Leadership Challenge 13

LdC Template #13

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 13                                                                 Name: James D. Lett

The process below relates to the following new Leadership Provocative Question(s): 

What does the literature suggest we should do to make our conversations about research meaningful to use as change agents/action researchers?   Include Wenger and one other author.  

To make our conversations about research more meaningful, we need to recognize and understand that learning is a process of change. Alexander and Schallert (2009) would say that learning is change. As action researchers, it is important for us to not become frustrated with ourselves, the research process, or our participants. We are changing our practice. That means that we are voluntarily changing our role, potentially affecting the roles of others, and disrupting some cultural norms within our situated context.  According to Alexander, et al (2009), learning occurs at all stages of life. John-Steinter and Maher (1996) and Hadwin and Osige (2011) applied the Vygotskian theory more explicitly to learning outcomes both within formal and informal settings. They addressed the internalization of learning. They detail how the context plays a pivotal role in an individual’s learning and development. John-Steiner and Maher asserted that human development begins with a reliance of on others. As we develop we depend on others such as our parents for valuable contextual knowledge. Even though we are not yet active participants we pick up valuable cues that we will later use in more overt participation (Steiner and Mahn, 1996). According to Hadwin and Osige, adults must provide learners with a guided learning experience incorporating both personally and culturally meaningful activities. We must be open to this guided learning as we move through this new circumstance. In many ways, we experience this child-like newness each time we embark upon a new journey in our lives. Being open to all of the possibilities helps us develop a comfort with the new circumstance.

            Essentially, as Wenger (1998) would state, we are seeking a new identity within our community of practice. From this perspective, identity represents a combination of the familiar and the unknown. The author further states that we experience the world based upon concepts we can easily interpret and those concepts that are difficult to grasp (1998). This recognition piece has been key to my growth throughout this program because I am investigating theories and applying them to my local context for the first time. It has been haphazard and I have battled through great uncertainty. Therefore, I would add development of a comfort with uncertainty (as encouraged by our instructors) is also an essential aspect of our learning.

Alexander, P. A., Schallert, D. L., & Reynolds, R. E. (2009). What is learning anyway? A topographical perspective considered. Educational Psychologist, 44(3), 176–192.

Hadwin, A. & Oshige, M. (2011). Self-regulation, coregulation, and socially shared regulation: Exploring perspectives of social in self-regulated learning. Teachers College Record, 113(2), 240-264.

John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework. Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
In practice, we know who we are by what is familiar, understandable, useable, negotiable.	153
We know who we are not by what is foreign, opaque, unwieldy, unproductive.	153
In a community of practice, we learn certain ways of engaging in action with other people.	152
We develop certain expectations about how to interact, how people treat each other, and how to work together.	152
We become who we are by being able to play a part in the relations of engagement that constitute our community.	152
As we invest ourselves in an enterprise the forms of accountability through which we are able to contribute to that enterprise make us look at the world in certain ways. It moves us to understand certain conditions and to consider certain possibilities.	152-153
In my context, I started as an outsider with no identity as an educator. I leaned on all of the knowledgeable others within my work setting for learning and growth. Since that time, I have grown significantly and I have developed some automaticity to much of the language, policies, tasks, procedures, and general workplace culture
During this term, I have felt a bit under siege. Still, I have persevered and I am learning a little each day about living with uncertainty and redefining my identity. Still, I will need to to continue to improve going forward in order to engage more meaningfully and fulfill my responsibilities as a cohort member.

f. Holding an on-line Conversation

After participating/viewing the “fishbowl” conversation record notes here (below) about your responses to your peers or new thoughts based on their postings.  Be certain your notes here are comprehensive, as were your responses to peers. (If you participate as a “fish,” in the fishbowl your notes, which should be entered below, can be much more succinct.)

Michelle related to design thinking because it allows us to review and apply concepts at a faster pace. This will allow us to view what we have missed. She referred to the Aristotle article on ethics. She spoke about the need to be make ethical considerations throughout, focusing not only on our research and our role, but also on the participant’s role. Lynne spoke about gaps in practices and how we don’t always know how to solve the problem. She spoke about how the readings are often just in time and she has used them to discuss real issues within her workplace. She provided an example of how a general conversation around positive deviance with a coworker became a knowledge building exercise and opportunity to discuss ways to address current problems. Kevin spoke about how to make research tangible. Rather than focusing on data, we can begin putting a face to the data and using it to arrive at more meaningful change. Michelle talked about the opportunity for grassroots change efforts and how those lead to more sustainable solutions. Kevin addressed “what does professional learning look like?” Lynne offered some quotes highlighting how as action researchers we are learners before “we are educators.” She spoke of how professional development is embedded in the process. Additionally, we have to be open to new possibilities. Otherwise, we may continue getting the same results.

   

g. Determining your Leadership Challenge/New Leadership Challenge

Based on your own quotes/ideas from Wenger, your workplace experiences, and new insights you developed as you reflected on your peers’ work, what behavior do you want to experiment with/try out for your leadership challenge in the next few days?

Managing Uncertainty

I have a tendency to hold information and speak when it is completely certain of an outcome. It is a holdover approach from my days in the Army. Early on as a supervisor, I would give my soldiers the okay to take leave only to have to go back and tell them to cancel plans. Sometimes this occurred after they had already bought plane tickets. Other times, I would okay a soldier to to perform a task, only to be told something completely different. I would tell those soldiers to go back and start over. We tried to salvage where we could but these changes would often erase the work that had already be done. I admit that there were instances of poor leadership. However, in many circumstances, the situation in the world changes and we had to change with it.

            Still, I have become an information holder not willing to share until completely certain. It has caused some frustration within some of my older staff members who prefer to have constant communication. I have been addressing it with quarterly professional development check-ins (in conjunction with the yearly evaluation), scheduled meetings, and timely emails. However, for this week’s leadership challenge, I instituted the “quick pow-wow.” We cannot always get together for a formal meeting, so I asked my team to come chat about a few things. At first assessment and evaluation, it seems that it is quite effective. We discussed my absence, the events of that day, their roles, any questions they may have about the roles, and any other questions that were not addressed. This personal touch seemed to settle some anxiety. I have some verbal communicators. Therefore, written communication is not always best. The verbal interaction gave us an opportunity for immediate feedback, group information sharing, and building a rapport with each other.