Denise T. Smith

Learner Folio

When the caterpillar is full grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa or chrysalis. Having now reached the third stage, the doctoral student has the personal values and integrity coupled with professional experience to embrace the next stage ~ the Educational Leadership Program at St. John's University.

The learning cycle of a doctoral student is very similar to the life cycle of a butterfly. The butterfly develops through a process called metamorphosis. This is a Greek word that means transformation or change in shape. If one were to witness a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon and try to ease its struggle by prying open the cocoon for it, that butterfly will emerge in a weakened state and may even die. The Professors of the Doctoral Program at St. John's University have patiently guided me through the courses in the doctoral cycle. With each course I have moved on to the next phase only to hopefully eventually emerge from my cocoon with my dissertation in hand and, like the butterfly, will be free to soar.

The Learner Folio represents a collection of all my course work at St. John's University. The entire course work is divided into five major folios: Leadership, Organizational Theory, Policy and Politics, Management Science and Research Methodology.

Leadership ~ Eggs are deposited on plants by the adult female butterfly. These plants will then become the food for the hatching caterpillars. Just as the plant will become the food, so will the courses in the leadership section nourish the mind as the beginning of the cycle.

EDU 5571 Advanced Leadership in School

EDU 5743 Educational Planning

EDU 7801 Digital Portfolio

Organizational Theory ~The next stage is the larva or caterpillar. When the egg hatches the caterpillar eats the leaf it was born onto. The type of leaf the mother lays its eggs on is important as it must be one that the caterpillar will eat. The courses in organizational theory are the leaves on which the foundation is born upon in the leadership courses. As the doctoral student grows, theory in organization is key. A broad base in the diversity of the student is necessary for the nourishment of the candidate's mind.

EDU 5105 Multicultural Social Organization

EDU 5419 Advanced Study in Organizational Theory

Policy and Politics ~ When the caterpillar is full grown and stops eating, it becomes a pupa or chrysalis. Although in the life of a doctoral student's learning never ceases, policy and politics reinforce that which has been learned as within every life cycle there are policies and politics.

EDU 5103 Educational Governance and Policy

EDU 5420 Politics in Education

EDU 5721 Collective Bargaining

Management Science -The chrysalis can last from a few weeks to a month or even longer. Some species have a chrysalis stage that lasts for two years. It is within this period that the knowledge of economics/statistics and finance of a doctoral student grow.

EDU 5650 School Based Data Analysis

EDU 5655 Data Analysis

EDU 5741 Economics/Finance of Education

EDU 7211 Data Analysis II - Statistics

Research Methodology - The adult stage is what most people think of when they think of butterflies. They look very different from the larva. This final stage is reached after much research on the part of the doctoral student. After comprehensive research the doctoral student emerges as that of the butterfly and metamorphosis is complete.

EDU 7701 Development in Instructional Strategies

EDU 7900 Qualitative Research: Method and Analysis

EDU 7800/7901 Advanced Research Design

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Denise T. Smith, Ed.D.