DFS Week 2 Reaction

Week 2 Directed Field Study (DFS) Experience

Time spent with mentor:

I spent just one hour with Dr. Irey through face to face communication. We discussed her ongoing work at this time. She became the Interim VP of Diversity just recently. She is currently focused on hate crimes on campus against members of the Muslim and LBGTQ communities. There has been a series of hate speech writings on campus walls targeting these two communities since January of this year. Students have formed Bellevue College (BC) United to express their solidarity, concern, and dissatisfaction with the BC administration for not notifying them in a timelier manner. Student spokespersons for the group felt that their safety was compromised by not being informed more immediately. School officials thought they had reached out to students via email. However, the email never reached the student population. Since that time the poor communication has been addressed, but the damage has been done (King 5 News). 

Dr. Irey has been working with the local police department and NAACP representatives to craft a more thorough response to students. Additionally, she has been encouraging internal stakeholders to release more of the exact language to students so that they are fully aware of what has been said. She believes that it is more helpful to be completely transparent in this regard rather than speaking in abstract terms. She is working to change the hearts and minds of her president and other school leaders regarding issues of diversity, hate crimes, and educating the student population about being more responsible with use of free speech. I found engaging with her quite useful because of the many stakeholders she has involved to gain clarity and develop a game plan. Additionally, I have been invited to accompany her as she presents during next cabinet meetings. I am very interested to sit in and observe how she is able to energize stakeholders toward a change in mindset and approach with regard to the aforementioned areas. 

Bellevue College students criticize campus response to hate speech. Retrieved from http://www.king5.com/news/local/bellevue-college-students-criticize-campus-response-to-hate-speech/210614497.

This week's reading - Bright spots, scripting the critical moves, and point to the destination: 

By identifying bright spots, I am identify what is already being done and being done well. We are simply expanding that success into other spaces. Also, I would be directing my Rider. I tend to spin my wheels a bit when thinking of solutions. However, building upon what is already created helps me focus and increases the likelihood that I will move from analysis to action.

Scripting the critical moves will help me manage the anxiety within my office by providing precise guidance at the start. I would go further by stating our end goal. My “gut-smacking goals” are to provide my staff members with a sense of value in their role, recognition for their contributions over the years, an opportunity to build upon our program’s legacy, and connection of their work to overall student achievement.

Of the three concepts, scripting the critical moves resonated with me the most. Often I will develop a plan with the end goal in mind. Scripting the critical moves will enable me to lay stronger foundation toward getting to the end goal. These critical moves are focused on affecting the everyday behaviors that will be altered by the innovation. Bringing the activities of the innovation down to the specific behaviors that will not only help the Riders and Elephants in my student services staff, it will also help me evaluate the progress of the change project.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to change things when change is hard. pp. 27-98. New York, NY: Broadway Books.

DFS Week 1 Reaction

Week 1 Directed Field Study (DFS) Experience

Time spent with mentor:

I spent just twenty minutes with Dr. Irey through phone and email contact. We essentially discussed the purpose of the the DFS, what I hoped to gain, and availability for connection. I worked with Dr. Irey to determine availability. She did not have any availability this week but she is open next week. I plan to connect with her for our first face-to-face meeting during the week of May 23 - 28. I gathered her biographical information, current work, and developed a the plan of study that will guide our work together.

This week's reading: Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2010). Switch: How to change things when change is hard. pp. 1-24. New York, NY: Broadway Books.

I took a more personal view of the reading this week. I took an internal view at my leadership with the regard to being a "Rider" or an "Elephant" and I found myself to be more of a "Rider". I spin my wheels and in doing so I often hinder progress by not sharing what I am thinking. I often forget to use the "Elephants". These individuals always help me to put my plans in motion. One of the key leadership skills that I have had to learn is how to share out and allow the available knowledgeable others contribute solutions from their perspective. In this week's discussion. I highlighted my concerns and how the major tenets of this week's reading can help me grow. 

With respect to me innovation for my PoP, shaping the path applies to my leadership in that I need to appreciate how to direct the Rider and the Elephant from my own Rider perspective. I have had a difficult time throughout life adequately accounting for the emotional needs of others. While I am always aware of these needs, formulating responses to these needs have been quite challenging. Though I am a Rider by nature, I still have to remember the other Riders in the room. I have to provide them with the support they need to act with certainty and overcome the propensity to spin their wheels.

Directing the Rider is of particular importance to me because of my tendency to speak in the abstract. I sometimes forget to contextualize my intentions and convey them in a way that is clear and concise to those I am working with. I can think so far forward sometimes that I lose some of my colleagues less than halfway through a conversation. I have been addressing this by communicating with more real world examples and using available tools to clearly communicate my intentions.

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.

Leadership Challenge 12

LdC Template #12

Influential Practitioners (Leadership Challenge): Leading in a COP

Enhancing Action Research and Leadership Possibilities

through the Development of your Collaborative Skills

Module 12                                                                 Name: James D. Lett

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

What research or theories have you applied so far to increase the possibility that those involved in your problem and/or innovation are on board?  Use Wenger and other sources.  

Theories for Empowerment and Engagement, Diffusion and Innovations of Change and Communities of Practice

Kanter (1977), Weick (1993), Bentley (2009), Wenger (1998) I have chosen the Kanter (1977) to help articulate how empowerment and engagement improves organizational effectives at all levels. Moreover, leveling hierarchy is an essential component to empowerment. That mechanism is a tight knit group or community that shares an understanding of the common community and organizational goals and their role in that goal achievement. In the theory of collective mind, Weick (1993) discussed three principles: contributions, representations, and subordination. Starting with contributions and ending with subordination, heedful mindedness is a shared understanding of what is required to do excellent work. Bentley’s (2009) innovation and diffusion theory of change will support my conversations around creating a shared vision, looking internally for our answers rather than externally, and working collectively to identify opportunities for growth and to address any potential challenges along the way. All of these theories build a foundation for community of practice. Wenger (1998) would refer to the spreading of knowledge and skills as a shared repertoire, essential to sustaining a healthy thriving community of practice. The other three essentials that I would highlight include mutual engagement, joint enterprise, and negotiating meaning in practice.

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
The first characteristic of practice as the source of coherence of a community s the mutual engagement of participants.	Wenger (1998, 73)
The concept of collective mind is developed to explain organizational performance in situations requiring nearly continuous operational reliability. Collective mind is conceptualized as a pattern of heedful interrelations of actions in a social system.	Weick & Roberts (1993)
Twenty-first century education cannot succeed without becoming more explicit or authoritative about the meaning of understanding and excellence.	Bentley (2009)
Empowerment can turn a manager’s attention from control over others to more organizationally relevant matters as planning and innovation, unlocking hidden capabilities.	Kanter, 1977, 278
Empowerment must….start with, and rest fundamentally on, modification of official structural arrangements.	Kanter, 1977, 276
Flattening the hierarchy – removing levels and spreading formal authority – is among the more general and important strategies.	Kanter, 1977, 276
It (flattening hierarchy) has the virtues of adding to the power component of jobs (the non-routine, discretionary, and visible aspects) along with increasing contact among managers, at the same time that it can speed up decisions and improve communications.	Kanter, 1977, 276
It is always hard to get at real power issues or make impactful changes in a power structure, since, almost by definition, those with power have a stake in keeping it for themselves.	Kanter, 1977, 276

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, Kevin, and Sean discussed the theories that they have applied to their problem of practice. Kevin started the conversation. Kevin spoke about how stages of concern can encourage buy-in. Michelle discussed being empathetic with regard to the stages of concern. She discussed maintaining an open mind and supporting them through their concerns. Kevin talked about how others may also be feeling the same concerns. Michelle also spoke about how the social networks will help improve those connections and address those concerns. Kevin spoke about using these connections to improve his knowledge and inform his problem of practice. Sean spoke about increasing student engagement and how the quotes from Wenger have helped him build the community needed to investigate his problem of practice. Sean spoke about branching out and getting feedback from knowledgeable others. Michelle stated that the more factors supporting the intervention including stakeholders, the more likely the change will occur. Kevin spoke about how the goal of is to reach the renewal stage in the Levels of Use.

   

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?

Including others in the decision making process.

I attempted to include my advisors in the development of our daily advising schedule and helping select our marketing materials for outreach events. With regard to the schedule, I got “you’re the boss, I’ll do whatever.” I have an advisor who was most recently a member of the U.S. Army. I understand where he is coming from. It is my hope that as he grows into the position and the environment, he will become more engaged in the decision making process. I have a new advisor who was most recently an outreach coordinator. She provided a couple of suggestions for improving some of our printed marketing materials. I went ahead and ordered a give-away item based upon her recommendation. I plan to work with her to create a mock-up of this updated outreach pamphlet between registration periods.