{"id":45491,"date":"2017-06-26T15:12:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T19:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=45491"},"modified":"2017-06-26T20:20:27","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T00:20:27","slug":"adult-ed-grad-brings-lessons-back-to-northwest-territories-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/06\/adult-ed-grad-brings-lessons-back-to-northwest-territories-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Ed grad brings lessons back to Northwest Territories classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brock University taught Rebecca Dylanger how to walk a mile in her students\u2019 shoes.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old Adult Education graduate, who recently crossed the stage at Brock\u2019s Spring Convocation ceremonies, now looks at her pupils differently when she enters the classroom in\u00a0the small Northwest Territories community where she works.<\/p>\n

Dylanger has lived in the tiny hamlet of Ulukhaktok for the past 12 years, where she teaches Inuit adults basic education, including math, English, science, social studies and computers.<\/p>\n

Until her recent experience at Brock, however, she had never experienced school as a mature student.<\/p>\n

It was a Brock alumna working with Dylanger at Aurora College who recommended she look into the University\u2019s Adult Education program<\/a>, which offers a flexible approach to post-secondary education that allows students to work around their day jobs while improving their teaching skills.<\/p>\n

Intrigued by the online course offerings, Dylanger began studying with Brock in 2010, first striving to achieve her Adult Education teaching certificate and then deciding to pursue her bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018If I\u2019m going to jump in, it might as well be with both feet,’\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In fall of 2013, Dylanger opted to travel to St. Catharines to spend a year studying on Brock\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never been to Ontario before. Everything was a new experience,\u201d said the Nova Scotia native who had only ever called small communities home.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy skills when I was hired with the college were all in computers. Coming here really boosted my confidence,\u201d she said of her time at Brock.<\/p>\n

After spending some time on campus, Dylanger returned home to complete her degree online.<\/p>\n

She took a number of Aboriginal, Canadian and Women’s and Gender studies courses that she feels provided valuable history and insight into the culture she is immersed in at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also got to know how the students were feeling. I hadn\u2019t been in school for a long time, so here I was learning how they felt before tests, what types of pressure they were facing while balancing a home and school life,\u201d she said. \u201cBecoming an adult student was quite an experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can sit back and say to my students, \u2018it doesn\u2019t matter how old you are, you\u2019re never too old to go back to school, you\u2019re never too old to go to university, to do anything,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal when you teach adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adult learners, those in Canada\u2019s northern communities in particular, face a unique set of challenges while pursuing education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a different way of life,\u201d Dylanger said. Being able to provide details of online course opportunities available to adult learners, even those in remote communities, is a big asset, she added.<\/p>\n

When the time came for Convocation, Dylanger knew she could not pass up the opportunity to celebrate her accomplishment and to again visit the campus she has become so fond of. She travelled back to St. Catharines to walk the stage with her fellow Faculty of Education graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe quest for knowledge is amazing, it\u2019s created a monster inside of me,\u201d she said with a laugh. Dylanger is now looking at pursuing a master\u2019s in education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brock University taught Rebecca Dylanger how to walk a mile in her students\u2019 shoes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":45489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,40,1,4],"tags":[334,3684,1440,5493,1759],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}