The first day of my Ed.D. program was today. This induction week is an all-day long, 5-day workshop after which we'll have 8 meetings from 4 to 9pm on MWF. More info here. (Notice the lack of pictures.. Really though, it's interesting.)
Other than a free breakfast every day this week, and free parking, here is what I hope to gain from this experience:
Better leadership skills. I want to be able to inspire others to use their skills and interests to their advantage.
Better learning and teaching styles. I enjoy teaching, but want to learn more about learning, how to reach students and angage them better.
New direction. I am getting stale in my job, and even though I am having the best year yet, I feel more and more behind in what I am doing and have figured out that I am not growing as a person, nor am I growing my department, so that leaves little satisfaction from work. Maybe after this I will make a huge life-change. Maybe during. Maybe I can go back to what I'm doing with renewed vigor. Either way, I am excited to spend a little time pushing myself in new directions.
Here's a little of what we did today:
Discussed our goals, etc. Snore!
Discussed leadership and learning in the story Profession by Isaac Asimov. Take time to read this if you haven't. Good surprises and yet no real questions answered.
Another activity that took most of the afternoon was a group simulation in which we had a token economy (poker chips) which we traded with others and then were divided into groups (circles, triangles, squares) based on our scores. After two rounds the top group (including me) was taken out to re-write the rules however we saw fit. While meeting about our rules, the other groups were told to make recommendations about our decisions. We vetoed them all.
We came back in with what we thought was a very benevolent plan. We were going to abolish all groups, rearrange everyone into one big group, and continue the game with one small change that would give the lowest scorers a leg up. When we went back into the room, I was fool enough to take the lead in disseminating our plan, to which I found hostile confrontation and unwillingness to listen. One group literally turned their backs to us and questioned each decision, much like my two-year old son. (Why Daddy?)
I realized several things from this. 1) You can't dictate fairness to people. You HAVE to listen to your constituents and give them input (no matter how idiotic)
2) You have to earn respect. For some reason I was so naive to think that everyone would lovingly accept our plan and still want to play the game. Boy, was I wrong.
3) Leaders are often arbritrarily assigned and have no real outstanding qualities over their peers who are not leaders. Little did we know that the faculty-person conducting the games was manipulating the outcomes to further the people who won the first round and hold the others back. I actually thought I was good at this stupid game.
4) You can learn things about society by putting them in a microcosm, but, simulations are inherently stupid, and you shouldn't get to into them without looking at the bigger picture and what are we trying to learn or achieve by participating in it. I hope no one labels me the square who tried to dictate our rules on the rest of the group later on in the program.
Here are some words I'll be hearing/using: tolerance for ambiguity (some people can't handle this), collaboration, counter-intuitive, chaos theory, quantum physics vs. Newtonian science, Leading with Soul.
Here are some I hope we won't ever use: paradigm shift, no moral absolutes(ridiculous? No), there are no right/wrong answers--but we will probably use all these and more.
Will be interesting, getting 26 or so type A people together and telling them to square and argue concepts..
Look for pics tomorrow..
Posted by cmwillis at June 6, 2005 9:18 PM | TrackBack