Elizabeth Pulanco/Winonan

Professors at Winona State University spend many years researching issues within their fields throughout their careers. The CLASP lecture series gives them the opportunities to share their discoveries with the Winona State community.

The CLASP lectures, or Consortium of Liberal Arts and Science Promotion, started in 2004 and the purpose is to show students on the Winona and Rochester campuses what their professors are working on during their research time.

Within a typical school year, there are two to three CLASP lectures a month.

Lecture coordinator David Speetzen and a committee of four members made preparations before the beginning of fall semester to find professors to speak during the lectures.

“During the summer, we send out a set of solicitations for lecture proposals,” Speetzen said. “We make sure each presentation goes along with the specific university theme.”

Speetzen has been involved with CLASP for a few years, but it is his first year coordinating the lectures.

“It has been helpful getting to know people in the Winona State community that I wouldn’t have usually gotten to,” Speetzen said.

Education professor Robert Howman gave the most recent CLASP lecture.

Howman’s first lecture in the CLASP series, titled “Assets vs. Deficits,” focused on learning how to change perspectives about certain people and their abilities.

For much of his career, Howman has worked with children and families from different cultures. These children did not fit into the dominant culture, which Howman describes as, “white, middle class and mainly English speaking.”

After trying to motivate these children for years, he discovered that many students had problems with connecting with who they are because they lived in a dominant culture that was not theirs.

“The dominant culture does not see the assets in people from different cultures and sees deficits as things that need to be fixed,” Howman said. “Children going to school in this environment feel like their backgrounds are inferior so they feel the need to change in order to succeed.”

Due to the negative views about themselves, Howman’s students did not think they would succeed in life. Many students could not see themselves going to college or having careers. They were only focused on what was right in front of them, he said.

“They were on survive mode rather than thrive mode,” Howman said.

One issue Howman has researched and found to add to the deficit perspective is the common core and the standardized testing in many schools.

“There are no common or standard people,” Howman said. “This system takes children that have struggled anyway because they are not a part of the dominant culture and makes things harder for them.”

Howman discussed how the tests have shaped the curriculum rather than the students.

“It is said that 30 percent of a teacher’s time is spent on administering standardized tests or going over the materials,” Howman said.

Although standardized testing has been in the public school system for a long time, Howman has started to see a change in public opinion, which has given him hope.

“There has been a great push back from students and parents recognizing that the common core system and the standardized testing does not work,” Howman said.

Since the systems in place seem to follow along with the deficits approach, Howman has worked on methods that emphasize focus on a person’s assets. These methods include individualized learning and bridging the gaps between culture and skill levels.

Howman thinks a school like Winona State could be a great example of an environment focused on bridging certain gaps within the community.

“As with any other place, we have a ways to go with diversity and meeting the diverse needs of our students, but I see a campus community that is open and receptive,” Howman said.

Throughout his lecture, Howman continuously referenced his past students and mentioned how he used methods within the assets perspective to help them.

Howman started to get emotional when he talked about a phone call he received from a former student telling him that she had just graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University. Howman worked when she was reading at a first or second grade level in high school.

Junior Holly Loberg enjoyed when Howman talked about his interactions with his students while using asset-building methods.

“I liked that the lecture was personal,” Loberg said. “As an audience member it helped me connect to the material.”

Every year, the CLASP series has a theme the lectures must follow. This year, the theme was “Equity as a Human Right: Building Inclusive Community.”

With his lecture on assets and deficits, Professor Howman was able to explain how to build a more inclusive community by concentrating on developing the positive qualities of an individual.

The next CLASP lectures will be presented by Dia Yang on Oct. 7 and Kathryn Lammers and Jennifer Timm on Oct. 21. Each presentation will be in Stark Hall in room 103 at 7 p.m.