Leadership Challenge #2

LdC Template

Module 1 ldc Steps 1, 2 and 3 on provocative question #1

Provocative Question #1 (LdC)

When/why do I hold back from participating? When/Why do I commit to solving problems by myself?

I find myself holding back from participating for three reasons. The first is typically when I am feeling overwhelmed, such as I feel currently, and do not want to add to my responsibilities. The other is if I feel like the additional work would not be appreciated. The third is if I do not feel that the work is sound. This could be groups, programs, or other initiatives. Sometimes I feel like things can be a waste of time.

I find that I have a difficult time give out work, ie delegating. Sometimes it feels and is easier to do it myself than have others do it. The amount of time it takes to explain what is needed often is more than the actual project itself. I have had unfortunately bad experiences of people not following through as well. This lack of trust leads me to not want to give out work when I will be ultimately responsible for it.

Step 1. Prepare for an on-line Conversation

Quote/ideas from the book; applications/instances from your workplace setting	Page number
I am feeling a bit overwhelmed this past couple of weeks between school, work, and family. I am trying to balance it all and am finding this very difficult. I am not participating and volunteering in opportunities at work like I normally do because I am not wanting to add more to it.	Workplace
I am on the board of AzPHA and am the chair of the Professional Development & Academic Relations Committee. We had our monthly meeting this morning. I found myself assigning some things to others in order to not have to do them myself. These were more simple tasks such as finding the next social event location (name a restaurant with a decent happy hour). I tasked myself with running an analysis on our mentoring pilot program in order to do QI.	Workplace
Participation in social communities shapes our experiences and it also shapes those communities; the transformative potential goes both ways.	pages 56-57
It is a part of who they are that they always carry with them and that will surface...	page 57
Concept of identity in terms of social norms...	page 146
The politics of participation include influence, personal authority, nepotism, rampant discrimination, charisma, trust, friendship, ambition	page 91

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

Step 2. Hold 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.) (This space expands to accommodate your writing.)

We can only be in one place at a time, finite hours in a day.
Online teaching - difficulty to develop a community. Being far away geographically, it is  difficult to participate.
If she can solve a problem by herself, relating to her classes and students, not needing additional advice, she will. She will reach out if she needs it however.
Ch. 2 CoP can be a strength and or weakness. Cradle of self and potential cage of the soul. If she does not feel like she is needed or necessary, she'll back off. She feels like she can do it better.
p 170 - non participation as a strategy - freedom to not participate, passive disagreeing; you'll have some who check out at the end of the day, some who carry it with them after work hours; level of ownership can vary. Need to engage your employees and get them excited. Note, look up varying TED talks about that topic.
Participation shapes who we are and what we do. What matters in learning, we are social beings, knowing is participating. Opinions being undervalued being linked to lack of engagement and participation.
p 191 - modes of belong become part of identities, participatory process, different CoPs change identities. If you don't have access to your CoP members readily available, he feels more confident in tackling the problems, go at it along.
Our IDs .... what we are and what we are not; what we are not can come into a larger part of defining an identity; can be positive or negative; able to quickly assess topics quickly when looking at commonalities, adverse impacts
When do you leave a CoP? Is it not participating, would one still be part of it just through knowledge
It is important to bring skill sets from other disciplines; good to maintain connections and relationships, cross over

Step 3. Determine your 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? (Write one sentence.)

 I want to try out a simple survey, perhaps two or three questions, to give informally to my students to see how they participate in social settings and how they identify from there.

Step 4. Implement and Reflect

First update 09/13/2016: I have created a survey on surveymonkey and send it off for approval from my director. I am wanting to send it out to my students, as well as put it out on the email distribution list for all public health undergraduates. I asked simple questions about their major (make sure I have all public health students), class standing, if they participate in any ASU sponsored clubs/organizations (if so, which ones, if not, why not), and if they enjoy participating and speaking up in classes. Since I am thinking about my intervention, I did include a question on what their plans are after graduation, including if they will be going to graduate school in public health, another field, medical school, or no plans for additional education. If they select no future plans, I asked why. I am hoping to incorporate their responses into a way to address their needs. This of course is completely informal and will not be used in my action research in any publishable manner.

Second update 09/13/2016: The survey has been sent out!

Third update 09/15/2016: So far the survey has gotten 16 responses, with 15 being public health majors. One is a political science major. I am not sure how they got the link to take the survey, but I can control for that data. Since there are 39 students in the problem, and 15 have responded so far, I am pleased with the turnout. 9/16 students participate in various ASU clubs/organizations, five being in the Public Health Student Association. All respondents listed not having enough time between work and school for not participating with the exception of one person who stated as being a non-traditional student, he/she did not feel welcomed. It was a mix response for those who enjoy or do not enjoy participating and speaking up in class. One stated that the classes are too boring and another that there were too many kids. Those who did enjoy it stated that if it helps to understand the material and they enjoyed sharing their opinions.

For those responding about graduate school plans, eight planned on going to graduate school in public health, three to medical school, one to graduate school in a different field, and one wants to go to the peace corps prior to graduate school. Of those responding that they will not go on for further education stated that financial constraints were their number on reason, one person wanted to take time off between undergraduate and graduate programs, and one feels burnt out on school.

These responses so far mirror what I had been thinking all along. I am surprised that there are so many who plan on going onto graduate school. Most of those responding in the affirmative are also freshman, so it would be interesting to see if their perspectives changes as time goes on. That is, as the realities of education costs set in (especially after four years of undergraduate), if they still are wanting to go on to school.