific focuses differ per functional area, but our “why” is often

the same. For The Students. This works well with my leadership style; whether as a supervisor,

a mentor, or an advisor, I try to create a collaborative relationship focusing on goal-oriented

teamwork rather than a more managerial style.

Diversity and Inclusion

As a practitioner focused on empathetic and collaborative leadership, I also care and

advocate for all members of our community and focus on creating safe and brave spaces on

campus. As students live in a global society, and higher education as a whole has worked hard
to create global citizens, I must support our diverse student populations. This connects to all of

my prior principles. Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) should always be in our minds as we discuss

training, programming, curriculum, policy, etc. I cannot practice intentionality without considering

students' diverse needs and experiences. It is a necessary component to support and advocate for

any student. I work to create space so everyone can see themselves and have their voices

heard. Though there is no way I can be an expert on everyone and everything, I have to try my

best with my knowledge and be open to creating avenues for others to be heard when I have

misstepped or fumbled. I will not get it right a hundred percent of the time, so I need to

acknowledge when I mess up and know when to step back and allow others to lead. With D&I is

also the responsibility to advocate for others; I've done this through my work on Springfield

College's Handbook committee. We actually invited members from the D&I office to lead a

subcommittee that focused on how language could become more inclusive. We found many

small changes that would create a more inclusive policy that served all students while not

disregarding the intention behind the language. It allowed for a deep conversation about the

effect policy can hold, and this follows me into every room I enter. As I create program

expectations, I ensure my team is on the same page. In almost any ‘Rules’ conversation, I have

someone bring up “Be Respectful.” Respectful in itself is not a bad word, but what is it really?

Different cultures, generations, professions, families, etc, have different ways that ‘respectful’

looks, so every time someone brings it up, I say we can add it, but we have to define what it

means to us, in this program, with one another. This communal language is a small thing to

some, but to others can mean a great deal. D&I can be enacted in many ways, but I try to keep

it in mind with every conversation and decision.

Holistic Development

Finally, holistic development is interconnected with all of my principles. We must see the

students as whole people and promote holistic development through challenge and support.

Holistic growth and learning mean meeting the whole student where they are at and curating

your responses and attitude to their growth needs. It means recognizing the students as human

and not judging them based on their current placement compared to a destination, but by

acknowledging their journey and helping them take that next step. The ever-present balance of

challenge and support is within the focus of holistic growth and learning. I use this mindset with

the students I supervise every day.

One example is this new program I am developing with our after-school tutoring

program. We are creating a reading program to support a local 2nd-grade class. I have worked

with the teacher to develop the overall framework of the program. Still, for the week-to-week

curriculum, I am providing the opportunity for the student workers to develop and enact it. This

will help these future teachers develop future lesson plans and will give them a concrete

experience to speak about in future job interviews; however, I'm not just passing the baton on to

them; I am giving them resources, meeting with them to provide feedback, and workshopping it

with them as they develop it to help them increase their intentionality and critical thought.

This will not only help them grow as a professional but as a student and a person. I am

not just helping them develop a program but, through our conversations, encouraging them to

build on their personal and professional skills. Intentional planning, time management,

budgeting, communication, collaboration, and more. Though it is a step up in responsibility for

them, the skills that they are building through this program development will help in many facets

of life.

Another example within the afterschool tutoring program is when I ask each employee to

create a personal or professional goal for the semester. Throughout the semester, I facilitate
1:1's to see how they are doing on their goals and how I can support them with it. These goals

do not have to be related to this job at all. It reinforces that I am here as a resource for them as

a person and student, not just as an employee, and it allows me to know them, their struggles,

and their aspirations better. That allows me to serve them better and be more intentional in how

I lead. And it allows for more flexibility and individualization in my work with how I support my

team.

Conclusion

My professional philosophy is an interwoven, interactive collaboration of intentionality,

flexibility, and servant leadership with a focus on creating a diverse and inclusive community

and holistic growth for the betterment of student development. This is the core of who I am as a

student affair practitioner, and I carry it with me into every conversation, decision, and

opportunity I find myself in. Though these ideals are hard to measure up to sometimes, I am

committed to growth in the students and myself. I will continue to be a lifelong learner as I enact

my philosophy and learn from the students and other professionals throughout my career.