For my records:

Blog post April 21st. Interview with Trudy.
Hey Trudy, feel free to add anything you thing of!

Hey All!

The meeting today was canceled due to lack of people available to come. We should talk to everyone and see when the best day would be to reschedule. I think we should also discuss what will happen if people aren't able to attend- I think we should move on and allow people time to catch up whenever they're available.

I did get to meet with Trudy today for my first one-on-one interview with a staff member. I didn't get to tape record it due to the fact that Shoppers had no audio tapes and Coffee Matters refused to let me use my laptop during lunch hours, so I took some good notes.

I wasn't sure whether I'd like to share my interviews as they happen or if I would compile a collection of stories and then post, but I was so damn excited by our conversation that I decided I will post them as they happen. We can always go over it again after and put them all together.

I began by having Trudy read over our list of ideas and the ideas we collected during our participant idea session. Then I got her to read over the facilitator questionnaire. I started by asking her what she thought about the list already compiled. Her first response: funding. For majority of our ideas we need some sort of funding for either materials or to pay staff. So I pointed out question number 3 on the questionnaire, and asked her if she could try to speak as if ANYTHING were possible, despite costs. I wanted to get her ideas out before talking about the complications or challenges. She said she'd like to see a wider variety of courses offered: other courses within the high school program, more electives, and more alternative courses as well. She gave examples like the 3 sciences, art, French, more English, socials... Another change Trudy would like to see is more flexibility with which courses are available as independent courses, and more choice for participants in regards this.

Then we moved on to talk something that Trudy feels very strongly about- attendance. She wishes that "there were 90% of the people there 90% of the time". She says it's her biggest barrier as a teacher, and interferes with her teaching, and others' learning. I asked her if she had any ideas about how to keep people in school, and she did not. This seems to be a very frustrating thing for her (and a lot of other teachers) as it is such a complex issue. Thus, in my opinion, in need of serious consideration.

I then went on to ask her how she felt the Murphy Center offers the traditional curriculum in the most alternative way it can. She mentioned that it offers more flexibility than regular high schools, it has smaller class sizes, people can have more time for tests, and in a lot of courses (except publics) she can deliver the curriculum in a way that is more relevant to any individual (she can do this in her writing class, and Ann in her human dynamics). She says that courses with public exams are constraints because you have to focus only on the material given. She loves the semester system, however it's a disadvantage in the regard that it doesn't allow much time for other things.

The conversation then went on to talk about student voice. Trudy feels as if the Murphy Center should be more student-led, especially with big issues like ones we've faced this year: Drugs and violence. She says right now these things are dealt with by the staff; they develop policies and then deliver these policies to the participants. She would like to see these kinds of issues being dealt with by students, or by a combination of staff and students. She feels as if a problem with this is that a lot of staff members do not feel comfortable allowing students too much voice. I found this very interesting, and we went on to discuss that the fear is there that student's may not see it as an important responsibility and take advantage of their position. Another issue was that there could be too much apathy, and empathy. Apathy in the sense that students may not see the issues being dealt with as serious or significant, and empathy in the sense that they may feel guilty because they may partake in the same activities but just never got caught. Trudy feels that a student council might be a good thing, and she also feels as if it may not work, but it should be attempted. She went on to say that she doesn't feel the traditional high school student council would be appropriate, because it's not a collaborative model, but some kind of student leadership group that sits with staff on a regular basis and goes over what's what. She liked the idea of a J.C!

Then Trudy and I discussed comfort levels at the Murphy Center. "The Murphy Center is the only place I've worked where I feel I can bring my whole self to work." Trudy told me a story about a few times during the first year she was working at the Murphy Center. Tim called her into his office to talk and she was always afraid that he was going to tell her that she was being inappropriate and that she'd have to be less personal and more professional. However, that never happened, and after awhile Trudy realized Tim was never going to lecture her for that. She had been in that situation in past jobs where she felt as if being herself was inappropriate and she had to leave pieces of herself at home, but at the Murphy Center it's not like that. I asked her if she thought this kind of attitude was apparent in students as well, and if she had observed this kind of behavior from students. She explained to me that most people are very comfortable- in the classroom, with their friends. But it's not just a matter of if they're comfortable talking to being outgoing, it was also people comfortable to not say anything at all. She said that there are a lot of people in the Murphy Center with social anxiety (for whatever reason), and it's a good atmosphere for them because they don't have to worry if someone is going to single them out and make them speak. If you want to speak, speak all you want. If you prefer to stay quite, that's good too. I think that's a very special quality about our school- you can be who you are and no one makes you act any different! Trudy is also pleased with the lack of bullying that goes on at the Murphy Center. We talked about how a lot of the participants are where they are today because they were bullied and high school and didn't make it through. Another majority of the participants were the bullies- the "bad" kids that pipped off or did drugs and may have been the bullies. Trudy thinks it's amazing how these two types of people can co-exist at the Murphy Center and (usually) never think anything of it!

I asked Trudy if she wouldn't mind if we moved on to talking about curriculum. Then I threw out the question: Could you see us introducing an entirely new, alternative curriculum here at the Murphy Center alongside the current system, or would you prefer to see it in a different facility altogether? Trudy feels as if it would be difficult to start a completely alternative curriculum at the Murphy Center, but she loves the idea of a new facility for just that! She supported her feelings for that by talking about people with significant learning and cognitive difficulties. Being someone who deals with intake at the Murphy Center, Trudy had a very heartbreaking story about turning someone away from the Murphy Center. A man in his mid-twenties had applied for the fall semester and was in for his interview. He had a severe learning disability, and because the Murphy Center doesn't have the resources, programs or supports for that man, he was turned away. When he asked what to do next, Trudy could only tell him that there was nothing- this was the end of the line. She feels as if people in this sad situation would benefit from a completely alternative leaning facility. The type of program the man needs is offered in a regular high school, but being in his mid-twenties he was too old to go back to one. In an alternative facility he would be able to learn life skills and job readiness, as well as being able to get a high school diploma. Trudy then added that in Ontario there is an art based high school (I consider that somewhat alternative), where you do your core courses but basically everything else revolves around art, music, theater, etc! What a wonderful place that must be! Then when I came home and talked to Michael about my interview, he told me that there are schools in Ontario that offer pre-nursing, auto mechanics, etc. That sounds too good, eh?

So anyways, our interview continued and I asked Trudy if she ever thought about any other kinds of people that may benefit from an alternative school, and she said that she's so busy focusing on the here and now that she doesn't have much time to think about that stuff. That made me think that perhaps a lot of people are left in the dark because everyone else is too caught up in their own responsibilites.

Trudy believes it is important to work with each individual on their levels; levels of learning, communication, interest. I think this is a valuable quality she carries, as education needs to be regarded on an individual basis. (If there were only more educators like her!)

An issue Trudy and I then talked about was how the Murphy Center deals with people dropping out. She feels we need a better way to deal with this, and we need to present it in such a way that it's not seen as a failure. People need to know it's a normal thing, and although we don't encourage it, we do not frown upon it. A lot of people have felt enough failure in their life to feel it once again if they need to leave the Murphy Center. They should be reassured that it just may not be the right time in their life, and that they can come back when their ready. Addressing retention better is something that she feels we need to work on as a community. I think, perhaps, that it may also prevent people from just drifting away. Some people miss time and then they get discouraged, but if they know they are not going to be looked down on if they want to leave then there will be less pressure and perhaps they may decide to stay!

The last thing Trudy and I discussed was the advisory process. I told her that we talked about the advisory process being more unified, and she agreed. She said that every adviser should still maintain their own personal style, but when it comes to timing, and regularity, that advisers should get together on this. She talked about how one time at the Murphy Center there were scheduled class times for advisory meetings, and she said this was effective and she wishes it was brought back. I'm sure there is a reason Tim decided to stop doing it, but Trudy feels the positives of it outweigh the negative. She also feels that if someone doesn't want to be an adviser, then they shouldn't have to. She doesn't want me to mention this persons name specifically, but she said that there is an adviser that doesn't like to do it, and he/she is uncomfortable with approaching people and doesn't even know who is on his/her advisee list. I think in this case this person shouldn't have to do it because it makes him/her uncomfortable and causes the advisees to be left out or unattended. Trudy says this will make a little more work for everyone else, but it would be worth it for the participants sake. I asked Trudy that if there was to be a staff meeting about a unified advisory process if she'd be interested in helping out with it, and she said yes... And now that I think about it, I'd like to see students and staff decide that happens during the advisory process. !!

So, as you can see Trudy and I had a pretty good discussion, and this is just the beginning of my endeavors with staff! It's very exciting because the staff members have experience which is a valuable resource. I think perhaps we can fill in some more on our wheel!

If everyone is in school tomorrow we can come up with a time for our next meeting! I hope you're having a good vacation Morgan, and I look forward to seeing all of you sometime soon!

Ciao!