Month: June 2018

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Response to charliemable’s post- Unit 7-LA 2

Response to charliemable‘s post- Unit 7-LA 2

https://create.twu.ca/charliemable/2018/06/17/values-based-and-transformational-leadership-unit-7-activity-2/#builder_active

Do you think ethical leadership in Canada is higher than most countries?

I believe being diplomatic, ethical and tolerant may set Canada on the top of the list. These components are essential when it counts on ethical leadership; however, research on this topic will help the case. Canada is a diverse country that applies diversity in many aspects at different levels. When leaders consider transparency, accessibility, and willingness to collaborate as a style of leadership, it shows the value and the moral of Canadian leader[s].

Canadian heritage has a standard of ethics; when Canadian conduct themselves in accordance to the following values of the public sectors and as expected behaviors as well:

  1. Respect for democracy
  2. Respect people
  3. Integrity
  4. Stewardship
  5. Excellence
  6. Official language
  7. Diversity

Responsibility begins with each of us and builds an excellent reputation for the organization in mind and spirit for all Canadians. Also, considering the focus of Canadian leaders on climate change, women’s rights, and equality, that will bring a new era on Canadian history compared to the past. Definitely, like many other Canadians, I will promote ethical leadership approach to all aspects of my life and endeavor.

Reference:

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/publications/general-publications/values-ethics-code.html

 

 

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LDRS 500- Unit 7- LA 2

Unit 7-LA 2

 

Unit 6 Learning Activities

Managerial implications as noted in Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels indicates that “transformational leadership tends to be a robust predictor of desirable performance outcomes across situations (Bass, 1997; as cited in Wang, Oh, Courtright & Colbert, 2011, p.253). Transformational leaders enable and motivate their followers to fulfill their assigned job duties in some ways. Transformational leaders (Wang et al., 2011) link their followers‘ work roles to a compelling vision of the organizational future. Therefore, causing followers to view their works as significant and meaningful and thus increase their intrinsic values and potential motivation. For managers, using the transformational leadership style, they raised the probability of high-performance and positive outcome of transforming the relationship of their employees. Since the transformational leaders enable their followers to believe of themselves and they can achieve the attainable goal that set for them; therefore, it will increase self-efficacy (Wang et al., 2011) positively and affect followers performance in a collaborative team setting.

Furthermore, prior research by Barling, Weber, & Kelloway (1996), shows that “transformational leadership style is trainable, with the results of such training being quite substantial” (as cited in Wang et al., 2011, p.253). Employing transformational leadership approach in a team-oriented resulting in maximizing the team potency and effectiveness; therefore, high standard when mentoring or coaching will be achieved.

Therefore, “it is important for organizations to promote transformational leadership through selection practices and training interventions, organizations should also bear in mind that they are likely to derive the most value from transformational leadership in settings involving teamwork and collaboration among employees” (Podsakoff, Ahearne, & MacKenzie, 1997; as cited in Wang et al., 2011, p.253). It is important to acknowledge that TL approach goes beyond task-performance (Wang et al., 2011) of followers and influence them to engage contextual performance; which in regard, is vital for organizational future. It can be through motivating workers, and their team leads to committing work behavior that increases social identity (conferences; national week); thus, promote commitment and organizational citizenship behavior through the exchange process (Northouse, 2016).  Transformational leaders also function as role models that their followers desire to emulate, thereby eliciting higher team commitment, cooperation, and performance. Teaching TL approach to leaders will promote intellectual stimulation to their followers (Northouse, 2016; Wang et al., 2011).  Learning from Transformational leadership approach, and thus, applying it in my Leadership context. Promoting ethical behavior, and willing to serve others in a collaboration; whereby, can be a positive effect on my organizational’ performance and culture.

The five principles of ethical leadership as noted in Northouse (2016, p. 431-437) are respect, service, justice, honesty, and community building.

Respect– as Beauchamp and Bowie (1988) pointed out, “Persons must be treated as having their own autonomously established goals and must never be treated purely as the means to another’s personal goals”(as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.431). Therefore, it requires leaders to be sensitive to followers’ own interests, needs, and conscientious concerns.  In other words, we should not treat others as a means to an end; rather persons should be treated others respecting to decisions and goals. Respect in leadership (Northouse, 2016) means: approaching other people with a sense of their unconditional worth and valuable differences (Kitchener, 1984; as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.431), giving credence to others’ ideas and confirming them as human beings, nurturing followers to becoming aware of their own needs, values, and purposes (Burns 1978; as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.431), being tolerant of opposing views (Northouse, 2016, p. 342). For example, active listening with empathy to subordinates in a way to confirm their beliefs, attitudes and believes; therefore the followers feel competent about their work.

Service– The service in leadership as explained by Northouse (2016), is the leaders who “place their followers ‘ welfare foremost in their plans” (p.432). Therefore, their altruistic service behavior can be approached and observed in activities such as mentoring, empowering, team building, and citizenship behaviors. For example, the ethical principle in the health care of beneficence ((Beauchamp & Childress, 1994; as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.432), where health professionals ought to make choices that benefit the patients. Like health professionals (Northouse, 2016), ethical leaders have “a responsibility to attend to others, be of service to them, and make decisions pertain to them that are beneficial and not harmful to their welfare” (p.432).  Service to others is also the basis of the Servant Leadership model proposed by Greenleaf (1970, 1977). Effective leaders see their own personal vision as an essential part of something larger than themselves-part of the organization and community at large.

Justice- Ethical leaders (Northouse, 2016) “place issues of fairness at the center of their interest” (p.433). They make it their priority to “treat all followers in an equal manner” (Northouse, 2016, p. 435). Concerning with issues of fairness is necessary when cooperating with others when promoting a common interest. Issues of justice arise when there is a limit on goods and resources; therefore, a good leader should have an ethical principle on how to distribute these resources equitably to avoid confects.

Honesty– Being honest is not about telling the truth, it has to do with others being open transparent and representing reality as fully and completely as possible. Its essential for leaders to be authentic, “To be a good leader, one must be honest” (Northouse, 2016, p.435). Jaksa and Pritchard (1988), dishonesty creates distrust; hence, a negative impact on those people who lose faith in what their leaders say and stand for (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.435). Therefore, leaders impact compromised and no longer trust in their leaders.

For leaders in organizations, being honest means, “Do not promise what you can’t deliver, do not misrepresent, do not hide behind spin-doctored evasions, do not suppress obligations, do not evade accountability, do not accept that the ‘survival of the fittest’ pressures of business release any of us from the responsibility to respect another’s dignity and humanity” (Dalla Costa (1998, p. 164; a cited in Northouse, 2016, p.436).

Community building-This can also construe when leaders need to take into the account their own and followers purpose when working towards attained common goal. Regarding this, incorporating transformational leadership style where leaders try “to move the group toward a common good that is beneficial for both the leaders and the followers” (Burns, 1978; as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.436). Thereby, the leader-follower relationship in the organizational context involved the purpose of everyone and attentive to the interest of community and culture.

It appears that transformational and servant leadership approach (Northouse, 2016) promote the individual and group goals in the common good and public interest. Therefore, I would choose honesty and service others as the two essential principles for my leadership style. I believe they considered as an integral part of the broader domain of leadership. Considering service others as a result of respecting others, and honesty as the link between showing justice and building community; therefore, the leadership approach that serves the greater good of others and excels with honesty have a positive impact in developing the real-world of ethical leadership.

Do you think of any other principles that may become part of the ethical leadership chain?

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 971452203409

Wang, G., Oh, I. S., Courtright, S. H., & Colbert, A. E. (2011). Transformational leadership and performance across criteria and levels: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of research. Group & Organization Management, 36(2), 223-270. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:3201/doi/pdf/10.1177/1059601111401017

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LDRS 500-Unit 7-LA 1

Unit 7-LA 1

 

Unit 7 Learning Activities

Regarding leadership, ethics is about what leaders do and who leaders are. Ethics is “concerned with the virtuousness of Individuals and their motives and provides a system of rules or principles that guide leaders in making a decision about what is right and wrong and good or bad”(Northouse, 2016, p.424). Leaders, when making a decision, choices they made are informed by their ethics. Van Buren (20.13) defines ethics as “principles, values, and beliefs that define what is right and what is wrong behavior.” She posited that “leaders set up the moral tone for the organization, and that staff responds to moral clues from their leaders.” It appears that leaders who are taking actions on ethical issues they face challenges that enable them to set the tone for the behavior of the rest of the organization. In addition to, “leaders can create an ethical culture by – being a role model, communicating ethical standards, promoting the effective financial management, providing ethical training, institutional ethical culture, provide protective mechanisms to employees who bring forth their concerns about ethics violations” (Van Buren, 2013). Northouse (2016) postulated that “ethics is central to leadership because of the nature of the process of influence, the need to engage followers in accomplishing mutual goals, and the impact leaders have on the organization’s values (p.428). The principles of ethical leadership as explained by Northouse (2016), are “respects others, service others, shows justice, manifest honesty, and builds community” (p.431).

Bill George (2003), succinctly states: we need leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity; leaders who build enduring organizations, motivate their employees to provide superior customer service and create long-term value for shareholders (p. 9; as cited in Avolio & Gardener, 2005, p.316). The four core elements of authenticity as identified by Kernis (2003) are self-awareness, unbiased processing, relational authenticity, and authentic behavior/action( as cited in Avolio & Gardener,2005, p.317). Shamir and Eilam (2005) They posit the following four characteristics of authentic leaders: (1), authentic leaders are true to themselves (rather than conforming to the expectations of others); (2) authentic leaders motivated by personal convictions (rather than to attain status, honors, or other personal benefits); (3) authentic leaders are originals; that is, they lead from their own personal point of view; and (4) the actions of authentic leaders are based on their personal values and convictions (as cited in Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p.321).

Authentic leadership development involves processes whereby “leaders and followers gain self-awareness and establish open, transparent, trusting and genuine relationships, which in part may be shaped and impacted by planned interventions such as training” (Avolio, 2005, as cited in Avolio & Gardner, 2005, p.322). Authentic leaders foster the development of authenticity in followers through increased self-awareness, self-regulation, and positive modeling; therefore, followers’ authenticity contributes to their well being and the attainment of sustainable and veritable performance (Avolio & Gardener, 2005). The reflection of the true meaning of authenticity requires to have relational transparency (Avolio & Gardener, 2005) between leaders and followers relationship; since it reflects the open and transparent manner in a leader-follower relationship; therefore, elicit the personal and social identification required to secure follower trust and commitment. Therefore, follower’s “self-awareness” and follower’s self-regulation instilled by training; hence, followers aligning their ideas with their leaders in their organization. In turns, it was promising to have an organizational commitment and sustained organizational citizenship behavior, which every workplace should strive to achieve. Nevertheless, positive psychological capital when relates to the capacity of having confidence, being optimistic, hope and resiliency as personal resources; and thus have a positive impact on the leaders and their followers and enable them to bounce from a catastrophic situation and display resiliency rapidly.

Considering the organizational context and leadership interaction in that context required to give leaders opportunity to be sustained and integrated within that context regarding uncertainty, turbulence, and challenge; therefore, altering the setting of itself to make it more authentic. Another way to promote ethical behaviors is to ensure that there is a safe way for staff and stakeholders to hold the leadership ethically accountable (Van Burne, 2013).

For an organization to grow and flourish, needs to have leaders (Van Burne, 2013) who can be a visible role model– and this can be simple as washing your own cup which conveys a positive message to your employee, employees who take cues about appropriate behavior from those at the top. In regard, communicating ethical expectations by creating an organizational code of ethics which states corporate values and ethical rules and principles for safe practice. In my organization, they encourage this practice through online modules that promote patient confidentiality and a respectful workplace. However, all depend on how you develop these expectations, perceive and integrate them into the organizational practice; therefore they promote an organizational culture that influences the employees’ behavior. Strong organizations support their employees by providing them with moral training which may include a code of ethics implemented in employees manual of operation. Transparency, self-regulation, and self- awareness- A respected employees who commit to these codes, they relate to certain behaviors when making decisions. For example, to question our selves these questions; “asking is it fair? Is it honest? Does it advances societal interest, or does it cause a risk? How it feels when you find the decision ended up in the evening news have a positive impact when conveying ethical codes in a respected organization. By this mean, the valued employees increase their self-awareness, and limited to, invite a response from others. Balanced processing to what degree the leaders solicit sufficient opinions and viewpoints prior making decisions. Lastly, provide a protective mechanism – that sustains employee’s commitment and safe practice, in other words, the process of promoting an institutional ethical culture which allows the employee to discuss ethical dilemmas and report unethical behavior without fear or reprimand.

Leaders’ behaviors influence employee engagement, leading to positive organizational outcomes. Servant leaders enacted proven leadership behaviors that improve employee engagement and create a positive environment for a power-exchange among employees(Northouse, 2016). The organizations need to pay particular attention to intervention programs that enhance their managers’ leadership style that promotes ethical behaviors.

Do you think if emotional intelligence has any positive impact on leadership ethics and decisions, and how that can be modeled?

References

Avolio, B. & Gardner, W. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 315-338. Retrieved from:  https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:3744/S1048984305000263/1-s2.0-S1048984305000263-main.pdf?_tid=175592e8-e93e-4f5c-afa1-77ed48791e65&acdnat=1528867396_6bcf6a3a04ae4b0f6607198084558905

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 971452203409

Van Buren, J. (2013, March 29). What is Ethical Leadership?. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA

 

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Response to Lewa’s post-Lights from many lamps-Unit 6

Response to Lewa’s post-Lights from many lamps-Unit 6

 

LDRS 500, Unit 6, Light from many lamps

I appreciate sharing your thoughts!

Faith, Hope, and Love

I do see a lot of valuable insights in these words and I do believe they have to be combined. Faith is something that we exert; we put an effort to have, some energy and conscious intention. Hope is evidence of life-where there is life always there is hope. Love is a truly healing force and transformational force that can reverses centuries of wrongdoing.

We are often lost if we think of our performance, our ability, our approval from others, but we can fix the sights by looking into humanity collectively.  Faith, hope, and love are like an operational element to our lives; we use them to engage and interact with others. They are the personal fulfillment, and the gift of power given to the human being and they can go far and greater. I believe these words are the magic words rooted in the personality of a great leader, a leader who knows how to lead.  Definitely, we need to convey these words to our precious people, people who we value.

Lastly, I would like to share with you  “With malice toward none, with charity for all’,  Abraham Lincoln 1865

 

 

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LDRS 500-Learning activity 2-Unit 6

Unit 6-Learning activity 2

 

I had the pleasure of learning and connecting with Brenda within her busy schedule. She is an indigenous woman, working for her community as the Vice-President of the Indigenous economic development organization. She has a lot to say about her work. Her goals are to create capacity through employment opportunities for indigenous people and in creating economic wealth for her nation.

Brenda works in a firm that she need to have organizational, time management, and networking skills. She works well in times of crisis. She described her self as someone that gets things done on time and effectively. An example that I quoted during the conversation

“when my company was asked to set up a campsite in 5 days, it required utilizing my network to get tasks accomplished and to get my project a priority with vendors. I set up a project plan so that all staff knew what was needed to get done. I set timelines and followed up with others to ensure they completed tasks on time and also ensured that they were not running into any obstacles, I equally did my share of the work so that staff could see the pace of work that was required to get the job done. ”

She is organized on her tasks; she keeps them achievable and straightforward by knowing which tasks could wait and which were crucial to opening operations. Brenda’s plans for next five years is to have her MA in Business Leadership and to be the President of her company, and apply the skills that she learned on the job. 

 It’s a new field for Brenda working with the indigenous economic development company. It might be challenging as she explained:

“Many First Nations have joint ventures; however, they are not actually operating companies while my community is operating entirely on its own.”

Choosing the top three skills that she believes they are needed to bring to her organization are:

“Fiscal Responsibility – create economic wealth for the nation through land development. To date, we have focused on a capacity for building and creating employment. We have achieved that goal, and then some having grown from 1 to 160 employees in 5 years.

Improve the relationship with the Kwantlen government by extending the olive branch and improving communications – the business arm of the nation is often influenced by government and can effect community support. First, it means setting the record straight in terms of what can be provided and when. Then having ongoing meetings to keep them informed of progress and any changes. This will relieve some pressure and will help to create a feeling of us all being in this together.

Bring other employees in on decision making and encourage capacity building – instead of jumping in to give answers I need to work on saying “What do you think” to allow the employees to grow and make decisions for themselves. With this will require feedback as not every decision will be a good one.” 

Brenda earned a lot in her career path to bring to her organization and she still wants to give more by pursuing her MA in Business Leadership. She is an example of servant leader in her organization. Brenda firmly believes in putting reconciliation in action through teaching her employee and youth in her community, self-reliance. In turn, she thinks this will creates a healthy and productive community and a better world for future generations.  She presented skills through her work plan, serving her community, and fits appropriately within her organizational goals.

Reference:

Unit 6 Learning Activities

Read Rockwell, D. (2017, March 17) The Anatomy of Performance Enhancing Coaching Conversations.

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LDRS 500-Employee Development Plan-Unit 6-LA 3

Employee Development Plan-Unit 6-LA 3

 

Unit 6 Learning Activities

Working in healthcare sector driven by people and technology. As per Kadampully, Bilgihan and Zhang (2016) “combining…people and technology produce the hybrid organization that benefits from new technology but still provides an appropriate climate and culture to nurture creativity and innovation through people” (p.154). The employee-patient relationship requires the use of technology when delivering care to the patient. Many aspects and applications can be employed to participate in employee development; therefore patient service will have an improvement that can be measured. In such hybrid firm, they recognize the role of technology as enabler without neglecting the importance of emotional engagement with the patient. Interprofessional collaboration is the key to a partnership between a team of healthcare provider and the patient. Therefore, determining the patient needs will set the goal for service and the good use of technology.

Employee development plan adds more values to the purpose when incorporated into employee-patient care relationship. I will list some of the technologies that can be used when initiating employee development plan

Employee integral-online module-Our organization provides employees with integral- online modules that have to be completed annually to keep the employee within the standard. These modules reviewed every year to consider any changes in the practice. In conjunction to these modules, developing “a community of practice framework” as noted by Moule (2006), and mutual engagement in the healthcare system will communicate employee development plan and improvements in their communities [profession] efficiently. Therefore; promoting organizational citizenship behavior will have positive results in a service-oriented culture.

Patients feedback and satisfaction-as I mentioned earlier, have a positive impact on employee development and patient care service. The organization should create a service environment and have patient submitting their feedback and their ideas about the service through feedback email or podcast. I believe, there would be an increasing number of responses. Therefore, firms would facilitate patients empowerment as well as employee development. On the other hand, it is not limited to provide the opportunity for co-creation and innovation; thereby, promoting organizational citizenship behavior in a service-oriented culture. Additional, patient results can be checked on e-health service which enables the physician to have a better understanding and medical decisions that can expedite treatment and shorten the length of stay in the healthcare facility. The implication of the electronic feedback and suggestions from patients are good evidence for the decision makers to consider in any transformational process that leads to improvement. In regard, I do value patient ‘s feedback and the influence of the process on the growth of employee and development in the healthcare sector. Hence, determining patients needs and measure their satisfaction, will have a positive impact on healthcare partnership and would set and sustain goals for excellent service.

Developing virtual classroom for our students and employees as part of the practicum and orientation will facilitate a learning opportunity for a situation that may happen during real time. It will simulate the thinking process and engage the learners with resources in work groups in a safe virtual learning environment that incorporates course materials and other tools that are external to the classroom experience. Therefore, during real time, students and employee have earned some experience through their first practical application to initiate their starting at the workplace in healthcare platform. At the same time, they elicit confidence, learning, and interaction needed in the workplace. Huddle street- A virtual learning environment as noted in the study done by Currell and Taylor (2012), is a 2D virtual street and community providing a hybrid Virtual Learning Environment that combines features and interaction styles, more commonly associated with computer simulations where all professions could converse and learn together. VLE (Currell & Taylor, 2012) supports perceptual inferences that people find easy to understand. The concept as explained by Currell and Taylor (2012), is like google maps that have a better representation of the real world and could enable more scenarios and situations or events. The tutors who set these situations want to facilitate problem-solving by students or to discuss specific topics.  The learners will learn to work in a multidisciplinary environment that enable them to provide feedback gained through this experience by seeing the effects of their interventions on the virtual patients (Currell & Taylor, 2012). As far as I know, this approach is coming soon and will be introduced to our students as part of their practicum.

Developing environment that supports organizational citizenship behavior – Northouse (2016) explained the environmental factors as follow:

 “The internal environmental influences affecting leadership performance can include factors as technology, facilities, the expertise of subordinates, and communication. External environmental influences, including economic, political, and social issues, as well as natural disasters, can provide a unique challenge to leaders“(p.56).

Developing environment that supports organizational citizenship behavior,  can be mediated by Leader-member-exchange (LMX) theory. As noted in Atwater and Carmeli (2009) study, the “perceived high-quality leader-member exchange was positively related to greater involvement in creative work” (as cited in Northouse 2016, p.165). LMX theory “served as a mechanism to nurture peoples’ feelings, which then enhanced their creativity” (Atwater & Carmali (2009); as cited in Northouse, 2016, p.165).

Therefore, supporting this dyadic relationship through integrating system-based leadership can be achieved by submitting surveys that can be done online and provide feedback for both leaders and followers. Likewise,  video conferencing and remote training sessions can facilitate learning experience to demonstrate specific tasks or share important content.

The effect of LMX theory “influence the relationship between leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcome that reflect their shared purpose” (Hunt, 2014), and facilitate a safe communication process. In regard, the leaders- followers relationships influences employee development within defined community framework in a service-oriented culture. Providing evidence on how to improve and considering high-quality LMX relationships and applications [Surveys, video conferencing, and remote training], may be regarded as a useful tool to leverage professionals in the workforce, whether leading a team or working with a direct supervisor.

The importance of bridging disciplinary gaps as explained by Wong (n.d), on “how a change in organizational-level attributes and behaviors may influence frontline employee behaviors; and such influence may, in turn, impact customers’ perceived service quality and behavioral outcomes.”(p.16). Hence, including organizations attributes and behaviors and employees with patients in one chain will promote service-oriented culture in healthcare platform.

References:

Currell, K., & Taylor, R. (2012). Huddle Street-A virtual learning environment (VLE) for integrated interprofessional working within a healthcare setting. In: International Technology, Education and Development Conference, Valencia, Spain, 5th-7th March. INTED2012 Proceedings: IATED.  Retrieved from: http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/13041/1/Currell_Taylor.pdf

Hunt, T. J. (2014). Leader-Member Exchange Relationships in Health Information Management. Perspectives in Health Information Management, 11(Spring), 1d. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3995491/

Kadampully, J., Bilgihan, A., Zhang, T. (2016). Developing a people-technology hybrids model to unleash innovation and creativity: The new hospitality frontier. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 29(2016)154-164.

Moule. P. (2006). E‐learning for healthcare students: developing the communities of practice framework, Jan Leading Global Nursing Research, 54(3), 370-380 doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03813.x  Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03813.x

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 971452203409.

Wong, I. A. (n.d). Linking Firms, Employees, and Customers: A Multilevel Research Agenda for Hospitality Studies. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 57(1), 7-20. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2956/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=45575e0a-8de3-4eae-9a97-f7e5bbaa8b13%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=000370202700002&db=edswss

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Andragogy-Unit 6-LA1

Andragogy-Unit 6-LA1

 

Unit 6 Learning Activities

The six principles of andragogy are (1) the learner’s need to know, (2) self-concept of the learner, (3) prior experience of the learner, (4) readiness to learn, (5) orientation to learning, and (6) motivation to learn (Knowles, M. S., Swanson, R. A., & Holton, E. F. (2005), p. 3).

In this blog, I will describe my adult learning experience in relevance to Malcolm Knowles six principles

  1. Adult need to know why, they need the reason of learning something (Marriam & Bierma, 2014, p.47)-I appreciate the reason for why do I need to learn about something as part of personal integrity that may participate in many aspects of my life or others in society. It answers the inquiry that was initiated when becoming more self-directed and autonomous and choose what I want to learn and how I want to learn. It’s the transformative process that has a starting point and informative inquiry that keeps me on a track of life-long learning.
  2. Self-concept- the adult becomes more autonomous and self-directed. Knowles (1984) He believed education was based on situations defined by learner needs versus predetermined curriculums because learners came to understand the meaning of education while they were actually “engaged in the process” of education (Lindeman, 1926, p. xix; as cited in Blondy, 2007, P.117). It appears adult learning built upon relationships of the learning experience, as well as goals and aspirations for the future.Over the past years, I found my self-trending in my career and finding opportunities to grow to be more self-directed and independent; therefore,  I can choose and be responsible for my choice. I worked full-time during my adult education, and I was passionate and eager towards a new learning opportunity. I earned experience that I value to invest towards my life-long learning. On the other hand, dealing with students during their practicum, I usually offer them the learning materials and let them set their own understanding of what they learned and what they want to learn and coaching them when needed. For example, verifying patient results requires to review these results from different disciplines. Giving a better understanding of how to interpret these results can be accomplished by learning how to verify clinical results from various aspects. Providing a collaborative learning environment that fosters the mutual respect is encouraging the self-directed approach. The students during their practicum, they develop new ideas based upon knowledge already attained. It’s a collaboration between experience earned during practicum and the new outcome of what was learned. As I work in the healthcare sector, we always follow a standard manual of operation; however -it’s not limited- we can have additional resources from the internet.

    One day I was asked about special test collection that it’s not on our sample dispatch and searching up information from the internet was the deal on how to process the collection. We provide the student with our designed checklist, and we asked them to sign for completion when they meet the expectation. Additionally, we asked them to have their goals and their learning expectation created and documented, thereby we can work on gaps and coach them if needed. We provide them with a safe environment to practice, share and exchange information to reach the pertinent goal.

  3. Experience-an adult accumulates a growing life experience that can bring and invest in a new learning experience. This type of experience that has a contribution to self and others. As an increasing opportunity to what I learned in childhood, and under-graduation level as a dependable learner and to what I accumulate after that time as an in-dependable learner has a positive impact on who I am today, and who I will be in the future. Keep in mind; learning is not limited experience, it can expand upon and branch anywhere it can find the light of growing opportunity. I consider the opportunity as a resource, either to find or you already have or both, its like mind map, you draw the way you want to go through to reach a desirable future. I can employ experience and share this experience with others, in regard, I learn a new lesson that is up to date. I share my experience with my students during their practicum and learn from them to help them reach their goals through the process and find what we can do better for improvement and change. I set my self as an equal to my student, thereby, I usually set an open-mind mode to learn and have the student to participate through discussion and sharing their ideas so we can learn better within that platform. 
  4. Readiness to learn, depend on need- the readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or her social role. Although Knowles (1984) believed “adults learned primarily out of necessity,” he also believed “learning should be a gratifying and pleasurable experience” (as cited in Blondy 2007, p.123). My readiness to enroll in a master degree is a result branched from my desire to expand my skills and learn from this experience to advance the present and may impact my students during their practicum.
  5. Adult learners are problem-oriented, Knowles (1984) believed “adults normally did not pursue learning simply for the sake of learning, but because they needed to immediately apply what they were learning to life situations” (Blondy, 2007, p.125). There is a change in time perspective as people mature-from future application of knowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is a more problem than subject centered in learning. The rewarding part of learning as an adult is “I want to practice what I learned, and bring it to the level that has a sense of meaning and purpose.” The use of the application to what we learned encourages the learning opportunity and growth. Its more explanatory to why question, if I have to answer the inquiry.  In the practicum, the students they have more application and hands-on practicing and earning experience that helps them in their future career.
  6. Internal motivation- Adults are mostly driven by internal motivation, rather than an external motivator. Knowles (1984) believed that adults were best motivated to learn primarily by internal factors, such as increased self-esteem, self-actualization, or recognition (Blondy, 2007, p.126). The intrinsic factors that initiate the first step in learning have more power and autonomous than opportunity comes as an external motivator. The positive outcome of that inner motive is life-long learning path. The foresight of having the better future is long lasting one.

Adult learning principles that emphasize “the relevance and usefulness of the contents, include active and reflective strategies and connect to experience and previous knowledge should be considered to create a meaningful whole” (Palis & Quirose, 2014).  The preferred learning environment for me is an online platform, it might be challenging; however, it works around my work schedule, and I can do it at my convenient time.

How technology affects our learning path?

References:

Bartle, M. S. (2013). Andragogy. Research Starters: Education (Online Edition). Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=f4c9e5aa-402c-48fa-82f5-27703647a5f1%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=89164070&db=ers

Blondy, L.C. (2007). Evaluation and application of andragogical assumptions to the adult online learning environment. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 6(2), 116-130. Retrieved from: http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/6.2.3.pdf

Knowles, M. S., Swanson, R. A., & Holton, E. F. (2005). The Adult Learner. Amsterdam: Routledge. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/ZTAwMHhuYV9fMTMwMDk5X19BTg2?sid=b6e49970-6187-4090-8eec-6c676c841050@sessionmgr4009&vid=5&format=EB

Palis, A. G. & Quiros, P. A. (2014). Adult learning principles and presentation pearls. Middle East African Journal of Opthamology, 21(2), 114-122. Retrieved from: http://www.meajo.org/article.asp?issn=0974-9233;year=2014;volume=21;issue=2;spage=114;epage=122;aulast=Palis

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Light form many Lamps- Abraham Lincoln-Unit 6

Lights from many Lamps-Unit 6

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Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for the second time on March 4, 1865. He had taken over the leadership of the country at a time of grave crisis and had given his best effort to maintaining and preserving the union.

 “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-to-do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our selves and wish all nations.” Abraham Lincoln, 1865

Lincoln’s strong statement “With malice toward none, with charity for all’, has a great influence, courage, humility, and love for his fellow man (Watson, 1951). He was very aware of the importance of faith and its role in the lives of Americans and used that knowledge to communicate more effectively with his people at that time.  Lincoln believed that God’s hand was at work in the events that surrounded America during this turbulent time. There was no self-aggrandizement anywhere in his speech from Watson (1951) viewpoint; “the union was his main theme, his main interest, unbroken nation, firm in its loyalty and ideal” (p.205). He declared about his interest to reconcile the rebellious state and to rebuild the union he had sworn to preserve.  The American Civil War provided a platform for Abraham Lincoln to demonstrate servant leadership. Lincoln’s servant leadership are the preservation of the Union and the freeing of the slaves.

Lincoln’s noble sentiment to a nation he loved was “appealing for peace and tolerance, for understanding, for an end to sectional bitterness and strife” (Watson, 1951, p.205). His eloquence of democracy and insistence that the Union was worth saving embody the ideals of “self-government” that all nations strive to achieve. Lincoln servant leadership style has two areas that I distinguished: The first area was sustainability and preserving the union, the second one is the revolutionization of his country, empowering and serving the greater good for most of his people. Lincoln’s aspiration to become president stemmed from his desire to serve his country.

References:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 971452203409

Watson, L.E. (1951). _Light from Many Lamps_. New York: Simon and Schuster

 

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Response to ACHSAHS-SPRINGS’s post-Unit 5

Response to 

Servant Leader Characteristics in Action in Group Project Work

There are many actions that could, and should be taken by leaders when coordinating a project in their context.  What actions do you think are most important?

The project environment impacts how committed team members are toward tasks and the project objectives. Team-leaders who have the interest in servant leadership approach, they invest in their members’ growth; and influence career developments through “modeling, team building, and open decision-making” (Page & Wong, 2000, p.72). Regarding, environment, leaders should be able to realize the importance of the environment surrounding their team;. Therefore they can know how their members are treated, the team members accountability in decision making, development of a new ides, and how power and information flow, therefore they are committed to the task through modeling and building a positive environment to support their team.  A successful team leader employs the principles of servant leadership and focuses on the needs of the team.

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Response to Lara’s post-Unit 5- effective team leadership

 

Response to Lara’s post-Unit 5- Effective team leadership

https://create.twu.ca/awalkinthewoods/unit-5-team-leadership/#builder_active

What have you as a group member (not necessarily the appointed leader) found to be the most challenging aspect of teamwork? What strategies did you find most helpful in dealing with those issues?

Conflict can be healthy for a team when it is channeled properly. The challenge for leaders or team members is knowing how and when to intervene. Generational differences or any differences at the workplace may cause conflict, different opinion different understanding, however, diagnosing the situation by listening and discussion to understand how to intervene would be the key to resolve the issue. Being open mind and consider other perceptions will help the situation.
Leaders or team members who understand what each team member seeks; therefore, this approach will help them to create structures that can move things when conflicts arise.

Listening and understanding are the tools I use when resolving any conflict, and the following steps are the way I process when conflict arises
-Try to find what are the areas of disagreement
-Try to understand what led to the problem
-Use “discussion” as a tool to understand
-Try to find the root cause
-Seeing the positive viewpoint in each to find the workable solution
Keep in mind, a healthy relationship between the team members will benefit the situation.