Invaluable experience Larson says she was “trained early on” to become a social worker having grown up in a family that struggled with mental health and addiction issues. “I always knew I wanted to work with people,” she said. “I enjoy the process of walking alongside people through life’s journey. I consider it an honor when someone tells me who they are and what they need.” Larson gained invaluable experience in the social work field prior to becoming an instructor at UW-Superior. With a focus on marginalized people with histories of abuse and trauma, her work took her from the streets of Seattle, helping runaway youth transition off the streets into specialized foster care homes, to Duluth-Superior where she was part of a team that established the First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center and was its first executive director. She also helped merge two Twin Ports organizations into what is now known as CASDA (Center Against Sexual & Domestic Abuse). “What I learned in field work made me a good instructor,” she said. “It’s been rewarding to be able to share what I learned along the way with my students. One of the most important lessons I learned was that I could be the best social worker with all the right technical tools, but if I didn’t take time to establish relationships, I would never be effective. The same is true in teaching.” Larson’s educational philosophies center around building relationships, embracing active teaching and learning methods and creating an interactive learning environment that promotes critical thinking and students’ ownership of their learning. A three-step approach One of her most noteworthy achievements is her ability to teach the powerful concept of empathy. She developed a teaching process focusing on the three aspects of empathy: cognitive understanding, affective awareness of how mirror neurons activate emotions and a behavioral component to communicate genuine interest in others.
“I noticed the struggles students faced to be empathetic in their work with others,” she said. “So, I began to study the concept and realized much of the issue was the impulse to reassure clients, offer advice and prematurely offer solutions to problems. To my delight, the three-step process I introduced in my teaching produced a statistically significant improvement in students’ understanding and practice of empathy.” Larson co-authored a chapter about her work in: Cuzzo, M., Larson, M., McGlasson, T., Mattson, L. "How Do You Effectively Teach Empathy Skills to Students? New Directions for Teaching and Learning. Big Picture Pedagogy: Finding Interdisciplinary Solutions to Common Learning Problems." 2017 fall: 151: 61-78. “Mimi is the embodiment of an effective teacher and lifelong learner,” said Lynn Goerdt, associate professor of social work, and Human Behavior, Justice and Diversity Department chair. “From their first day, she plants powerful seeds about compassion, empathy and seeing the strength in others. She helps students see that they can navigate something that feels impossible in the moment. The children, families, groups and neighborhoods that our social work students are tasked to work with all benefit from Mimi’s teaching brilliance.” As only the second UW-Superior professor to receive the prestigious Teaching Excellence Award, and now entering her final year as an instructor, Larson reflected on what it has all meant to her. “I have been joyfully committed to my role in helping train the next generation of social workers who will positively impact the lives of clients and communities for many years,” she said. “I could not have done any of it without the collaboration and support of my colleagues and valuable sources of professional development. Of course, it is the students who are central to my journey – by now, I have worked with hundreds of wonderful students, engaging with them in the concepts and practices of social work to achieve the best educational experience we can together. This is the human-centered approach to teaching and social work that has animated all my efforts and successes and for which I am most humbled and grateful.”
UWSUPER.EDU � 2022-23 13
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting