DFS Week 8 Reaction

In my directed field study with Dr. Irey, I found that she is a passionate leader committed to learning and growth. This passion and commitment has been with her throughout her career in the classroom and in a multitude of student services roles. During her dissertation work, she found that persons of color and members of other underserved groups were not being valued well, nor were they being adequately prepared for leadership roles. She took her research to her president and began the journey that has become the Social Justice Leadership Institute (SJLI). In communicating with her over the past several weeks, I gained an understanding how to engage internal and external stakeholders, dig into the available resources for clarity and depth, stay committed to teaching and learning, and value the perspectives of others including those with points of view we do not readily appreciate.

I met with Dr. Irey over the seven-week semester through face-to-face, telephonic, and semistructured workshop interactions. In our initial meetings, we discussed my plan of study and the incites that I hoped to gain from the experience. We discussed her recent change in position and we touched on her current work briefly and she recommended that I do a bit of research about the situation she was working with the college to rectify.

What did I gain? Dr. Irey is impassioned and dedicated leader. She admits that mistakes are a part of the work but she conducts self-assessments throughout. She has made adjustments with each cohort and she will install improvements for her next cohort. Dr. Irey had some early adopters. Once the other institutions who did not believe in the validity of the program saw the impact the program had on its participants, they began to participate and send participants in greater numbers. Finally, Dr. Irey has a “gut-smacking” goal, which a key concept from Heath’s and Heath’s (2010) Switch. That goal is to develop 100 potential change leaders within the community and technical college system. Her hope is that these 100 cohort members will form a network and ongoing support group. Additionally, they will have the tools, confidence, and courage to seek and enact change within their local contexts. I gleaned the following from her responses:

1. Stay committed to the goal.
2. Communicate consistently and value all points of view.
3. Take the time to do research before giving an inadequate answer.
4. Communicate with knowledgeable others for clarity and depth.
5. Engage internal and external resources for support.

The greatest gain from these interactions was flexibility and understanding. When I listened to Dr. Irey discuss her responses to student issues and her communications with the college cabinet, I heard her primary focus on the spread of learning with regard to diversity and inclusion. I also gained an understanding for how she was able to adhere to multiple laws and college policy and still communicate her mission of educating the college community about the importance of diversity and inclusion. Her patience and understanding is also a skill that I can appreciate as I begin to develop my implementation plan for my PoP innovation.