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Personally Speaking: Students
Voicing Their Opinions

The freshman year experience is an important part of
the total college program designed to provide opportu-
nities for social as well as interpersonal growth and
development. STD 100-Orientation is a one-credit, 16-
week course that is required for the full-time student
who seeks to earn a degree or certificate. Each class
meets for one session a week. Objectives of the course
are for students to become aware of the various college
services available, provide opportunities for adjustment
to and survival in college, improve study habits, clarify
educational and vocational goals, increase their per-
sonal understanding, and have them accept the respon-
sibility for learning. Aside from class attendance,
participation in out-of-class workshops, seminars, or
presentations is also required. Structured exercises to
meet the objective of increasing personal understand-
ing—such as, values clarification—are made available
during the sessions.

Another activity that sets ground rules, but is basi-
cally free-flowing, is “Personally Speaking (PS)”—a
series of sessions devoted to the discussion of topics
relevant to students. Two class sessions into the semes-
ter, students are requested to list topics of interest that
they would like to discuss. Imaginations may run wild
at this point because there is no limit to the number of
suggestions a student can submit. For example, my
class of 24 students submitted a total of 36 topics
ranging from devil worship to snake-handling,
churches to television evangelists.

After this initial compilation, the list is read to the
class. The students are required to write down only one
topic they feel they would like to talk about. From this,
the list is narrowed to 12 topics or so because similar
choices are categorized as a single item. Then what?
The final listing is presented to the class and rank-
ordered. Some time during the next 14 weeks could be
scheduled for PS (assuming part of the first two ses-
sions were devoted to compiling the list).

What would the initial structure be like? Prior to the
beginning of PS, the instructor mentions that there are
no right or wrong answers—also, that each student's

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comments, however ludicrous or far-fetched, need to be
respected. In other words, students are not to make fun
of others’ statements. And, the instructor may intercede
to enforce these rules of order. [There are instances in
which the discussants become very emotional. For
example, one issue—gender equity in work—rapidly
escalated into “women who join the military can only
serve in a support capacity because they can’t do half
the physical work that men can do.” One of the stu-
dents had completed basic training for the marines, and
she told the group that the top recruit to graduate was a
woman! You can imagine the response of a former
marine who voiced the first statement. Calm and
rational thinking prevailed, however. Needless to sav,
the students voiced their opinions; and it was one
session that neither | nor they will ever forget.] At
times, the instructor needs to prod students by asking
questions that are relevant to the topic. If the issue is
“devil worship,” you may ask if it exists in the various
high schools that students attended or if they saw the
Geraldo Rivera special. Aside from acting as enforcer,
the instructor encourages participation and feedback.

Early in the semester the group may not be comfort-
able enough to start speaking out in PS sessions.
Therefore, later in the semester may be ideal because an
element of familiarity, trust, and support has evolved.
Class composition is a plus as the older, more mature
students provide opinions obtained from life experi-
ences. Discretion for the scheduling of PS is a combina-
tion of instinct and interest. Ask the students when
they would like to have a PS session.

What are the outcomes? Students feel more confi-
dent speaking their minds in front of a group of people,
and the sessions create a learning climate that is primar-
ily student-initiated. For first-year students, this
reinforces the attitude that learning is the responsibility
of the individual and that ideas of other people are
respected in the work world.

Quintin S. Doromal, Jr., Assistant Professor-Counselor,
Student Support Services

For further information, contact the author at Southwest
Virginia Community College, P.O. Box SVCC, Rich-
lands, VA 24641-1510.

 

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J. Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin
—~ EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712