Review of “Learning Is Not A Sprint”

Lisa Endersby   |   

The fundamental need for recognition and validity is a common feature of many student development theories. Our work in student affairs strives to provide students with meaning and purpose, while also equipping them with the tools to continue their own professional and personal journey long after their graduation ceremony. Ongoing and heightened interest in assessment can be seen as the professionals’ quest for meaning making, where we heed the call for accountability while also, by necessity, raising our collective voice for justification and recognition. The forward of Learning Is Not a Sprint pointedly asks hard questions about the profession and our apparent role confusion, especially, “Is it because we have too long focused on what is important to us as individuals and as a profession
rather than what is important and prioritized by our institutions?” (Bresciani, 2012, p. 10) Put another way, does our interest in assessment stem from what is important to us as professionals (how we are evaluated as administrators) or what is important to us as a profession (how our students can demonstrate meaningful learning and development)? Learning Is Not a Sprint, as an edited volume, shines the spotlight on both sides of this chicken and egg debate.

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