Kevin Bishop
Why did you choose to pursue the Adult Learning and Leadership program at K-State?
I made a transition in my career. I was in sales operations at that time and knew that wasn't for me. Some of the work that I was doing there was around training. A role opened up in our corporate learning and development team, and I happened to get it. Then I [realized] I had a steep learning curve. How can I start to speak the language that the people I'm working with speak and learn more about this field in this space? I looked at a lot of programs and kept coming back to the K-State program because it felt comprehensive. It wasn't just corporate, and it wasn't just higher education, which a lot of programs are. I saw that they had students who were in the military, students who were working for nonprofit or medical organizations, and that was really interesting to me to get that sort of diversity of thought on the topic of adult learning and leadership.
What would you say are the top 3 things that stand out to you about the program?
The top three things that stand out to me are, one, the professors. I liked how accessible they were. It was easy to email and get a response. Clearly [they are] top of their fields. They know what they're talking about, and they could help guide me. We had a lot of ability to interact on topics around how I'm applying what I'm learning. I was going through the program online, and so the people that I got to interact with had a lot of different points of view. That's number two. The third thing that stood out to me was the quality of the courses themselves. There wasn't really a course that wasn't engaging or that didn't challenge me to think differently about the topic we were studying. I really enjoyed all the courses.
How did this program shape your career?
I think because of being in this program, I was able to accelerate my career. I had spent a lot of time in sales operations and that is a big pivot to move into learning and development or talent development. Because I was able to make that transition and start this program, I've now worked for three or four different companies. Ultimately, I'm at LinkedIn now, which was never even on my radar. The fact that I was able to gain this education and this experience and start to speak the language of adult learning and leadership helped me get to where I am now, which is great.
What advice would you offer to prospective students who are considering the program in adult learning and leadership based on your experience as a student?
If I were talking to someone else, I would highly encourage them to check out this program. It depends on what your end goals are and whether or not the program is going to meet those. I think this program is one of the best out there, having done all the research to choose a program because of all the things we've talked about. I learned so much from the professors. I had a great experience going through the program. I was able to do it [remotely] from Chicago, where I live. It felt like a high-touch experience. It's a great program, and I would highly recommend it to anybody who's considering pursuing this field.
If you could describe your experience with the College of Education faculty in three words, what would you say?
If I could describe the faculty in three words, I would say dedicated, passionate and connected. It was clear from day one they were dedicated to my success in the program. Whenever I had a question or if I had an issue that I wanted to discuss further, maybe about a topic we were discussing, [I] always had access [to them]. It's clear that they were passionate about the work they're doing in this field. That came through very clearly just in the lectures and the conversations we were having. It's clear that they were all still actively researching or working in these fields as well. It was great to see how they're actually applying this material that we're talking about in their own practice.
Is there a particular project or experience from the program that shaped your understanding of adult learning and leadership, especially in the context of your professional field?
One of the things that really clicked for me from this program was when we were studying experiential learning. A lot of people in my field, especially those who work in big business or big corporations, miss this sometimes, and it's experiential learning. The fact that you actually have to focus on hands-on application, practical application of the knowledge that you're trying to share with people. Every program I design, every program I lead, I really focus a little bit on the content, but mostly on how we are going to get you to start applying this today. That was a huge takeaway for me. The things that I learned in this program helped me to pivot quickly. That's a key skill in my line of work. Based on the knowledge and the experience I've gained through this program, I'm able to walk into almost any situation and react and respond in a way that is going to ‘move the needle,’ to use a corporate term, on what the business is trying to achieve.