Practitioner Reflection Paper

Noel Fernandez

MA in Higher Education Administration and Leadership, CSU Fresno

HEAL 223

March 14, 2022

Practitioner Reflection Paper

Higher education holds its practitioners to the highest standards as they represent the

institution. I recently started my journey as a practitioner in higher education, and it has my gears

turning double the speed they were as I see an abundance of obstacles students face every day.

When a student starts their journey in higher education, it seems foreign to them. They are

learning about a whole new institution, the population on campus, finding who they are, what

support they need, and how they can be a successful student. Knowing a few of these obstacles

students face, it is my responsibility to become more informed on how I can contribute to the

change that is always happening in higher education.

Higher education institutions can be scary for every student as they are in unfamiliar

territory. The most affected are minoritized students who join a predominately White institution.

Most students who fall in this category are students described by Borrego (2003, as cited in

Patton, 2016) as “academic immigrants.” Most of the time, these students are made up of low-

income or working-class students who are also first-generation students. Tara Yosso’s (2005, as

cited in Patton, 2016) conceptual framework of community cultural wealth is a great example

that challenges the idea that students of color don’t have the social and cultural capital required

for social mobility. I see myself highlighting her six forms of capital with minoritized students

and telling them that the stereotypes that are made of them don’t define who they are and what

they can accomplish. I would give them an example of my experience and how I relate to each

capital, and that way, they can find similarities. Students usually see faculty as these perfect

people because they made it, but when faculty share their stories, more students can connect with

them and see that they are no different from them. I will do my part to communicate with

students and highlight how they fall into Yosso’s framework.

Being open to students about my background has helped me build connections with

students who share similarities to my own. Hurst (2007, as cited in Patton, 2016) described social

class study showed that the “loyalists” students were committed to and reaffirmed their class

backgrounds as they negotiated the college culture and environment. Hurst mentioned how

“loyalists” represent the promise of higher education to be a transformative space. Being a

“loyalist” gives me the power to proudly acknowledge my social class background and help

students become proud of their own. Students from a minoritized background tend to struggle to

accept what social class they come from as they feel embarrassed to show this openly with

students from the middle- and upper-class. Sharing my low-income background with students

and the obstacles I faced to get where I am today will serve as an example. I will be a prime

example of a student from a lower-class background to become a higher education practitioner.

The percentage of students with disabilities attending colleges and universities has been

growing. There are different special education programs and services available on campus for

these students. Listening to the presentation in class and reading about the articles on students

with disabilities was eye-opening. Learning all the different resources that Fresno State offers

these students to ensure they are taken care of was amazing. My only concern is when a students’

information is not transferred to the college, and the campus is not informed that a student has a

disability. Hadley (2011) describes how when students make the transaction to higher education,

and the student with the disability is expected to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities

(OSD) and self-identify as a student with a disability, provide documentation, and self-advocate

to their instructors and participate in the services that will support their academic process. Most

students struggle to find their classes themselves. A student with a disability must worry about

learning the institution and managing their schedule, and on top of that, they have a long list of
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other things to accommodate them. Some parents are not involved in their child’s education, but

it can be because they didn’t go to college and don’t know how to help. Being a practitioner, my

best approach to this will be sending out a survey to learn about the students I will be working

with and how I can make sure that I am taking care of them the best to my abilities. Sending out

a survey can help get information that a student wouldn’t like to share in person. Learning about

this topic will help me know how I can best support these students.

Gender identity is a new topic that has changed how gender is viewed. According to

Bilodeau & Renn (2005), gender identity is a term used to describe an individual’s internal sense

of self as male, female, or an identity between or outside these two categories. Becoming more

knowledgeable about this has changed how I address a large audience and how I can’t assume

someone’s gender. I always used to say “hey guys” to address a group of people, but that can

offend anyone who doesn’t identify as a male. This was a natural habit, but I am working on

unlearning this by catching myself when I say it and apologizing to those affected. One of the

most common forms of this is when pronouns were added next to names and used when

introducing themselves. Some students may struggle to understand, so I can help them by

defining the importance of respecting others’ identities. One helpful indicator that has been

helping is pronouns not to offend anyone or address someone without using any gender

identification as it will help avoid any incorrect use of gender until they disclose what they

prefer. When a student does identify their preferred pronoun, I must acknowledge it and use it to

address them as it is a way for me to build a connection with the student as they will see that I

am supporting them.

There is so much more to learn and understand as a practitioner in higher education, and

the learning will never stop when you have the passion for helping students succeed. My goal is
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to provide students with the best support and guidance to increase the percentage of graduation

and for them to influence the many generations behind them. I know I can’t change the world,

but if I can impact a student’s life in one way or another, I know I did my role in higher

education.
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References

Bilodeau, & Renn, K. A. (2005). Analysis of LGBT identity development models and

implications for practice. New Directions for Student Services, 2005(111), 25–39.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.171

Hadley. (2011). College students with disabilities: A student development perspective. New

Directions for Higher Education, 2011(154), 77–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.436

Patton. (2016). Student development in college: theory, research, and practice (Third edition.).

Jossey-Bass.