My thirst for learning that will never be fully quenched has meant that I have invested in learning throughout different seasons of life. One advantage to this is that I have first hand experience of learning through different contexts.

As a professor who serves teachers and those becoming teachers at the graduate level, I have students from a range of contexts. Some have just graduated from their undergraduate and immediately begin their master's, while others span across a range of points in their career and lives. My oldest student was in his 80s and would say, "As an octogenarian...".

Had my own experiences been anchored in a single season of life, I would have a narrower concept of what it is like to be a learner. Instead, my trajectory has taught me what it is like to:

• learn as a young student before getting married and then as a newlywed

• pause my education in between degrees to welcome my first baby into my arms

• return to school a year later, ready to pursue my goal to become a teacher

• navigate the first years of teaching while adding an additional endorsement to my license (and welcoming another baby into our family)

• commuting while continuing to teach full time while working towards my doctorate, walking across the stage at graduation with another baby on the way

• learning for fun in more casual contexts and for personal development

• applying for a master's in theology and then realizing shortly after submitting my application that I was pregnant with my six - a journey that has unfolded with some starts, stops, detours and adjustments along the way. (Truly, it has been a winding road -- so far, 1 seminar and 2 courses in 6 years!)

• completing an intensive 2-year long certification program (one of the detours), considering stopping countless times but then persevering through the end

Through it all, I have experienced what it is like to learn in a range of modalities (in person, online, and hybrid). As a mom, I know what it is like to learn with infants to young adults. Professionally, I have learned how to create space for learning, prioritized differently if it was required for a career to support my family vs. whether it was just for fun. I have also experienced the power of learning to contribute towards healing in order to better navigate the challenges and complexities of life.

As my students navigate their learning experiences, I have a lot of contexts to draw from in order to understand what it might be like for them. I use that knowledge to shape my instruction and the norms within my courses.

Of course, I also keep in mind that my experiences align more with some students' than others, so I need to continually notice and consider what it is like for the different learners who are pursuing goals within the context of their specific lives.

Questions for Reflection:

• In which seasons of your life have you been a learner? You can consider different types of learning experiences, such as: formal degrees, certificates, hobbies.

• How did your context change when you were experiencing those different opportunities? How did that impact your ease while navigating the requirements and offerings?

• How does that deepen your appreciation for the obstacles that people overcome or the complexities they are navigating while engaging with your coursework? How does that shape the way that you craft your instruction?