❝@AnaMFores' People's #Petition: #AdjunctJustice demands Better Pay for #Adjunct Faculty

…how it all started…When I first began my petition, Vanessa Vaile was the first to pick up on it and post it. I can't find that link offhand, but I do have one of her first few emails that began our friendship and collaboration, dating back to April 2012. It seems only yesterday, but a lot has happened since then, in our movement, and in our lives. I think I will save that for another blog, though...

I remember when I began my petition for Adjunct Justice, demanding better pay for adjuncts; it was a day of desperation, as my college had given me an ultimatum: either teach Writing Composition classes with 35 students each or do not teach these particular classes at all. It was my choice. 

I gave them an unequivocal no. 

I would be remiss in my duties as an effective educator were I to teach students under such untenable circumstances. How can we teach that many students at the same time, and have them learn anything of value? 

That semester I taught only two classes, thus beginning my quiet revolution against what I saw not only as the exploitation of adjunct faculty but also the diminution of student learning. 

These past two years I have persisted, so the petition has gone forward little by little. We now have over 8300 signatures. I have met online friends and colleagues, groups of grassroots activists who have helped me nurture it and bring it forward. I have become friends with higher ed academics all across the United States: adjunct, tenured, and untenured alike.  

How to get to trust/cooperation…networks for #adjuncts & others

…that also include the subset urging solidarity driven groupthink as the only possible antidote to divisiveness, In this Whole Self Leadership article, Kate Griffiths explores what it takes to move from a place of fear to a place of trust by suggesting a five step process that allows cohesive communities to form....and asks "how do we build cohesive communities?" 

Habits of the Effectively Connected

…on #socialmedia & other online distributed networks, whether for learning, distributing information, making connections, organizing, communicating or just social sharing. 

Published on YouTube, Dec 14, 2013: Habits of Effective Connected Learners with Stephen Downes

Working and learning in an online environment is fundamentally different from working and learning in a physical environment. It becomes much more important to make connections and leverage the store of knowledge at your disposal. Relations between people depend more on cooperation and less on collaboration. Information that was valuable only when withheld is now valuable only when shared. Marketing gives way to meaning. In this presentation, Stephen Downes reviews the habits he has cultivated to thrive as a learner and researcher online, providing practical advice from network theory and a lifetime of experience.