(Audio) Transcript Jennifer Baker-Jones

(Audio) Transcript Jennifer Baker-Jones

Q. How long have you been teaching?
4yrs
Q. Where are you on your educational path?
I have my Masters in psychology and then I have licensure as a psychologist.
Q. Do you work in that field at all?
Yep.
Q. What type of psychologist are you?
Well there are different types, I concentrate on the community side of psychology so general concerns. Right now I work at a clinic that works with people who are dealing with grief and loss in transition. There are clinical psychologists who look more at abnormal behavior but I look more at (unintelligible)
Q. So far what’s been your best teaching experience?
I had a class a couple semesters ago. Umm, it just clicked, I think there was a good mix where I saw them three or four days a week, it helped a lot, to kinda build that relationship, and they were really inquisitive students, they had a lot of good questions, umm I think it was just a really good class.
Q. And what has been your worst teaching experience, and hopefully not in this class.
My Monday night ( laughs) No I think my first day, My first class, going and I had fifty students and they were all staring at me and I think I got through all the material in about a half an hour.
Q. What are some goals you have in relation to teaching? What are your goals behind teaching psychology specifically?
Umm well I guess my personal bias is that I think psychology is really important, so it’s type of two fold, I like teaching psychology even if they’re not going into the field to learn hopefully more about themselves and other people, and I also like teaching because I like the student population that general age group and umm being hopefully a supportive contact along the way.
Q. When and how did you decide that this was for you, you know, that this is what you like, were going to do with your life? I mean, specifically this?
I always knew I’d be helping people I wanted to be a psychologist when I was in 9th grade…Teaching it found me. I think in my other job I started doing some presentations at conferences and I really like it and then my husband is a teacher, so I decided it would be good, and then I found out I loved it.
It kinda found me.

q. Umm if you weren’t doing this or the other thing that you do, what other thing could you find yourelf doing or being good at ?
JBJ- So not Psychology?
Me- Not psychology
Umm I think there’s components of marketing and advertising that I like and umm interior design.
Q. Where did you grow up?
Illinois
Q. So how long have you lived here?
Since 2002
Q. And how long have you been actually teaching?
4yrs
Q. Have you worked for ARCC the whole time, or other places?
This is my first semester here. I started at Pine Tech and I still work there, and I filled in for a women on sabbatical at MCTC .
Q. Are any of your opinions unorthodox in regard to your filed?
Are any of my views unorthodox? I don’t think so, I think my bias is that I think it’s important to study people, so I come out with that right away because I just think that that’s important and I tend to present the female perspective ( unintelligible)
Q. What (janitor interrupts) umm What about psychology, im ena what’s a minor, a smaller subject within it that really gets you get jazzed about.
The effects of stress, you’ll probably figure that out before we’re done here but uh so how to promote positive mental health in a good way versus looking at “oh I have something wrong with me, or Oh I have a label.” So..(unintelligible)
Q Have you do you think going into this field has helped you be more healthy mentally would you say your maybe even more mentally healthy than other people that ..
I try to be I think I’m more conscientious about who I am and why do I feel a certain way and why other people might be acting there way they’re acting a possible pitfall about getting into psychology is that you analyze a lot, so your life analyzing all the time. So it can kind of (unintelligible).
Q. In your experience do you think that that’s like..do you think most people in your field are similar or do you think that, at least in your experience, or do you find that there’s maybe like a basis like “ I know this, so I am this type of thing.” a “I know what’s mentally healthy, therefore I am mentally healthy type of thing.”
I think the problem lies in when you isolate yourself. So one of the ideas behind being a therapist is that you’re always in community with other people doing the same type of work you are and they can help you if (unintelligible) but I think most of the people I come across are pretty aware.

Ok I am plum out of questions thank you very, very, very, very much

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