Teaching Philosophy and Course Policies

Education for All and All for Education

Personal Motto

I always think of teaching as an opportunity to inspire students to think critically about the global-local interconnectedness of every aspect of human life. I have a strong belief that education can help people to resolve any challenges they might experience. My dream is to ensure that the post-secondary education should be accessible, available, adequate, appropriate, applicable, acceptable, accountable, accurate and inclusive of every human being. When everyone has access to a “7A+I” learning opportunities, the world will be positively changed in the ways that are consistent with social work professional values.

I know that by being an educator, I occupy a very privileged position in the Canadian society that demands modesty and humility as much as respect and recognition. It is crucial that I acknowledge the power inherent in my role and always self-reflect on my actions. In my teaching, I consistently work to be aware of my position in society and to become a role model of the learning, I strive to promote among students. I treat my students as I want to be treated and try to recognize their uniqueness and individuality in all aspects of course design and delivery.

Learning, of course, is the main purpose of education. It is the goal of every student and the task of every educator to increase knowledge and understanding to create an effective learning environment. I believe that the learning environment needs to involve active collaboration between students and the instructor. Students not only learn from me but also learn from each other and I learn from them. I want students who enrol in classes I teach to become critical thinkers and life-long learners. My students can expect that I utilize “7A and I” principles to answer questions, and genuinely invest in their learning. In my teaching, I strive to be student-focused, competent, flexible, and aware of uniqueness and diversity amongst my students.

I am a definite believer in active learning. In all the courses I teach I try to maintain an active dialogue with students and promote interaction in all course activities. I do not believe in passive learning through lecturing. My students are expected to come to class and be ready to engage in discussion and debate with course material. I invest a lot of time in designing my courses and expect a lot from my students. I know that each of them has an enormous potential and my role as an educator is to develop that potential through creating challenging and thought-provoking assignments while at the same time maintaining a supportive learning environment. I try to accomplish the creation of such an environment not only through using presentations and lectures, but also through non-formal methods of education such as simulation and role-playing games, brainstorming, energizers during the class/online discussions and, particularly, in writing assignments. I always want that students can apply their knowledge in their field. That is why I try to create practical assignments that will help students to enhance their critical thinking skills and to prepare them to be successful in their future professional career.

I actively encourage dialogue with students during office hours and by appointments. I prefer to have a discussion with students in person where I can observe both verbal and non-verbal communication (if possible) to better serve and support them. Additionally, I regularly strive to improve my teaching by seeking student feedback, talking with peers, attending educational conferences, reading and experimenting with new teaching methods. To be an effective teacher, I continue to be a student. I regularly attend teaching workshops on managing the classroom, lesson planning, discussion facilitation, etc. My Master of Education in Educational Administration from Lviv Polytechnic and Certificate in Higher Education Teaching from the University of Manitoba provide me with a strong foundation in becoming an effective life-long educator.

Although I have 21 years of professional experience, I feel that I am still only at the beginning of the exciting road that is called the teaching and learning journey. The principles that I have developed through my teaching career and for which I strive to reach as an educator of future professionals allows me to ensure that my students may find and use their strengths to contribute to our society in meaningful ways.

I am doing everything not because it is easy but because it is hard

Sasha Kondrashov

My philosophy for teaching without in-person interaction does not differ from my overall teaching philosophy, but I believe the online environment provides additional challenges for the student and the instructor. In many ways, teaching without in-person interaction has made me a more organized instructor in the traditional classroom. In any class, the organization is essential, but with an online course, the instructor’s lack of planning and organizing all of the elements of the course can have severe consequences on the students and the course’s success. With the lack of physical contact comes a greater need for students to be highly self-motivated and organized. This change comes naturally for some, less so for others.

With online course delivery, everything should be prepared well before the course start date as the online environment lacks the crucial component of teaching: human in-person interaction. The instructor should be prepared well in advance and focus on student’s learning and support while teaching the online course to substitute the human interaction piece. Because of the new freedoms and flexibility offered by a web class, the online classroom must be stable and reliable.

The freedoms of online courses, which include relative freedom of place, pace, and opportunity to learn in new ways, can also create new enemies (issues with the use of technology, students cheating in novel ways, etc.) if the instructor is not prepared for them. The organization is a mighty bulwark to many of these attacks, for proper planning can prevent many forms of cheating, can ensure that the technology is working, and establishes trust between the instructor and students.

To engage online is to challenge and make learning readily accessible. To get my students involved, I employ interactivity, use various media, and encourage every student to connect to create and model a safe, brave, and supportive classroom environment. I want my students to think about the class after they have logged off because online students have to shoulder more responsibility than they are accustomed to in the traditional in-person environment. In an online course, the usual modes of contact are gone. The instructor and students are responsible for creating an environment in which all of us want to do the work and want to help each other in ways we have not done so in the past. It is easier said than done. However, following the motto that I am doing everything not because it is easy but because it is hard, I emerge myself in teaching online to challenge and eventually advance my teaching strategy and to fulfil my primary goal of education for all. The online environment, in some situations, adds to the accessibility component of this objective.

I spend a lot of time researching how to create an effective learning environment in all of my courses. My Ph.D. research helped me to identify critical characteristics of students,’ and instructors’ success and the university support to create an effective learning environment. I also have re-designed all my courses to make them online-ready. Shortly, I hope to make all my courses available to students around the world so everyone can take online classes no matter their geographical location to promote social work values in their home communities.

Teaching online is a tough game to play. I am using elements of online education in all of my classes, and I believe that technology is necessary for educating students to navigate in the world of information overload; however, it is not the only way how I teach; instead, it is one of the choices that I provide students to enhance their learning. I believe that one of the goals of education is to communicate something meaningful, which necessitates that any technology I use must also be meaningful. Without the thoughtful employment of technology, I neither engage nor challenge my students.

I believe that technology is merely a tool to enhance education, but it is a critical one in a disembodied learning environment. Technology cannot replace an instructor. Sometimes I may sound a little too old-fashioned, but while I was raised in Ukraine, I have learned some of the best lessons from my teachers who were using “chalk and talk.” When I use technology, I always keep in mind that not everyone has equal access to all the various benefits technology brings as many people are still not in the position to own a computer. In social work, I need to advocate for equal access for everyone and ensure that all my students have the same condition in completing their work that might include additional knowledge of technology. Many times I noticed people often get carried away with the notion of using technology and forget that technology can both increase our learning and create a “digital divide” between a variety of societal groups. The use of technology can also be harmful to society, such as new problems that were created through the use of technology: cyber-bullying, online gambling and online child pornography.

My students and my colleagues are diverse, and although disembodied learning environment can have a lot of positive features, the fact that people have different learning styles and distinct understanding of technology and exposure to and experience with its use requires me to adapt my use of technology to the specific educational context. That is why I keep my philosophy of teaching in the disembodied learning environment very simple; technology is a tool: each tool when in use, can produce both positive and negative results. As an educator, my goal is to promote students learning using a variety of tools and delivery mediums that are best suited and help to develop the best possible outcomes given all the pre-existing conditions.

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I’ll remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.
– Confucius

The first thing I always try to build up at the beginning of the course is a social presence. I want students to feel okay to raise any questions they have about the course syllabus any time throughout the course to enhance student-student and student-instructor interaction. For all on-campus courses that I am assigned to teach, it is hard to spend enough time with every student during limited lecture hours. Thus, it is not always possible to answer all questions that students have about the course. To accommodate students, I always try to hold part of my office hours in the classroom right after each class. This practice has resulted in some in-depth discussion about the lecture materials. Some students even choose to stay and listen to other students’ questions; especially it is helpful in policy and theory courses. I sometimes schedule an extra class time to go over the most challenging course content with students who are interested in additional learning opportunities and have the time to come and to learn in a group setting.

Technological tools is another way, which have allowed me to reach better students with different learning styles, increase my availability to students, and ultimately, improve the student’s learning process. Because technology has come to be a necessary and valuable part of learning, I make use of various technological tools in all the courses I teach.

E-mail is the primary communication tool I use with students outside of scheduled class time. I try my best to reply to students emails or answer phone messages when I can so that students know I am reachable outside classroom when they want to study and encounter some difficulties. However, to maintain manageable levels in answering e-mails and phone calls, I am using telephone and e-mail office hours. Students can leave me a phone message anytime, and I will reply on the designated time that is posted in the course syllabus. I usually respond to all e-mails within my e-mail hours that are listed in the course syllabus, so students know when to expect my answer and if they have a quick question they can receive an immediate response.

I have used both the WEB CT / ANGEL / Blackboard / Brightspace D2L class interface as well as class e-mail list to post the course schedule, explain projects in detail, provide students with additional ideas on how to complete course assignments, and provide them with resources and supplementary material. I find that using course management system and class e-mail list increases students’ involvement with the course material and allows me to model what it means to be a good communicator, always keeping my audience in mind.

I also have tried to maintain my communication with students even when the course is completed, as I am interested in their success and to build the network of social workers alumni, who can be potential mentors and guest speakers in my future classes. I believe that Facebook and Linked In are excellent social networking tools to keep in touch. However, I acknowledge numerous limitations of those services and try to maintain my accounts in a highly professional way to sustain an appropriate level of privacy.

I also found that the use of web conferences tools to be particularly useful in teaching distance education courses. I have experienced great success with “online” live communication with students. I find that many of my distance education students have scheduling conflicts, or live outside of the city and thus, live web conference that is scheduled via doodle poll and recorded for future viewings allows me to increase my availability to them. I use live web conferences in all my distance courses to hold online live discussions about the course content. Because I do much of my work on the computer, I am logged in at the scheduled time on either BB Collaborate, Skype, Zoom or Adobe Connect  and make myself available for several hours nearly every second week for all interested students and I have found that students are very responsive to those sessions.

Students often send me messages as they are working on assignments at home or in the computer lab, to ask a quick question, get some suggestions, or even request that I read a paper and chat with them about how it might be improved. However, I ask students to value everyone’s time and understand the limitations of these online tools, as sometimes I receive nearly 40-50 e-mails per week and it is hard to answer all of them in the limited time, so I encourage students to visit me during office hours after class or attend online live session, because I believe that live contact is still the best way of communication.

COMMUNICATION POLICIES

Comprehensive Guidelines for Student-Instructor Communication

WITH PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I’ll remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.”

Confucius

PREAMBLE: THE ART OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

Dear Students and Colleagues,

Communication is the lifeblood of social work practice. Every day, social workers navigate complex conversations with clients, families, communities, colleagues, and organizations. The ability to communicate clearly, professionally, and effectively is not merely an academic expectation, it is a core competency that will define your success as a practitioner.

This comprehensive communication policy document includes practical examples designed to serve as learning tools. By studying both effective and problematic examples, you will develop the communication skills essential for professional practice.

EMAIL COMMUNICATION POLICY

Guidelines for Effective Email Communication with Your Instructor

1. Philosophy and Purpose

Clear, professional communication is fundamental to social work practice. Learning to compose effective professional emails is itself an important skill that will serve you throughout your career.

2. Required Email Address

3. Email Format Requirements

4. Email Examples: Learning by Comparison

The following examples demonstrate effective and problematic email communication patterns. Study these carefully to understand what makes professional email communication successful.

Example 1: Assignment Question

Why this works: Clear subject line with course number; proper salutation; specific question with context; shows initiative by mentioning work already done; includes all required identification elements.

Why this is problematic: Vague subject line likely to trigger spam filters; generic greeting; no course identifier; no student information; question is too broad (which assignment?); no context about what specifically is confusing.

Example 2: Requesting Extension

Why this works: Specific subject line identifies assignment and due date; clear explanation of circumstances; specific extension request (not open-ended); demonstrates responsibility by noting progress; offers documentation; acknowledges instructor’s discretion.

Why this is problematic: Excessive punctuation appears unprofessional; incorrect title (“Professor” vs. actual title); no course identifier; asking when assignment is due shows lack of preparation; “busy” is not a compelling reason; demanding tone (“ASAP”); no student information.

Example 3: Technical Issue

Why this works: Specific error message quoted; documents troubleshooting attempts; proactive communication with IT; advance notice about potential delay; professional tone throughout.

Example 4: Grade Inquiry

Why this works: Opens with appreciation; quotes specific feedback; asks constructive question focused on learning; demonstrates growth mindset; offers alternative communication methods; maintains respectful tone.

Why this is problematic: No salutation or identification; compares grades with another student (confidentiality issue); focuses on effort rather than quality; doesn’t reference specific rubric criteria; demanding rather than seeking understanding.

5. Response Times and Email Hours

I respond to student emails during designated email hours, which are announced on the course management system for every course I teach. Emails received during email hours may receive same-day responses. Emails received outside email hours will be addressed during the next scheduled email period.

PHONE COMMUNICATION POLICY

Guidelines for Phone and Voicemail Communication with Your Instructor

1. When to Use Phone Communication

2. Preferred Phone Hours

3. Leaving an Effective Voicemail

4. Voicemail Examples: Learning by Comparison

Study these examples to understand what makes an effective voicemail that will receive a prompt callback.

Example 1: Urgent Absence Notification

Why this works: States full name and spells it; identifies course and section; explains urgency briefly; gives phone number twice; provides specific callback windows; polite closing.

Why this is problematic: No name given; no course identification; assumes instructor knows who “me” is; no phone number provided; no callback times; no reason given; too casual.

Example 2: Technical Emergency

Why this works: Complete identification including student number; explains situation clearly; shows initiative (already contacted IT); specific deadline mentioned; phone number repeated; multiple callback options provided.

Why this is problematic: No name provided; incorrect title; no course identification; no phone number; no callback times; grade concerns are rarely urgent enough for phone; “ASAP” pressure inappropriate.

Example 3: Field Placement Concern

Why this works: Clear identification with spelling; explains why it’s urgent (next shift on Wednesday); mentions topic area without excessive detail; provides phone number twice; specific availability windows; offers email as backup; professional tone despite urgency.

5. Phone Communication Quick Reference

CALENDLY SCHEDULING POLICY

Guidelines for Booking Appointments with Your Instructor

1. Purpose and Appointment Structure

2. Booking and Confirmation Requirements

3. Calendly Confirmation Examples

Example 1: Assignment Feedback Meeting

Why this works: Confirms date, time, and duration; clearly states purpose; attaches relevant document; provides specific questions to focus discussion; includes all identification information.

Why this is problematic: Appointment will be cancelled per policy (24-hour confirmation required); if meeting happens anyway, time is wasted without documents to review; unprepared meetings are less productive for everyone.

Example 2: Academic Advising Discussion

4. When the Calendar is Full

If the Calendly calendar shows no available times and you have an urgent matter, send an email explaining the urgency of your situation, include your phone number, provide specific times when you are available for a call, and I will call you back if possible to arrange an alternative meeting time.

COMMUNICATION SUMMARY

These policies support effective student-instructor communication while developing professional skills essential for social work practice. Thank you for taking the time to read and follow these guidelines.

© Dr. Oleksandr Kondrashov

This policy applies to all courses taught by Dr. Kondrashov regardless of institution.

Over 21 years of professional experience, I have accumulated a lot of knowledge that I am looking forward to sharing using written language. My publication record is in the process of developing. As I transitioned from publishing in my native Ukrainian language to English, I am looking forward to building my publication record in English peer-reviewed journals.

I already have some publications in the Ukrainian language that focus on youth involvement and social development in Ukraine. My first area where I conducted research is Canada is related to the immigration studies and adaptation experience of the Ukrainian immigrants. My first major publication in English was an MSW thesis entitled An exploratory study of the fourth wave Ukrainian immigration in Winnipeg: Problems and perspectives of immigrants’ adaptation (available online: An exploratory study of the fourth wave Ukrainian immigration in Winnipeg (MSpace, University of Manitoba)) that I completed in December 2007, before I started my Ph.D. program in social work. I also have published some articles in local Winnipeg newspaper (Ukrainian Winnipeg, June 2015 issue (p.14-15) on the history of Ukrainian immigration and plan to work more on publishing a book on Ukrainian immigration to Winnipeg that includes parts of my study. In future, I also plan to continue my research in this area and focus on the 5^th wave of Ukrainian immigration that resulted from the recent war in Eastern Ukraine. I also hope to compare the immigration experience of Ukrainian settlers in three Prairie provinces in Canada where the majority of Ukrainian immigration occurred in the last 100 years and how social services responded to the needs of immigrants to locate the best practices for providing settlement supports that involve the existing community structure.

The second major area for my future publications is related to my Ph.D. work on social work distance education. I have presented at many CASWE and IASSW conferences (Oleksandr Kondrashov e-poster, SWSD 2014 Conference) in last six years while doing my study and after completing my research in 2016, I plan to publish some articles to highlight the research results with the wider community and work on future research projects to study the effectiveness of social work distance education. My future studies will include surveying social work students and service providers on their perceptions how the effectiveness of social work distance learning programs can be improved. After attending First Social Work Distance Education Conference in Indianapolis in 2015, I hope to conduct an international study of social work distance learning in the US to compare and expand my findings from Ph.D. research. Social work distance learning is a growing area of research, and I anticipate the growth of social work distance learning programs in Canada and around the world and a need for best practices in delivering social work content via online education. I also plan to publish more articles on the educational techniques that I used in teaching online courses, such as wiki collaborative tools to build annotated bibliography for course projects, best practices in an online web conferencing and online discussion on sensitive topics.

The third area for my future publications is related to my extensive post-secondary teaching experience. Over the years, I have accumulated an extensive knowledge on design and delivery of social work curriculum using different delivery formats. I plan to share my experience through the use of publications and highlight my experience in teaching social work content in remote areas and Northern Indigenous communities and ideas on how to design creative projects that not only benefit students learning but also support local communities. I have recently published an example of one of those course projects that positively impacted local community: Makoonsag fundraiser 2012: Putting theory into practice in social work education. (Path to Pedagogy, Volume 20, No. 3, Spring 2012 (University of Manitoba), p.12-14)

In future, I am looking forward to using more collaboration and partnership with my former students and other social work educators to publish research on areas related to social work education. I have conducted some guest lectures in different countries and plan one day to teach the course simultaneously in Canada and Ukraine so that students can benefit from the international learning experience. I plan to conduct a study that track the story of six social work students from Ukraine who thanks to the CIDA-funded project were able to continue their MSW education in Canada and how international social work impacted their life and what can be done to promote greater collaboration among social workers around the world.

My ultimate goal is to develop a social work curriculum that will be accessible worldwide and can be adapted to serve the needs of people in every corner of the world. I believe that international social work has a potential to transform lives for many people. I am one of the examples how one international social work project positively changed my life, the life of my family and now impacted lives of over 7,000 students with whom I have shared my passion for social work by teaching them at least one of the CASWE-accredited BSW degree courses.

One of the recommendations from my Ph.D. study was to develop a learning repository for social work distance educators, and I hope in next ten years to develop a reliable resource list for teaching social work courses online. I have started my collection by generating the list of songs for social work that can be used in designing creative course assignments. Here is the link to youtube playlist: Songs for Social Work playlist (YouTube). I also organized a separate playlist of songs for peace in English and French that can be accessed through my youtube channel. Another online project is the collection of social advertisements that I compile yearly to raise awareness of social work related issues around the world. Here is the link to the list: Social Advertisements playlist (YouTube)

I plan to continue gathering resources that can facilitate learning of social work content and will add more songs and initiate the list of social work inspired poetry, quotes, cartoons. I also created a list of movies for teaching social work theory, cross-cultural and courses related to conflict, development and displacement that I plan to upload online in a near future. With students we are currently building lists of prominent social workers that promote the development of the profession in Canada and books for teaching Canadian social work history and community social work courses. I also recently created with the help of social work librarian a list of memoirs for teaching International Social Work course. All those lists have been established and maintained with the help of my current, and former students, and I plan to partner with more of my students to promote social work profession and to encourage students to find creative solutions to current social issues.

On this website I upload my course outlines and publish lectures to provide free access to all resources I have accumulated over the years. It is a life-long project, but I hope with the help of my former students and other social work educators we will build secure repository to ensure that future social work educators have all the resources needed to inspire distance education students and make social work education accessible across the globe.

The last area of social work research that I want to highlight in this document is related to the field of gerontology. It is one of the areas that I have acquired a lot of expertise over the years. I have taught a number of courses where we discuss with students issues related to aging. I also delivered lectures on topics related to current trends in aging research (SWRK 3130 Contemporary Social Welfare Policy: pension system and Canadian seniors; SWRK 2110 Emergence of Canadian Welfare State: evolution of Canadian social welfare protection for elderly; SWRK 2130 Comparative Social Welfare System: comparison among pension systems in 10 welfare states around the world). I have prepared lecture on retirement planning for FMLY 2400 Family Financial Health course and human development during “sunset years” for FMLY 1020 Family Issues Across Life Span course and lecture on Elderly people and Human Rights for FMLY 1012 Introduction and Social Development course as well as Ageism and Elder Abuse for SWRK 6040 Anti-oppressive social work practice course. A hallmark of my research on aging is the course FMLY 3240 Family in Later Years that I taught in the winter 2014 term. In this course, social work and family social sciences students and I developed a comprehensive database of peer-reviewed resources on issues related to aging (wiki project FMLY 3240 Family in Later Years wiki ). I do plan to continue my research on aging and connect it to my passion for education and how to use technology to ensure successful aging for everyone. Many students taking the FMLY 3240 course are now considering working in agencies that provide services for seniors to promote their rights and provide support in meeting seniors’ needs. The need for such services will be expanding in next ten years, and I want to make sure that social work perspective is strongly promoted in this field of research.

I am very excited to continue my research and foster the development of social work profession both in Canada and around the world.

My Grading Philosophy
A grade is……….
“an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extend to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown portion of an indefinite amount of material.”
(Dressel, 1957, p.6)

Dressel, P. (1957). Facts and fantasy in assigning grades. Basic College Quarterly 2, 6.

I believe that grading is one of the most challenging aspects of the educational profession. Although I have read many literature sources on proper assessment tools and techniques, I am strongly convinced that most educators use a lot of intuition to assess their students. I believe that learning is the ultimate goal of taking a class, not getting a grade. If I had my way, I would not assign grades. Rather I would have interactive lectures, create practical assignments to develop critical thinking skills, and provide feedback without assigning grades. However, in reality, it is difficult for a university to offer educational services without a system to assess mastery of classes taken. Since part of my job is to assign grades, which indicate mastery of specific course objectives, I try my best to assign the grade that is consistent with university requirements, public and students expectations.

My grading philosophy guides me in this challenging and balancing process. I believe that students earn their grades. It is not an easy process to receive an A+ in courses I design and deliver. Students need to work extra hard to achieve the highest grade in the course. My students remind me that my assignments are very challenging, and they are expected to put a lot of efforts to demonstrate their mastery of course learning objectives. I tell students that professional practice is much harder than the controlled learning environment that I create, and they need to get used to the challenge if they choose human services as their future career. Social workers do not choose the profession because it is easy; they choose it because it is hard, but the hard work allows to make positive changes that impact millions of Canadians and people around the world. While I acknowledge that it is very challenging to achieve an A+, I also believe that every student can potentially earn an A+ and even if this does not happen in the course I taught them, there will be many more opportunities to improve in the future. I completely disagree with student entitlement to a particular grade. When students state to me that they are an A+ students but produce not an A+ work based on approved course requirements I am unable to assign an A+ grade. Every student has only one attempt to submit their work for grading in the courses I design to teach. If a student requires accommodations, I will provide them to the extent that is approved by the university regulations, but once the work is submitted for grading, then I use assignment requirements to assign the final grade. Once the grade is assigned I rarely change the assigned grades unless student provided a very detailed written explanation of where I made an error in assigning the grade. To earn an A+, which stands for exceptional, a student has to do an outstanding work throughout the whole course. I want my students always to produce excellent work and if they are unable to demonstrate outstanding work in one assignment I encourage them to improve in the next submission. I assign final grades once I read all submitted work. I am always using grading criteria and rubrics to ensure the consistency of grading. As grading is the most time-consuming part of my job, I always try to dedicate additional time and to prepare general feedback, so students know where they can improve and how they did in comparison to other class members. Life does not curve and neither do I.

Students grades depend on a particular set of criteria, which are listed in course grading rubrics. Ideally, these criteria will reflect students abilities. However, due to many factors that are often outside of students control, they perform well below their abilities. If a student performs below their abilities student needs to remember that their grade only reflects their performance at particular time frame and not their potential and abilities. I try to emphasize those points when I provide feedback. My feedback is designed not to show where students fail to meet the established grading criteria but to show how they can improve their future work. I have a firm belief that if the student passes the assignment (C range grades), they are meeting the minimum criteria that are required to continue their learning journey. I always sympathize with the situation of students who are under enormous pressure to take on both a heavy course load and a heavy workload. I have been there myself. However, it is up to each student to judge how much they can take on without impairing their academic performance at the specific time and ask for accommodation when needed before submitting assignments for grading. Once the assignment is sent I am required to assign the grade and follow established university requirements for each grade range.

I will not provide any individual student with unique opportunities for additional work for credit that are not available to all my students; that is one of the main reasons I do not allow assignment re-submission. I do not buy the idea that quantity of work can make up for the poor quality of work. Some students seem to look for extra credit opportunities as a way to just pile up more and more work, regardless of quality, and thereby add more and more points to raise their grade. I am adamant that a greater quantity of C work is still a C range grade. Quality is what counts in assigning each grade, not mere quantity of material handed in.

In conclusion, if students have any questions whatsoever about how I grade, they are encouraged to come and ask me. Each student has the right to be informed about every aspect of their received grade. Students need to be aware that if they ask me to re-grade their work, their original grade can be either lowered, increased or stay the same. After a student explained to me in writing why they are not satisfied with their current grade and suggested the grade that s/he should receive and if I disagree with their position students can submit a grade appeal to the faculty for review. Grade appeals help me to monitor my grades and better align them with the university requirements.

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.
Education is the premise of progress,
in every society, in every family.
Kofi Annan, 1997

Dear Student:

Thank you for taking the course, which I am honoured to teach. Some of you might be wondering: What I will learn in this course? How does this course help me in choosing my future career? Who is this OLEKSANDR KONDRASHOV? How does he help/hinder me in the process of learning? What are his expectations of me? Is this an easy credit course or will I need to work extra hard to pass the course?

This document is designed to help students’ to answer some of these and many other questions. It is one of the supplements to the course syllabus, which I designed to facilitate our learning process. The idea of providing some personal information, I call this education philosophy, is to help you to become informed about your instructor, his teaching, grading, research, and communication philosophy statements to facilitate your learning journey in receiving post-secondary education. Originally this document was developed to help distance learning students from the Faculty of Social Work and introduce them to the SWRK 2080 “Interpersonal Communication Skills” course as they are not able to have face to face communication with their instructor. However, I decided to use this information in every course. The improvement of interpersonal communication skills with students is a core requirement for making the overall course communication more clear and transparent.

Please note, this is a living document; It will be regularly updated. I am continually developing and looking for improvements to make the learning environment for every student, including myself, the most fruitful in building required theoretical knowledge and practice skills. Please feel free to communicate your suggestions about this document. What information is missing, what is too much? I am open to feedback, changes and encourage discussion to promote learning.

These Course General Expectations are applied to all courses I am scheduled to teach in addition to university policy requirements listed in the course syllabus.

Course General Expectations

The course is divided into weekly format. Each week runs from Monday until Sunday. Each week is numbered. It is critical to have the weekly readings completed before Monday of that week to fully engage in weekly learning activities.

Please note that I will not participate in your online discussions, however, I will review all posts and provide oral comments on any unanswered questions from each discussion during our live sessions.

In this course I take an adult education approach to learning, i.e., students are responsible for the pace and amount of reading and extra research they do as well as attendance at all scheduled live classes. Students are further responsible for raising with the instructor issues or problems with their progress in the course. Students are also expected to participate in the course activities so that knowledge is shared, reflected, questioned, and debated respectfully individually and in groups.

Written assignments general expectations

Written assignments are expected to meet usual requirements of scholarship at the undergraduate level. In addition to the presence of content relevant to the course objectives, these will be among the criteria used in assigning the grade and include: appropriate use of the literature, coherence in the organization between and within sections, presentation of available evidence for your arguments and logic to the steps taken towards conclusions. Assignments should use the APA reference style as outlined in the text:

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Students should submit their written assignments electronically through the assignment dropbox on the due date listed in the course schedule. Electronic copies will be kept in an electronic file for future reference. A student may not submit the same paper, or essentially the same, paper, project assignment, or finished project to an instructor, which has been submitted to another instructor, unless specifically authorized by both instructors to do so.

Assignment grading times

Your marks will be available minimum two weeks after the submission of your assignment. I will post an update on course announcements when all marks are posted. Please check the course announcements before sending e-mail inquiries two weeks after you have submitted your assignment for grading if you haven’t received your grades. Final grades will be posted online two weeks after the last day of classes. You can view your final grades by accessing online system for final grades using your student number.

Assignment extension and late submission policy

All assignments should be submitted by the due date listed in the course schedule. If an extension is required, the student must inform the instructor in writing. Please complete the time extension for completion of term work form that include your name, student number, a title of the assignment, original due date, proposed due dated, detailed rationale for an extension. Please submit completed form to your instructor via e-mail for approval no later than one week after assignment original due date (early submission is preferred). Students who fail to submit work on time and do not ask for an extension are subject to the late assignment penalty. The penalty is an 8% per working day reduction in the value of the student’s grade for up to five working days. After that point, the work is worth zero percent. Students who are not able to submit assignments on time due to health or other compassionate reasons need to submit a written explanation ahead of time or, if that is not possible, after the missed due date, but no later than one week after the last day of classes. If an extension is granted, the penalty will be 4% for each working day of the extension to a maximum 50%. Only in extreme circumstances (medical note is required) will an extension be granted with no late deductions.

Please note under no circumstances extensions greater than one term from the time when the student was registered for classes will be granted. Check online for the approved extension date. If students are unable to meet the requirements of the assignment, it is suggested they apply for a Volunteer Withdrawal (VW) or Authorized Withdrawal (AW) on medical grounds or unforeseen circumstances.

Attendance=Presence=Accountability=Respect to course instructor, classmates, and future clients

The attendance policy is a critical component of my course design. By being a student, you have already agreed to abide by codes of honour and basic university standards of conduct. You have accepted that your enrollment is contingent upon upholding rules, such as those on drugs and alcohol. All such policies require your support for a simple reason: They are the foundation of an effective learning environment. This document is designed to help you follow attendance policy of the university and create an effective learning environment in all my classes both online and in person.

Schools of Social Work around the world has a social mandate to ensure that graduating social workers are caring, skilled professionals who are worthy of the public trust endowed upon them. In fulfilling this mandate, the Schools of Social Work have developed comprehensive programs of education and experience to ensure that graduates meet these high expectations. Unlike non-professional education programs, where students can pick and choose their education and experiences based on personal preferences, CASWE accredited Schools of Social Work requires students to attend and participate actively in all components of the program to meet rigorous accreditation standards and become the best social workers they can be. When the University confers the Social Work degree, it attests to society not only that the student has shown successful examination performance, but that the student has participated in the entire educational experience defined by the School and has thereby demonstrated an appropriate level of professional learning and responsibility.

In my courses, all students are expected to demonstrate high levels of both academic and professional integrity. Such integrity is shown in part by a commitment to and attendance at all scheduled classes, and course discussion activities. If I teach in an online learning environment and attendance to live sessions is not mandatory I create an alternative assignment that allows students to demonstrate their learning of course material who unable to attend live sessions. For example, students are required to make a critically engaging post to reflect on their learning after watching live session recording when they unable to participate. The same expectation is embedded in classroom learning. Students who are late to class or entirely miss class are expected to demonstrate their presence and accountability to other class members through completing additional learning activities via course discussion board.

I encourage full attendance at my classes for a number of reasons:

1. The university expects students to attend all scheduled classes. Social work is a professional program, and professional conduct is expected in all aspects of the program, including attendance. Much modelling occurs in the classroom and being present is an expectation for all classroom activities to become the best social worker possible.

2. Social Work program has a limited admission. Selected students have been admitted to the program when hundreds of other applicants were not given an opportunity to be part of the learning due to limited class space. I remind students that they are required to attend every class to maintain the expectations they set in their admission statement that included punctuality, accountability and presence.

3. When students do not attend regularly or miss class time without acknowledging their absences that can mean that student might not be ready for professional practice. In professional practice, students are required to be present, accountable and attend to the needs of their workplace and specifically to the needs of their future clients. Clients will expect that their social worker to demonstrate professionalism in their practice.

4. If a student does not plan to attend scheduled classes, consider switching to online social work program and do not take the limited classroom space from students who need to attend classes to be successful in their learning journey.

5. The less one attends classes, and prepares for those classes, the less one learns. Moreover, in general, the less one learns, the lower the quality of classroom contributions, which harms all the other students in the class, not just the student who misses class.

6. When students miss class, they miss out on the opportunity for a deeper understanding of a topic. Students miss the chance to ask questions, learn from their peers, and show us where we may need to slow down, speed up, or retrace particular elements of the course content.

These are some of the key reasons why I encourage all my student to be present in all course learning activities. Here are some tips that can help the student to be present and accountable in their learning journey:
• Arrive promptly and attend class by the scheduled course hours; If the class is online with no mandatory attendance requirements try to attend live sessions if possible.
• Respect the individual right to engage in class discussion without monopolising “air time”; If you spoke once, allow other students a turn until sharing your ideas again.
• Respect individual learning needs by avoiding activities that distract from a productive learning environment such as side conversations, eating noisy or aromatic food, and frequently coming and going from the classroom. Remember you are not alone in class, and your behaviour will impact others, so be mindful and enhance the learning environment by your presence instead of hindering learning for others.
• Conduct oneself professionally at all times and refrain from behaviours such as swearing, shouting, bullying, or intimidation. Follow the golden rule in all class interactions: Treat others as you want to be treated.
• If you are on call, make sure your cell phone is on vibrate. Also refrain from inappropriate use of computers (i.e., games, emails, and website searches) during class-time as other students should not be exposed to your interests when they are learning new material. Also remember that texting, after all, is a micro-absence from class.

Please know that each student remains responsible for all the work and class activities they miss, and for ensuring that student completes enough work to demonstrate professional skills, values and knowledge in each course. Each student must weigh the importance of reason for being absent from the potential for adverse fall-out for the student. Also be mindful that in addition to class attendance policy each student needs to review the School attendance policy as if a student misses a certain number of classes (2 to 3 depending on the School) for any reasons they will need to re-take the course to demonstrate their full attendance in next offering of the course. Keep learning, stay present, accountable and respectful of all course scheduled activities.

My feelings on due dates and late work have changed during the past couple of years. I continue to believe that doing everything possible to meet a deadline is important to being successful. However, I have had enough experience with students who went through significant life-changing events, such as an illness, death, that meeting a deadline just cannot happen. In two words, life happens. Although life happens, it is important to become increasingly able to handle the challenges and meet the deadlines. All work I assign is due by a specific date. Occasionally, I move that date, but students should never count on it. It is not my responsibility to work around students other classes, their extracurricular activities, family or job. If a student cannot submit completed work or work of highest quality by the due date, that is okay. Everyone can improve with next submission.

Because I understand that life happens, and everyone still has to learn the art of planning around life events, I offer students two (2) work days to use during the course to turn in work late. Students can choose to turn in two written assignments one day late, or one written assignment two days late (excluding Saturday and Sunday). Two working days should be enough to get through most minor life events. If a major event suddenly appears, students should contact me immediately to make arrangements regarding the course and assignments. I am encouraging students to submit all assignments via Dropbox, so I will be able to track them and make sure the deadline is met. It is students responsibility to ensure that I receive assignment on time. If a student forgot to attach a file or I did not receive their dropbox submission, students will be deducted for late submission.

Everyday Something New
Personal motto

Personally, it is hard to write about who you are. In social work, I sometimes ask students to answer this question and after their initial response I still keep asking them for another two or three minutes: “who are you?” to get more reflections. We all have different roles, which we need to play in our everyday living. To briefly share about myself, I can say that I am a fortunate person, that was born in Lviv, Ukraine, Sasha, who has two hearts, two lives, and two Mamas in Canada and Ukraine. I became a Canadian citizen in 2013. I lived in Winnipeg from 2004 to 2014 and in Halifax from 2014 to 2016, and Kamloops has been my Canadian home since 2016, while Lviv is always my birthplace. I love teaching and plan to further my education career in Canada and around the world. I often travel to different parts of the world and conduct guest lectures. To date, I have visited more than 50 countries and held guest lectures in Ukraine, China, Mongolia, Taiwan, and US Universities both online and in person formats. Some other relevant information about my education includes personal education background, teaching, and practice experience.

I hold a PhD in Social Work Education (2016) and an MSW (2008, thesis completed December 2007) from the University of Manitoba, and an MEd in Educational Administration and a BA in Sociology from Lviv Polytechnic in Ukraine, with equivalency at the University of Manitoba.

I started teaching social work courses in Canada in 2005 and have 21 years of professional experience. I taught Social Work accredited courses at the Faculty of Social Work Fort Garry and Inner City campuses, Distance Education, and Aboriginal Focus Programs at the University of Manitoba, at Dalhousie University and at the University of Northern British Columbia. Since 2016 I have taught at Thompson Rivers University, where I am Associate Professor of Social Work (tenured). I have developed and taught all required Bachelor of Social Work degree courses, many Family Social Sciences courses at the University of Manitoba as well as some Sociology, Psychology, Education and General Undergraduate Degree (Basic University Skills / Introduction to University) courses both in Canada and Ukraine. Some courses at the University of Manitoba I have taught in different settings, such as Nelson House, Split Lake, Long Plains, Little Grand Rapids, Sagkeeng, Thompson, Dauphin, Portage la Prairie, and Brandon communities. I often attend seminars, conferences around the world on current developments in social work policy and practice, post-secondary education, counseling and community development fields of practice.

In addition to my home countries Ukraine and Canada I have visited Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Peru, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, UAE, UK, Vatican, and learned a lot from local people. In my teachings, I try to share as much knowledge as I have gained through my life experiences with different cultures in various countries of the world. I have first-hand experience working with students from diverse backgrounds. I can say that I might know at least one person from each country of the world. To date, I have taught over 7,000 students. I also visited many country pavilions at EXPO 2015 in Milan that focused on food security and global collaboration. While having extensive international experience, more than half of the courses I have taught are primary to Canadian Indigenous students. I maintain a connection with my former students and have thousands of connections with practising social workers in Canada and around the world.

In all my courses I am trying to encourage students to explore a variety of topics and find those areas where they can become the most successful in their future professional and personal career. In 2013, I was honoured at the traditional pow-wow graduation ceremony at the University of Manitoba as one of the four instructors who went above and beyond for Aboriginal students to support them in their learning. I was also nominated for the Migizii Award by students from Aboriginal Focus Programs. One of the major honours that keep me passionate about teaching and promoting social work education in Canada is a nomination to become a Canadian Torchbearer during Vancouver Olympic Games. My essay on the role of education in promoting peace allowed me to run in Portage la Prairie with Olympic flame, and now I try to share that flame in all my classes by making my students believe in themselves and their ability to make this world a better place to live through sharing the gift of education.

My areas of research interest include issues related to social work and distance education, student success, Canadian and International social policy, counseling techniques, family communication, Indigenous people in Canada, human rights, immigration, aging, social and community development. I like to work with people in any area of human services, although my primary research interest is on how to provide the best educational services for everyone who want to learn and practice social work. I have a strong knowledge of recent developments in the social work profession, family social sciences field of practice, as well as in numerous teaching related skills. I enjoy public speaking, facilitating students learning process, developing courses, conducting lectures and seminars, working with diverse groups of adult learners and administering distance delivery social work programs.

My social work practice experience to date includes work with multi-children families, youth offenders, community development and work with students at all school levels as well as University settings both in Ukraine and Canada. Additionally, I have had a field placement at the former Winnipeg Child and Family Services with a focus on child protection at the Intake level as well as the After Hours Unit. I also provided periodic voluntary services at the After Hours Unit as well as child welfare related services with immigrant families from Ukraine residing in Winnipeg.

Students Feedback

Students Feedback

I am honoured that through my teachings I met many amazing people. I enjoy receiving feedback notes from my former students who are now practicing in Canada and around the world. Each success story reminds me that learning is a life-long process. I have created an online album to highlight some of the most caring messages my students shared with me to express their gratitude. I value every e-mail, facebook post, postcard from my students as well as contstuctive feedback on course evaluations as they keep me inspired in becoming the best social work educator I can be for all students. Through sharing some of the notes I want to inspire more people to consider becoming educators. We need more teachers who inspire students to do their best. It is extremely rewarding seeing students who despite many challenges, find ways to manage them and succeed in their learning journey.

On this page, I plan to share all course outlines from the courses I have taught as well as sample assignment guidelines. I will keep updating this page once I format all my course outlines/assignments to a standard template so courses can be adapted to fit different course schedules.

Pandemic Social Work

Introduction to Social Work Research

Canadian Social Policy

FMLY 1012 Introduction to Social Development, In class Delivery one week

FMLY 1012 Introduction to Social Development. In class Delivery 13 weeks

FMLY 1012 Introduction to Social Development. Online Delivery 13 weeks

FMLY 1012 Quiz 1, 2, 3, 4

FMLY 1012 Class Project

SOCW 3000 Canadian Social Policy inclass_delivery_13 weeks

SOCW 3000 Social Policy Concern Paper and Video Presentation

SOCW 3000 Sample Policy Concerns

SOCW 3000 Canadian Social Policy Concerns Sample Papers (Journal Format)

SOCW 3000 Knowledge Sharing and Caring Quest

SOCW 3000 In Class Tests

SOCW 4900 Professional Social Work Identity Development Process

SOCW 4900 Social Work with Selected Newcomer Populations

SOCW 4900 Critical Approaches to Positive Social Work Practice

SOCW 4900 Fostering Resilience Among Social Work Students