Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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Archive

March 11 through 17
Ron Davis—15th

Marcella James—17th

Patricia Redding—17th

Self-Directed Learning Series
Knowles wrote that in teacher-directed learning, there is the assumption that the student’s experiences were of less value than that of the teacher, the textbook, or the other materials provided. As a result, it was the teacher’s responsibility to transmit the wisdom of the resources to the learner. The assumption in self-directed learning, however, was that the learner’s experiences become an increasingly rich resource for learning, which should be utilized alongside the resources of the "experts." —Submitted by Employee Development (02.24.10)

The Inspirting Corner Archive

• The most effective way to begin is to is to have the end in mind. Identify the meaning of "learning" and "success."

• Learning is fundamentally connected to a person's intrinsic motive to seek meaning in the world.

• Leadership is difficult, at best, if one's own vision and values are not continually and intentionality held out as a guide.

• Those who say to themselves that they are unable, inadequate, and not responsible are in a poor position to guide anyone.

• A more caring, gracious, and personalized approach to education can only be achieved by people who are caring and gracious.

• In relationships the little things are the big things.

• Strive to develop effective interactions that bring mutually beneficial results to everyone involved.

• Deal with those things that you have direct control over and you will find that many things for which you have only indirect control or no control at all will become less problematic.

• In order to plan for success, it is important to examine how we see ourselves, what our relationships with others are, and how we can develop and nurture caring, positive relationships.

• Treat people the way they can be—not the way they are.

• Remove the negative. Try to have all signs, written and oral communications begin with please and end with thank you.

• A thousand good intentions are no match for a single positive act.

• Life loves those who love life.

• Do not be afraid to be caught in an act of caring.

• To deal with yourself, use your head; to interact with others, use your heart.

• Many people will walk in and out of our lives leaving little or no trace. Those who make a difference will leave footprints in our hearts.

• Strive to become more self-directing. To the questions of life, you are the only answer and to the problems in your life, you are the only solution.

• Categories and labels are powerful instruments for social regulation and control. Avoid using them.

• To be as successful as possible, we must strive to define others and ourselves in positive and realistic ways.

• To ensure the best product, we must coordinate and focus the energy of all people, places, policies, programs, and processes.

• Perceptions are learned. Be sensitive to how people perceive themselves.

• Attention to personal and professional development is essential if one is to help others. "I to myself am dearer than a friend." W. Shakespeare

• Enjoy silence. Consider who you are, where you came from, and where you're going. Being at one with yourself can be deeply rewarding.

• Critical thinking provides the link between intelligence and emotions. When our thinking is of high quality, rational emotions follow. When we develop rational emotions, we think reasonably.

• Teachers have a moral obligation to their students to take care of themselves in order to avoid "burnout" and the negative resentment that accompanies it.

• Too much isolation can be bad, but taking time to be alone can be helpful. Enjoy silence. Being at one with yourself can be deeply rewarding and a major step toward being more effective in helping others.

• Don't commit partial suicide--destroying talents, energies, and creativity. Learning how to be good to oneself is often more difficult than learning how to be good to others; but it is essential to remain positive and productive.

• A guideline for accepting life's opportunities is a willingness to risk.

• Offering an invitation is another way of saying "I trust you, I respect you, and I value you." Accepting an invitation says the same things.

• In a "learning environment" one must continually extend invitations because if:

  • I don't invite, you can't accept.

  • If you can't accept, you won't invite.

  • If you don't invite, I can't accept.

  • If there are no invitations, there is no development.
     

• To be inviting, one must take people seriously in every teaching/learning/service contact. This means paying full attention to them, really listening to them and caring about their needs and concerns, no matter how large or small.

• Up to fifty percent of our communication is conveyed through body language. Facial expression, eye contact, and posture tell others not only who we are but what we think of them before we begin to speak. Attend to all messages.

• Teamwork is critical to building a true teaching/learning/service culture and achieving goals of continuous improvement and excellence.

• Collaboration—whether formally through professional organizations or informally among colleagues—can only enhance "best practices" and promote professional growth.

• In "knowledge "work quality is far more important than quantity because "quality" is value-added.

• In "information " work, what is most valuable is not the product itself, but the impact of what is produced and what it does in terms of stimulating new knowledge.

• If nothing is put in, nothing comes out. Be certain that information and resources are adequate to produce desired outcomes.

• Neither do excuses relieve one of responsibility nor do reasons justify lack of results. Responsibility rests with the responsible.

• Checking for understanding and satisfaction both completes and begins the learning and quality service process.

• We all make mistakes and when we do we need to "make amends." In higher education we may not be able to offer "a free dessert;" but we can make a sincere effort to go the extra mile and make sure that things progress smoothly from here on out.

• The smallest negative factor can have a tremendous impact. As James Thomson wrote in 1730: "Oft, what seems a trifle, a mere nothing, by itself in some nice situations, turns the scale of fate, and rules the most important actions."

• Self-assessment is part of continuous improvement. However, when that evaluation is constantly negative we are setting ourselves up for failure. Alexander Dumas wrote in the nineteenth century: "A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first persons to be convinced of it."

• A positive self-concept is essential to being happy and effective. That concept is developmental and is affected by everything and everyone around us. We are challenged to attend carefully to our role in others’ development. W. Somerset Maugham wrote in The Razor’s Edge (1944): "For men and women are not only themselves; they are also the region in which they were born, the city apartment or the farm in which they learned to walk, the games they played as children, the old wives’ tale they overhear, the food they ate, the schools they attended, the sports they followed, the poems they read, and the God they believed in."

• "Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do. We spend most of our lives mastering how to do things, but in the end it is the quality and character of the individual that defines the performance of great leaders."—Frances Hesselbein, Leader to Leader, (1999)

• When core values include continuous improvement and growth there must be trust, both within ourselves and with others. Where there is trust there is likely to be risk-taking, and where there is risk-taking, there is likely to be creativity and innovation.

• In real estate, the cardinal rule for success is location, location, location. In teaching and learning, the cardinal rule is preparation, preparation, preparation. The chance for student success is significantly increased if materials, classroom atmosphere, procedures and the instructor are ready and in place before the first student arrives.

• Studies have shown consistently that the single most important factor in the learning environment is the teacher. Haim Ginott expressed this well in Teacher and Child, 1976.

• I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a student’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a student humanized or dehumanized.

• Quality service requires that we help each other and "follow-through" with our internal customers as much as our external customers.

• High expectations of excellence can be a very good thing. However, if those expectations are so high that we feel that no one else can possibly do "it" correctly and we try to "do everything" ourselves —we weaken trust within the system. We must develop trust in the ability of others and in ourselves to deal with changes and differences in the work of others.

• It is important to learn and continually update one’s knowledge of how a system like MCC works. The more we know, the less likely it is for communication and process to break down and inconvenience everyone involved.

• Conflicts are a normal part of human interaction. They cannot be ignored and allowed to go unresolved. In a service environment, such as MCC, talking out issues can resolve problems and strengthen the team relationship. 

• Mutual respect is critical to creative problem-solving. It is just as important, if not more so, to focus on one’s internal customers as it is to concentrate on one’s external customers.

• To insure continuous improvement, it is essential to evaluate every place, person, process, program, and policy to identify what is working well and what is not; and how to make it work better in the future. All participants in the service environment must be involved in this task to make it work.

• The Greek philosopher Zeno stressed the importance of maintaining a "calm soul " and demeanor. In this ever increasingly stress-filled world problem solving requires more reason and patience, and less emotion.

• Success depends to a great degree on effective interdependence. The foundation of that interdependence rests on personal independence. Samuel Johnson put it this way: "There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity."

•  In an inviting learning-centered environment everyone is encouraged to have confidence in their ability to learn, to trust their feelings, and to celebrate their personal uniqueness.

• In a "learning-centered" environment one is responsible for his/her own learning and for planning a long and healthy life. Take responsibility for your own support system. The greatest proportion of health and safety care one receives is self-administered.

• Personal and professional lives do not exist in isolation. Lives are connected wholes. Everyone and everything in our "learning environment" are signal systems that are either positive (inviting) or negative (disinviting). We must work together to move all systems to the positive and realize that this is a reciprocal process.

• According to Bennis and Nanus in Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge, "Leaders articulate and define what has previously remained implicit or unsaid; then they invent images, metaphors, and models that provide a focus for new attention."

• Building community is a way to tie teaching and learning together in a special way that contributes to shared values and ideals. It builds higher levels of self-understanding, commitment, and performance; and provides a growing sense of identity, belonging, and place.

• To encourage discussion and dialogue, ask open-ended questions. Make sure that questions require more than a yes-or-no answer. Try: "What do you think about....?" or "How would you describe...?" Generate thinking and involvement.

• Communication and cooperation can be improved by sharing one’s person. Students and co-workers need to know us in more than one dimension. Try sharing anecdotes about family or pets, feelings about popular culture, and even moods. You might be surprised at how thoughtful, caring, and supportive others can be when they "know" you.

• Encourage positive, inviting communication by using collective, inclusive pronouns such as we, us, and our. When someone hears, "you have to...," it can seem impersonal, un-inviting, and evening threatening.

• Invite dialogue. In a learning-centered environment it is not the answers to questions but rather the questions to the answers that is most important. Knowledge is dynamic and today’s accepted fact may soon become tomorrow’s outmoded concept. People grow intellectually by challenging ideas.

• Public relations is part of everyone’s responsibility. It is not a matter of whether or not an institution has public relations; but rather the kind it has. Make as certain as possible that all encounters and "messages" are clear, positive, and affirmative.

• In a learning-centered environment everyone must have a sense of control over what happens to them whether in the classroom or in the office. Jonathan Swift put it this way in Gulliver’s Travels: "That which gave me most Uneasiness among those Maids of Honor, when my Nurse carried me to visit them, was to see them use me without any Matter of Ceremony, like a Creature who had no sort of Consequence."

• In a learning-centered service environment collaboration and cooperation at all levels is essential for personal and professional fulfillment. Walt Whitman expressed it this way: "If you tire, give me both burdens, and rest the chuff of your hand on my hip / And in due time you shall repay the same service to me."

• People who are unintentionally "disinviting" are negative and counter-productive forces in the environment even though they are unaware that this is taking place. In the work place (especially a service, learning-centered one) this can also be characterized as "unconscious incompetence." Well-meaning people can exhibit behaviors that are perceived as uncaring, chauvinistic, condescending, patronizing, dictatorial, sexist, racist, or just plain thoughtless. It can be like being hit by a bus; whether intentional or not, it still causes damage. We must learn to be intentional. That means we must consider the consequences of our behaviors in advance.  

• According to Kouzes and Posner in The Leadership Challenge: "people with a hardy attitude . . . take the stress of life in stride. When they encounter a stressful event—whether positive or negative—(1) they consider it interesting, (2) they feel that they can influence the outcome, (3) they see it as an opportunity for development. This optimistic appraisal of events increases their capacity to take decisive steps to alter the situation."

• "Invitational leaders...," according to Purkey and Siegel in Becoming an Invitational Leader, can avoid sending negative messages by using "...the language of optimism." For example: "lost becomes misplaced, problem becomes situation, or even opportunity, no trouble becomes my pleasure, never becomes unlikely, can’t becomes won’t, and impossible becomes difficult."

• Poor communication can be deliberate. Withholding information and knowledge from others is an effective way to deny them power. Without information, misunderstandings and rumors flourish. To minimize these problems provide full and complete facts wherever and whenever possible. Collaboration begins with sharing information.

• The four basic assumptions of Invitational Education are:  1.) People are able, valuable, and responsible and should be treated accordingly. 2.) Education should be a collaborative, cooperative activity. 3.) People possess untapped potential in all areas of human endeavor. 4.) Human potential can best be realized by places, policies, and processes that are specifically designed to invite development, and by people who are intentionally inviting with themselves and others, personally and professionally.

• Remember the Jell-O Principle. This principle maintains that everything and everybody is interconnected. If you poke the Jell-O, all of it jiggles. If one person is rude to another, as far as that person is concerned, the whole faculty and staff is rude. Everything and everybody in the college is making a statement for the entire institution. Each person is an ambassador.

• "Since we are what we do, if we want to change what we are we must begin by changing what we do," and we "must undertake a new mode of action." A. Wheelis, How People Change (1973)

• Rehearse the future, not the past. Often when we make mistakes, we go over them again and again in our minds, in effect, reinforcing the mistakes. A better approach is to ask: "How will I handle this situation the next time it appears?" By concentrating on the future responses and behaviors, the future can be rehearsed and possibly the past will not be repeated.

• Trust does not develop over night. It is built through consistency and predictable behavior over time.

• Invite explicitly. The more explicit the information (i.e. the invitation), the more likely it will be understood and accepted. Vagueness leaves others wondering: "What did he mean by that?" For example, saying: "You will have a test on chapters four and five on Friday" has a much better chance of being understood than "We will have a test on this when we finish the material."

• Learning (behavioral change) can be achieved only by changing the consequences and their contingent relationships with the behavior in question. The task of teaching thus becomes arranging contingencies of reinforcement.

• When in doubt, don’t do it! In customer service that is only half true. Actually it might be better to say: When in doubt, don’t until you have, sought, found, understood, and verified the needed information. Afterwards, don’t forget to follow-up to see if the "customer" got what was wanted and that he/she is satisfied.

• For the next four or five weeks we will be following up on Judith Bell’s presentation on customer service. We know that it takes a team effort to provide excellent service to our "customers." There are, however, specific roles and opportunities that present themselves to each work area. Front-line staff needs broad knowledge since they see customers first. The challenge is to continuously learn about your job, office, and institution in order to provide quality service to both internal and external consumers, and to partner with administrators to identify and solve problems. Take each encounter as an opportunity to teach customers about our programs and services. First impressions are lasting.

• Managers and supervisors should model best practices in attitude and behavior and mentor/coach their employees. Make your office user-friendly for both internal and external customers, provide a thorough orientation for new staff and ongoing training. Empower staff and include them in decision-making. Work to improve communication with other service areas and work together to identify and solve problems that impede quality service.

• Faculty can build a service culture by creating a learning environment in the classroom that focuses on individual student needs. Be timely and accurate in grade reports, book orders and other academic procedures. Advocate for student-centered course scheduling, be available for students by honoring office hours, and know the campus personnel and academic resources to which you can refer students.

• To make quality service and continuous improvement an institution wide priority the following steps should be taken:

• Relationship skills and leadership ability are closely related according to Sessa and Taylor in Executive Selection: Strategies for Success (2000). Successful leadership at all levels involves taking a strong personal interest in associates and enhancing positive results through respectful relationships. It becomes more a matter of stewardship as contrasted with ownership.

• Retention and satisfaction of students and employees is often associated with the level of involvement with people and organizations within the institution. Encourage participation in all activities and lead by example.

• Lifelong learning as a concept and mission, especially for the community college, has been around for such a long time that it has become almost a cliche. It is nonetheless increasingly vital for the twenty-first century with the tremendous changes that are occurring in the geo-political and economic arenas. Knowledge is doubling at five-year intervals in most areas. There is rarely only one answer or solution to anything in today’s world. We must encourage continuous learning in our students and ourselves and provide the tools to think critically, problem solve, become more self-directing, more interactive, and appreciative of learning.

• According to Purkey Siegel in Becoming an Invitational Leader, each of us decides what invitations we will send to others. This decision gives us great power, for we are an essential part of those opportunities others have for acceptance. Further, we must send positive messages even when they are not responded to in kind. When we only react to behavior of others, we are being controlled by their actions.

• Perceptions may not be "real": however, they are essential filters through which we organize and make sense of our world. We cannot take perceptions lightly. We must be sensitive to how people perceive themselves and others in order to choose appropriate modes of interaction. Careful reflection aids significantly in this process.

• More can be accomplished working in the company of others than alone. Cooperation is key. Encourage cooperation by being cooperative.

• Accessibility and visibility are essential elements for creating a professionally inviting environment. Participate in college activities and keep office hours that do not impose hardship on others. Closed and Do Not Disturb signs are disinviting.

• Community is the tie that binds students, teachers, and staff together in special ways, to something more significant than themselves: shared values and ideals. It lifts everyone involved to higher levels of self-understanding, commitment, and performance—beyond the reaches of the shortcomings and difficulties they face in their everyday lives. Community can help transform us from a collection of "I’s" to a collective "we," thus providing us with a unique and enduring sense of identity, belonging, and place which is essential for effective learning. Adapted from Thomas J. Sergiovanni, Building Community in Schools (1994).

• Thinking critically requires "open mindedness." Dichotomous reasoning, thinking that everything is either black or white, prevents critical thought. In an all-or-nothing universe there is no middle ground. Anything less than perfect is flawed. People are either with me or against me. You may be living in this polar world if you think in terms of "never-always," "everybody-nobody," winners-losers," "all-nothing," "victory-defeat," or "success-failure." (Ways to combat this unproductive way of thinking will be covered during the month of March.)

• Diminishing dichotomous (black or white) reasoning might begin with focusing on gray areas. Analyze situations in terms of percentages of time. Rarely is anything 100 percent bad or wrong. Remember that mistakes as well as successes are opportunities to learn.

• Concrete thinking such as dichotomous (black or white) patterns of thought can be diminished by recognizing one’s own strengths and weaknesses, potential and limitations, and successes as well as failures. The mental filters through which we evaluate situations are directly related to our self perception. If we use negative words like "awful," "horrible," "catastrophic," "disastrous," and "appalling" we are likely to smell flowers and look for the funeral.

• Limiting dichotomous (black or white) thought processes might be minimized by monitoring our inner "self-talk." The negative side of the concept is often referred to as catastrophizing. When we focus on the worst possible scenario, we risk becoming too cautious, too limited, and confuse fantasy with reality. We must challenge self-debasing and self-destructive self-talk and take well-reasoned personal and professional risks if we are to move forward and have opportunities for success.

• Leaders delegate and give associates the breathing room to carry out assignments. According to the United States Navy Advanced Officer Leadership Manual (1997), there are five categories of tasks that should be delegated: (1) matters requiring minimal coordination, (2) tasks involving technical knowledge, (3) routine, on-going matters, (4) matters covered by detailed procedures and policies, and (5) projects with clearly defined results.

• James M. Kouzes maintains in "Finding Your Leadership Voice" Leader to Leader (1999 p.42) that: "You can learn to lead, but don’t confuse leadership with position and place. Don’t confuse leadership with skills and systems or with tools and techniques. They are not what earn you the respect and commitment of your constituents. What earns you their respect in the end is whether you are you. And whether what you are embodies what they want to become. So just who are you, anyway?"

• Leadership requires passion, activism, and a commitment to make things happen to achieve a vision of how things can be. If things are accepted as they are leadership is lost and the leader becomes an administrator and a functionary within the existing system.

• Staff, faculty, and administrators at community colleges work in a field with an implied obligation to the larger community. Service is a natural part of the college’s mission—service to students, community, and on a more abstract level, service to the future.

• R.K. Greenleaf (2002) in Essentials of Servant-leadership describes service leadership as follows: "The servant-leader is servant first . . . Becoming a servant leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead . . . The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely to become servants?" (pp. 23-24)

• If a community college is to serve the community, we may be well served by strengthening the community that we are. Peter Block (1993) expresses this notion clearly in Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest. "Let the commitment and the cause be the place where we work. It is not so much the product or service of our workplace that will draw us out of ourselves. It is the culture and texture and ways of creating community that attract our attention. Our task is to create organizations we believe in and to do it as an offering, not a demand. No one will do it for us. Others have brought us this far. The next step is ours. Our choice for service and community becomes the only practical answer to our concern about self-interest." (p10)

• Research (Harter, 1988; Matthews, 1991) points out that the more students sense positive regard from significant others (ie. instructors especially), the more they feel valued and the harder they are likely to work.  

• Often, without realizing it, instructors tend to treat low and high achievers differently based on their optimistic or pessimistic views regarding these students’ likelihood of success. Low achievers frequently get less time to answer questions, if called on at all, and are more likely to be criticized for failure. High achievers tend to get more eye contact. They are the go-to-students who receive more verbal and nonverbal signals of support. Instructor’s should monitor their behaviors toward students to assure maximum benefits from the experience.

• It is important to remember at all times to be positive and inviting; however, it is especially important as new students and co-workers enter our expanding community. Avoid comments, actions, and body language that can be perceived as disinviting. The most frequently reported experiences that are self-perceived as disinviting involve those that project feelings of worthlessness, inability, and irresponsibility.

• According to Combs, Avila, and Purkey in Helping Relationships, 2nd edition, "Human behavior is always a product of how people see themselves and the situations in which they are involved. Although this fact seems obvious, the failure of people everywhere to comprehend it is responsible for much of human misunderstanding, maladjustment, conflict, and loneliness. Our perceptions of ourselves and the world are so real to us that we seldom pause to doubt them." Negative self-perceptions can begin to be reversed if we choose to treat everyone with dignity, respect, and a communicated belief in their ability.

• In every environment, especially an academic one, to insure personal growth and learning it is vital for the individual to feel a need to grow and learn. This growth is further enhanced if the learning environment is characterized by physical comfort, mutual trust and respect, mutual helpfulness, freedom of expression, and acceptance of differences.

• In a "learning centered" environment, students embrace the goals of a learning experience as their goals. The learner must also accept a share of the responsibility for planning and operating learning experiences in order to ensure commitment toward it. In all cases the experience must be active —not passive.

• Learning experiences are more effective when they make use of and relate to the experience of the learner, and there is a sense of progress toward goal achievement.

• The many intervening variables that effect outcomes make it difficult, especially in the affective domain, to determine just what makes for positive teaching/learning experiences. Research suggests, however, that teachers who behave approvingly, acceptingly, and supportively; and tend to speak well of their own students, students in general, and people in general; and who tend to like and trust rather than fear other people of all kinds are the mostly likely to make a significant desirable difference.

• In a traditional "content model" for teaching and learning, the educator decides in advance what skill or knowledge needs to be presented. In working with adult learners, however, a "process model" might be more appropriate. In this strategy the following elements are included: (1) establishing a climate conducive to learning; (2) creating a mechanism for mutual planning; (3) diagnosing the needs for learning; (4) formulating program objectives (i.e. content) to meet needs; (5) designing a pattern of learning experiences; (6) conducting these learning experiences with appropriate materials and techniques; and (7) evaluating the learning outcomes and re-evaluating learning needs. Malcolm Knowles, The Adult Learner: A neglected Species.

• Educational research has demonstrated that involvement is key to enhancing learning. We are fortunate at Mitchell Community College to have numerous student and community activities hosted on campus. We must find ways to increase participation for our students and employees. This being said, working adults often lack the time to participate fully and the classroom becomes the place for involvement with peers and teachers. We must find ways to make teaching/learning more active and encourage students to be more proactive and responsible for their own learning.

• Continuous improvement is key in a learning environment. See students and coworkers as they can be, not as they are. Too often we encourage people to "do their best" when "you can do better —so practice" can be a more powerful invitation to realize potential. Every student and employee in the college is in the process of becoming, so it is important for educators to invite them to become in positive directions.

• One of the keys to an inviting learning-based environment is collaboration among all members of the community. In every way, individuals in the college are expected to take cooperative responsibility for what happens in their shared lives. Everyone is expected to participate in the decision-making process. Administrators, teachers, students, and staff are not isolated from decision-making, but rather, in a very real sense, are co-executives of the college. A side effect of this process is that competition is minimized in favor of mutual support when all activities are based on cooperation, collaboration , and mutual respect and concern.

• Becoming an "inviting" person or institution requires commitment, sensitivity, courage, and imagination. Inviting, or not inviting in some cases, is a complicated process of decoding messages, reaching for meanings, making connections, and recognizing subtle nuances of human interaction. It is not easy. It is more a journey than a destination. Growth toward potential, however, is not possible without effort and moving consistently toward trying to invite the best out of ourselves and others.

• Successful organizations bind people together and give meaning and purpose to their lives. An often overlooked or at least under-estimated element in that process is the power of context (i.e. the physical spaces in which we work and live.) The physical environment is a socially constructed support system in which people develop ideas about themselves. They receive signals from this communication medium that tell them how much the people who design, build, operate, maintain, and manage the physical environment respect them, trust them, and care about them. Developing an inviting physical environment involves creating and maintaining a clean, comfortable, and safe setting. The spaces between the spaces are just as important as the buildings themselves. When the grounds are attractive, well lighted, and secure; and the work spaces are clean and comfortable the message is that someone is in charge and someone cares.

• The key to continuous improvement or quality enhancement to use the current jargon is to be proactive professionally with oneself. Faculty, staff, and students need to read appropriate materials to expand their knowledge base. Participating in workshops, seminars, clinics, joining a peer group committed to sharing information, and soliciting feedback from others concerning one’s performance are other methods to become self-directing and move forward with competence and confidence. Waiting for others to plan our lives is usually waiting too long.

• An often overlooked part of continuous improvement is the development and structure of the self-concept. We are not born with a view of who we are—it is created through interaction with others, ourselves, and our environment. Cues that indicate how valuable, competent, good or bad, able or not able we are are communicated to us from early childhood. The school and workplace, after the home, are the primary sources of these cues. We must challenge ourselves, therefore, to send the most positive, helpful, and thoughtful messages to those with whom we interact. We are doing more that conveying information, we are reflecting judgments and attitudes that help teach others about themselves.

• Let us begin this new year and semester with optimism. The belief that people possess untapped potential in all areas of human endeavor is fundamental to a positive view of ourselves and our work. Norman Cousins stated this very clearly on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. "The most important thing I think I have learned is that human capacity is infinite, that no challenge is beyond comprehension and useful resource. I have learned that the uniqueness of human beings is represented by the absence of any ceiling over intellectual or moral development." Let us dedicate ourselves to become all that we can be and to help others do the same.

• Being the best we can be and reaching our full potential professionally or personally may lead to neglecting other areas of our lives that are just as important. The key to everything is balance. If we expect too much of ourselves, if we always find something to criticize, and use words like ought and should and must and more, we are very likely becoming over-expecters. Be sure to retain joy, laughter, and fun or fall victim to the tyranny of the urgent, the uptight, and the essential. Focus on balance or expect the coronary.

• Leadership and guidance, at all levels, involve a proper, balanced regard for places, policies, programs, processes, and people. However, people should and must come first. When decisions, policies, and practices are based solely on efficiency, effectiveness, and conformity rather than on respect for people we may be doing more harm than good. Good intentions may have the opposite effect. "No Food or Drink" signs may help keep places neat and clean; "Reserved Parking" signs may help the few and relegate others to fend for themselves; "Closed . . . No Admittance" may allow work to be done without interruption; "No Late Work Accepted . . . No Exceptions" may encourage discipline and attention to task; but the convenience of those in charge may be at the expense of the many. Examples of this include the fact that on December 7, 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, defenders were hampered due to ammunition being locked up for the sake of convenient accountability and security; and we should not forget the Hamlet, NC "chicken plant" fire that cost dozens of lives because doors were locked to prevent the possibility of workers stealing processed chicken nuggets that weren’t worth eating anyway. We do need to be efficient and secure; but we must maintain a conscious awareness of how our efforts to achieve these goals impact the people we serve.

• We have asserted that people are most important in establishing and maintaining a healthy working and learning environment. Place, however, is more important in creating a positive mind set than one might think. Places take on a life of their own. Some are alive and vibrant, others are lackluster and dreary. Physical squalor can contribute to disengagement and burnout. Make an effort to keep facilities and grounds in good repair, well lighted, attractive, accessible, and safe; and avoid negative signs that generate negative emotional responses.

• People and places are influenced by the regulations, guidelines, commands, codes, orders, mandates, limits, plans, rules, and edicts that regulate the ongoing functions of an organization. These elements are called policies. Sometimes, policies are created that, although well-meaning, place undue restrictions and burdens on people and even the places in which we work. Even the smallest policy can serve as "tipping point." When policies place unreasonable, insensitive, or uncaring restrictions on people, they detract from the overall potential of the organization. Moreover, they sometimes contribute to the difficulties encountered by the very people they are designed to serve. Unintended outcomes are often more meaningful than the intended.

• Thus far in this series we have addressed issues dealing with people, places, and policies. This week, programs are the focus of our attention. Developing and managing programs are necessary functions of leaders and the institutions they head. Regrettably, sometimes well-meaning programs actually harm people and ultimately the institution if their focus is too narrow. When meeting "minimum standards" is the goal of a program, minimum standards often become maximum goals. Programs that treat people as objects to be fixed are doomed to failure. Successful programs affirm the value of collaborative decision-making, mutual trust, and a warm and caring collegiality. People generally behave according to the way they are treated.—Submitted by Employee Development (02.16.05)

• The fifth "P" in our series is process. It is embedded in the places, programs, policies, and people considered over the past four weeks; but process is so important that it deserves recognition in its own right. Process is the context in which things happen, i.e., the glass that holds the water. In a positive teaching/learning environment we should evaluate each process by asking these questions: 1. Does the process demonstrate respect of individual uniqueness and cultural diversity? 2. Does the process reflect a cooperative spirit where people care about each other and assist those who may need special assistance? 3. Does it encourage a sense of belonging where everyone thinks in terms of our organization, our traditions, our colleagues, and our responsibilities? 4. Does the process reflect positive expectations that encourage feelings of self-control and individual decision-making? 5. Does the process encourage democratic interactions among members of the organization and the larger community? Careful assessment of the responses to these questions allows us to measure the effectiveness of our institution against its core values.

• The importance of people, places, programs, policies, and processes working together to achieve desired outcomes has been briefly reviewed over the past five weeks. When these five "P’s" are congruent the sixth "P," i.e. purpose or product, is achieved. Mitchell Community College’s sixth "P" is expressed in our core values as delineated in our belief statement. "We believe...that the student is the focal point of all efforts of the college; that we are a college community that respects diversity and is supportive of individual achievement; that Mitchell Community College has a responsibility to enhance the social, civic, cultural, and economic development of the community and the global society; that Mitchell Community College has a responsibility to enhance the quality of life of the community; and that the door of opportunity for learning should be open to all who seek personal and professional development."

• This week we are beginning a series that focuses on managing conflict. Conflicts are a normal aspect of human interactions —crises are common-place, problems arise, tensions are inevitable, and complications are to be expected. These situations are often opportunities for new ideas and fresh innovations. Remaining positive, i.e. inviting, in negative situations that require active intervention is a major challenge that requires thought, practice, and above all respect for oneself and others. Next week we will begin introducing a six step process {the six "C"} that give us direction and insight into conflict resolution.

• The first step when an apparent difficulty or problem occurs to define the concern. Does the concern really exist and is it solvable? Often what is done is done, i.e., don’t cry over spilt milk, and some concerns cannot be resolved. Next, determine if the concern is sufficient to justify the time and effort needed to resolve it. If the concern is sufficiently troublesome and requires more than analysis don’t wait too long to take action. Make certain, however, that the concern is not based on bias, prejudice, or a desire to express power, and that you are willing to accept responsibility for bringing attention to the concern. If you determine that the issue will not solve itself express the concern early and clearly, at the appropriate level, so that it does not escalate. Collect sufficient information and then move to the next step which is to confer.

• Once a concern has been determined to be significant, the next step is to confer. Make certain that you are calm and in control of yourself and you are conferring with the people involved and at the lowest possible level. Also, keep the conference non-threatening, informal, and private. Avoid counter concerns. Deal with the initial issue before moving to any other concern that might come up. Ask the individual or individuals to do something specific for you that would resolve the concern. You rarely get if you don’t ask. Consider if you have indicated exactly what you want and that the request be granted. Decide if you have a clear answer to your request, if there is room for compromise, and if there are ways that you might be able to further help in the resolution of the concern. If there appears to be no solution move to the next step which is to consult.

• When faced with issues where conferring has not worked, either because the individual rejected the request for mitigation or because the request agreed to was not acted upon, consultation becomes the next step. Basically consulting is a more formal version of the previous conference. Ask for cooperation again while playing your lowest possible card. Restate the request making certain that all parties understand what is being asked and the consequences for not resolving the situation. If the issues have been made crystal clear in a no-nonsense discussion and the situation is not addressed, it is time to move to a higher level: confrontation which will be covered next week.

• Confrontation is a serious attempt to resolve a problematic situation that has persisted. When the concern is great, and the lower levels of conferring and consulting have failed to achieve resolution to the situation it becomes necessary to make the consequences of the behavior in question very clear. Remind the individual that he/she agreed to correct the situation, that it has not been corrected, and that there will be actions taken in consequence. Ask the individual to please take appropriate action to remedy the situation for you to prevent taking the process to the consequence stage.
   

• Six Steps Toward Problem Solving
  When confronting the individual(s) who has/have failed to resolve a troublesome issue has not worked, it is time to combat the situation. Please note that combat is used here as a verb, not a noun. Because the situation has not been resolved it is time to move to the logical consequences. Penalties should make sense to the individual(s) involved as a logical result of their behavior. Penalties should be designed so that individuals realize that what they did was incorrect and that they should not repeat the behaviors. Any anger they have should be self-directed because of their actions–not toward the individual in authority. However, even when people are treated with respect, this "last resort" action can force people into the role of winners and losers, particularly if there is the perception of unfairness or of being controlled. It is important to attempt to restore a non-combative relationship at the end of this process. Conciliation, the final step in the process, will be covered next week.
   
• Six Steps Toward Problem Solving
  Conciliation is essential after combating a situation to restore a non-combative relationship. Resolving a problem may be insufficient in itself. Damaged relationships can extend far beyond the original conflict and taint the whole environment. Hopefully we can grow from negative situations. To help in this process we might ask ourselves several questions: 1. Do I respect people enough to not "rub it in?" 2. Have I allowed sufficient time and space to pass before attempting to return to normal interaction? 3. Can I find intermediaries and non-threatening activities to be used to restore a sense of community? and 4. Can I, when faced with a new potential problem, go back to the first "C" of concern and not begin to resolve the new problem the way the previous one ended? A harmonious, positive feeling of community and a shared focus on common core values is essential for any group of people to achieve their objectives.
   
• As the semester draws to an end, it is time to celebrate our successes and learning opportunities that may become next year’s successes. Beyond that, we must never fail to celebrate life itself when the opportunity is presented, for it may not come again. Our lives are filled with a variety of duties, responsibilities, activities, and opportunities which leave us juggling both rubber balls and glass balls. The rubber balls represent work and our place in our professions. These balls bounce back when they are dropped. They come back to us, and we can begin to juggle again. However, glass balls that represent family, friends, and health do not bounce and may shatter. If they don’t break, they have to be picked up. The message is that, while all activities and relationships need to be honored and celebrated, we must take special care of our "glass balls."
   
• Having taken stock of our successes and challenges and celebrated both, it is time to thank and recognize those who have contributed to this effort. This simple act helps to build community and future success. While others are essential to helping all of us achieve our personal and professional goals, we must not forget to thank ourselves and reward ourselves for our efforts. Have a great summer.
   
• When core values include continuous improvement and growth there must be trust, both within ourselves and with others. Where there is trust there is likely to be risk-taking, and where there is risk-taking, there is likely to be creativity and innovation.
   

• "Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do. We spend most of our lives mastering how to do things, but in the end it is the quality and character of the individual that defines the performance of great leaders."–Frances Hesselbein, o Leader, (1999)
   

• According to Combs, Avilla, and Purkey in Helping Relationships: Basic Concepts for the Helping Professions, 2nd ed., 1978; "human behavior is always a product of how people see themselves and the situations in which they are involved." This fact seems obvious; however, the failure of people everywhere to comprehend it is responsible for much of human misunderstanding, maladjustment, conflict and loneliness. Our perceptions of the world and ourselves are so real to us that we seldom pause to doubt them. As educators we must begin to see people not as objects to be shaped and conditioned but as they typically see themselves, others, and the world. This can be a challenge. The starting point might be the notion that each person is a conscious agent; he or she experiences, interprets, constructs, decides, acts, and is ultimately responsible for his or her own actions.
   
• Every time I think about the role of perceptions in determining human behavior, I am reminded of the verse in Robert Burns’ To A Louse: "O wad some Power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us!" While this ability would be a great reality check for us as we choose our actions, it is just as important for professional educators to have some insight into how those who come to us for services see themselves. People tend to behave according to how they see themselves and assess the situations in which they are involved at the moment. Remember the "looking-glass theory?" When we project a positive, inviting, and nurturing attitude that says that people are capable, valuable, and appreciated, we are very likely to discover that our clients will see themselves that way as well.
   
• People tend to lock into perceptions developed early in life and this can significantly limit their ability to grow. Fortunately, everyone’s perceptual field can be enriched, expanded, and modified. If we did not believe that was possible, we would not be in the teaching/learning business. We must cultivate an appreciation and respect for peoples’ perceptual worlds as they are before we can begin to help them construct new ones that will alter their view of the past, present, future, and the imaginable.
   
• While behavior is largely based on perceptions learned through one’s experiences in the world, they can be reflected upon in order to develop a deeper level of understanding of self, others, and the world. We cannot change the past, but we can change our thoughts about it. Understanding the context of our feeling, our thinking, our knowing, and our imagining are essential to opening future possibilities.
   
• Self-concept is probably the most significant perception that people learn. It shapes our view of who we are and our place in the world. Assessing what we think others think about us develops much of this self-concept. Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion expresses this well in her conversation with Colonel Pickering. She says: "I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he treats me as a flower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady, and always will."
   
• Self-concept begins early in life. Infants receive cues as to their value in the eyes of significant others, in their posture, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, and body language as well as verbal cues. Self-awareness continues and becomes a life-long development project. Next to the family, the school, and then the workplace are the greatest influences in identity development. We must send messages that tell others that they are capable, valuable, and worthy of respect. Since communication is multi-faceted, we must always ensure that there is no disconnect between what we say and how we say it.
   
• Children begin to discover the world with great energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and excitement. Rapid progress generates a self-concept that leads them to believe that they are capable of learning and doing almost everything. Numerous studies have shown, however, a downward trend in students’ self-concept as they progress through school. This seems to be true for both genders. While there are studies that have attempted to identify variables of gender and race, results are conflicting. None-the-less, one thing seems to be clear. Messages sent, even by well meaning teachers and staff, tend to be un-equal, leading to a gradual erosion of enthusiasm for learning. There is a dictum in visual art that the shape a shape creates is just as important, if not more so, as the shape of the primary subject. In other words, the surrounding negative space must be attended to. If we focus only on the central, dominant form and ignore the rest, the painting fails. All students, like all areas of a painting, must be treated equally or nothing works.
   

• WELCOME NEW & RETURNING FACULTY & STAFF! Did you know that at the start of the new century 75 to 80 percent of all teachers who were teaching in 1990 have been replaced by more recent graduates? One of the reasons for this is the opportunity to move into administrative positions and into the private sector that is spending great sums for retraining. Unfortunately, another reason is that although educators are in the learning profession, we tend to be among the worst when it comes to wanting to learn how to improve our own competencies. Many educators do not go to conferences and deride in-service opportunities. Those who want to grow will have the opportunity to do so and within three to five years can expect to have virtually any job in education they want, usually at a much higher salary. Successful educators (1) work cooperatively and learn from colleagues, (2) seek out mentors who serve as role models, (3) go to professional meetings to learn, and (4) have a goal of striving for excellence. Welcome back, and let us all recommit to becoming growing professionals.
   
• What Is a Teacher? "Teacher—you are a poet, as you weave with your colorful magic language a passion for your subject. Teacher—you are a physicist, as you bring magic, logic, reason, and wonder to the properties, changes, and interactions of our universe. Teacher—you are a maestro, a master of composing, as you conduct and orchestrate individuals’ thoughts and actions from discordant cacophony into harmonic resonance. Teacher—you are an architect, as you provide each student a solid foundation, but always with a vision of the magnificent structure that is about to emerge. Teacher—you are a diplomat and the ambassador of tact and sensitivity, as you facilitate productive, positive interactions among the multiplicity of personalities and cultures, beliefs, and ideals. Teacher—you are a philosopher, as your actions and ethics convey meaning and hope to students who look to you for guidance and example. From poet to philosopher, always strive to present yourself to students as a person worthy of the noble title—Teacher." Excerpted from That Noble Title Teacher by Trish Marcuzzo
   
• The effective teacher has positive expectations for student success, is a good classroom manager, and knows how to design learning experiences for student mastery. People tend to live up to or conversely down to what expectations are set for them. Make certain that goals and objectives are set high but within attainable, measurable increments. Remember that people who do things right are efficient. And people who do things right over and over again, consistently, are effective. Being efficient is doing things right. Being effective is doing the right thing.  
   
• You do not get a second chance at a first impression. The first day of class will set the tone for the rest of the semester. In the modern more casual world it may seem archaic to say that the effective educator dresses appropriately as a professional to model success; but it, none-the-less, remains a powerful visible cue to the observer. In an ideal world, viewed through rose-colored glasses, it would be wonderful to be accepted for ourselves alone, not for our appearance. In the real world, however, our all-too-visible selves are under constant scrutiny. As you are dressed and act, so shall you be perceived; and as you are perceived, so shall you be treated.
   

• For community colleges to become true "learning colleges" faculties must develop the skills to assess and research student success. Classroom Assessment seeks answers to questions such as, "Did students learn what I was trying to teach today?" or "How did students respond to the small group sessions that we tried today?" Classroom Research, however, might ask how students develop critical thinking skills or what role advising plays in student success or how collaborative learning affects student involvement in learning. Questions to be answered by classroom research arise out of the teacher’s experience in the classroom, and the motivation for doing the research comes from curiosity about how the students in the classroom approach learning and the teacher’s commitment to improving it. Adapted from K. Patricia Cross
   
• Classroom Research is characterized by being: (1) learner centered where the focus is on improving "learning" rather than "teaching," (2) teacher directed in gathering useful information on classroom learning in their own disciplines rather than relying totally on professional researchers to provide data, (3) practical and relevant to enhance personal understanding than advance knowledge in general, (4) context specific to a specific group of students rather than a general population, (5) scholarly and professional which builds upon a research base that recognizes teaching as a scholarly activity enriched by research—not replaced by it, and (6) continuous in that changes suggested by research need to be tested, evaluated, altered when needed, and tested and evaluated again. Improvement comes from the process. Adapted from K. Patricia Cross
   
• When community colleges first appeared their mission centered on "access" and "technical and occupational training." By the 1990’s the mission changed into "producing learning" accompanied by appropriate additions to statements of purpose and efforts to define learning. Today the focus has shifted to proving through assessment that learning is taking place. This paradigm change generates a tremendous challenge for both faculty and students to understand the nature of the teaching/learning process and to assume greater personal responsibility for investigate it. The classroom must be the focus of this study since for most working adult students the classroom is the place where active involvement with instructors and peers takes place.
   
• WHAT IS A STUDENT?
  • A Student is the most important person ever in this school . . . in person, on the telephone, or by mail.
  • A Student is not dependent on us . . . we are dependent on the Student.
  • A Student is not an interruption of our work, the Student is the purpose of it.
  • We are not doing a favor by serving the Student . . . the Student is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so.
  • A Student is a person who brings us his or her desire to learn.
  • It is our job to assist each Student in a manner which is beneficial to the Student and ourselves. This was adapted by Dr. William Purkey, with some editorial modification by Steve Herman from the L. L. Bean Company’s position on "What Is A Customer?" by J. M. Eaton.
     

• Institutions committed to continuous improvement must undergo cyclical efforts to assess, evaluate, and plan. Each step must be documented as to what was planned, what happened, and what resulted from the effort if the institution is deemed to be "effective." One of the ways this might be accomplished is to periodically review the people, places, policies, p rograms, and processes to determine how well they are working together to effect the desired product —learning. (For the next several weeks we will examine each of the "P’s" and suggest possible goals for each.)
   
• Reviewing and examining the six "P’s" we introduced last week can aid our goal of positively effecting student learning. First we need a strategy. Consider GOALS as that strategy: Goal setting, Outlining actions, Anticipating obstacles, Listing alternatives, and Specifying action plans. Now, why look at the first P—people? To improve the quality of life for students, faculty, and staff at Mitchell Community College we might ask what we could do to nurture relationships in ways that increase trust, respect, optimism, and a sense of community and commitment to it. Expected outcomes might include improvement in retention at all levels, a heightened self-concept both as learners and guides toward learning, and an increase in recognition and rewards for all members of the college community.
   
• Why examine Places? We need to know if Mitchell Community College’s facilities and grounds enhance an environment that promotes learning. (The Goal) Are they pleasant, aesthetic, clean, functional, safe, accessible, and adequate? When facilities and grounds are well cared for the message is that someone is in charge and someone cares. The opposite is true when the reverse situation is in play. The effect would be that these concerns are taken into account when reviewing where we are, and planning for where we need to be. (Action Plan) Enhancements, based on the review, might be made to lighting, access, parking, landscaping, and signage that convey positive messages beginning with please and ending with thank you. Understanding that Places impact learning is one key to continuous improvement.
   
• Why examine Policies? At Mitchell Community College we must find ways to ensure that all rules, regulations, and requirements are inclusive, positive, encouraging, involving, disseminated, and understood. Policies are a critical part of the climate or culture of our learning community. They can affect retention, reputation, and success at all levels. Why examine Programs? As with policies, all programs at Mitchell Community College must be continually reviewed to ensure that they work for the general welfare of the institution. Programs that appear to be ethnocentric, elitist, sexist, discriminatory, outdated, under subscribed, or no longer meet the changing needs of our constituency need to be modified or eliminated. New programs must be evaluated as well to insure that the mission of the institution, to meet the changing needs of its service area, is met.
   
• Why examine Processes? Doing things the right way is as important as doing the right thing. At Mitchell Community College we must ensure that the processes we use to effect continuous improvement and enhance learning are also evaluated. How we meet our goal is as important as the results. An exciting, satisfying, and enriching environment requires that everyone be on board. Everyone must know, become committed to, and be able to articulate the goals of the institution. Understanding one’s role in the process is essential to success. We must routinely evaluate our mission, goals, and how we do things. We must discuss, evaluate, develop priorities and action plans, coordinate efforts, and conduct in-service training where needed so that everyone has the skills to accomplish our intended goal.
   
• An ongoing examination of the five P’s (People, Places, Policies, Programs, and Processes) can result in producing the desired Product –a learning environment in which students, faculty, administration, and staff can be successful in achieving their shared goal. Anticipated outcomes might include: greater retention, higher GPAs, increased graduation rates, heightened levels of satisfaction, a shared sense of place, and elevated enthusiasm with barriers coming down and banners celebrating success going up.
   
• We began this series by talking about a GOALS strategy: Goal setting, Outlining actions, Anticipating obstacles, Listing alternatives, and Specifying action plans. Let’s look at this process as it applies to our planning and evaluation practices. Goals, mission statements, and job descriptions are not necessarily the same thing. Goals are things we want to achieve to foster continuous improvement within the framework of the other two. We need to outline specific actions that we plan to take to achieve these goals. That action plan should detail where we are now and where we expect to be after taking the action. For example, let’s say that enrollment in a program is low—numbers of students enrolled went from 50 to 30 in a two-year period. (Where we are now.) The action plan to reverse this trend (the goal) is to visit all the high schools in the spring of 2006, host an open house in the fall of 2007, form a new advisory committee and meet quarterly, produce new, more attractive and informative brochures about the program, etc. (the action plan.) The expected outcome will be an increase in enrollment from 30 to 40 the first year and from 40 to 50 the second year. Assessment occurs when we examine (what did happen) after the actions were taken. Either we met the expectation, exceeded it, or did not meet it. In summary, we must decide: first, where we are now; second, where we want to be; third, the Action Plan to get us there; fourth, what we expect to happen as a result of our plan; and fifth, what did happen? At that point the process will need to begin again.
   

• The New Year and new semester provide opportunities for new beginnings. A strategy for connecting in the classroom is to share stories, or anecdotes. Encouraging students to share their personal narratives, thoughts, feelings, and experiences is one way to validate and recognize the student, and if the story is pertinent to the course content, the whole classroom community is strengthened. Likewise, instructors who are comfortable sharing their own relevant anecdotes are humanized, and understanding of the topic under discussion is enhanced.
   

CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS SERIES

• The New Year and new semester provide opportunities for new beginnings. A strategy for connecting in the classroom is to share stories, or anecdotes. Encouraging students to share their personal narratives, thoughts, feelings, and experiences is one way to validate and recognize the student, and if the story is pertinent to the course content, the whole classroom community is strengthened. Likewise, instructors who are comfortable sharing their own relevant anecdotes are humanized, and understanding of the topic under discussion is enhanced.
   
• A second strategy for connecting in the classroom and enhancing learning is to foster an atmosphere that promotes discussion. The instructor is most responsible for initiating the process that students can then buy into. First, the instructor must have a command of the subject matter, and model discussion techniques by presenting a variety of perspectives on a topic. Next, ask students what they think about the opinions and alternatives presented. Student comments must be welcomed, reinforced with positive feedback so that fear is removed, and sometimes restated for clarity. Restating can be as simple as saying: "what I heard you say, or what I understood was…. Is that correct? Once again, the instructor is responsible for keeping discussion focused on the topic, monitoring time spent, and assessing the level of understanding being achieved.
   
• A third area of consideration for connecting with students in the classroom and enhancing learning is to consider the use of space. Space involves several different elements. First, there is people space: the instructor’s, the individual student’s, and the group’s. Secondly, there is intellectual space for each, and there is the physical space itself. Learning takes place in all of these spheres and they can be manipulated. When students are in straight rows with a podium, desk, or table in front with the instructor behind it—the instructor owns the entire space. This is fine for lecture, not so good for discussion and active learning. Try altering the space when appropriate by removing the podium and moving out from behind the desk into the student’s space, which then becomes jointly owned. If the instructor moves to the back or a far corner, the student’s own the entire space and must take greater responsibility for their learning. While spaces are shared and complete ownership of classrooms is rare, everyone can take responsibility for keeping rooms clean, orderly, well lighted, instructional equipment in working condition, and notifying responsible staff when repairs or major cleaning needs to be done.
   
• Humor can be an effective means to help build a sense of community and enhance appeal, effectiveness, and delivery of material. Keep in mind that humor must be appropriate, timely, and tasteful. Instructors must avoid moving toward sarcasm or personalizing comments that might intrude into the personal emotional or physical space of their students, and one must be comfortable with the use of humor. When humor is forced, it is not funny. Based on research, the jury may still be out; but the primary benefit of humor in the classroom may be the creation of an environment in which students feel free to take risks and to enjoy learning in a social context that is good-natured and comfortable.
   
• Using props is another way to engage students. While it may sound like the old "show and tell" from grammar school, there is ample evidence that utilizing all sensory systems increases learning. Many instructors use video tapes, overhead projectors, and power point to augment lecture, however, these are primarily auditory and visual—not unlike lecture. They do add texture and vary the pace that aids in learning. Most classrooms do not have pictures and seasonal bulletin boards and probably shouldn’t since most spaces are shared, yet displaying examples of art, passing around objects, and setting up simple demonstrations allows the student to learn in a kinesthetic manner. Adding discussion, covered earlier in the series, helps to then reinforce the new learning.
   
• Using personal experiences to illustrate the linkages between the everyday events in our lives and the information and concepts covered in the classroom is a major way to effect active learning. When a connection is made between abstract ideas presented in class and our current experiences, we become invested in the learning process and are better able to deal with the changes that genuine learning affects. Critical thinking skills are also strengthened when students recognize commonalities and are able to use existing knowledge to understand new information. The vitality and energy that result from students becoming personally committed to the learning process become palpable, and it becomes easier for students to apply their new knowledge.
   
• Changes in pace are another way to stimulate and often revitalize the learning process for both student and teacher. This may involve very simple things such as the instructor moving from one place to another, changing the tone and modulation of the voice, introducing an activity or discussion, using an anecdote or illustrating a point with a personal experience, or having the class break into groups. Research is clear that attention spans are short and monotony sets in quickly when sameness is the order of the day. Active learning requires activity on the part of teacher and student alike. Mix it up.
   

• Critical thinking involves logic. Lewis Carroll wrote that "If it was so, it might be; if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic." That is also funny and true; but how do we know when it ain’t. Well, that involves a process by which we learn the skills of inquiry to ask the right questions to increase the likelihood that we achieve the desired goal or outcome. As we process the information, we must ever assess our own thinking as to its validity by rationally examining our thoughts and ideas. Basically, critically thinking is a way of thinking that moves from the general to the specific as we narrow the focus until the questions and evidence support the same conclusion.
   
• Once information has been acquired, absorbed, and behavior established based upon what we think is and how things ought to be, we tend not to change unless we develop the skills of critical analysis. William Graham Sumner possibly said it best in Folkways, published in 1906. He wrote that: "The critical habit of thought, if usual in society, will pervade all its mores because it is a way of taking up the problems of life. Men educated in it cannot be stampeded by stump orators … They are slow to believe. They can hold things as possible or probable in all degrees, without certainty and without pain. They can wait for evidence and weigh evidence, uninfluenced by the emphasis or confidence with which assertions are made on one side or the other. They can resist appeals to their dearest prejudices and all kinds of cajolery. Education in the critical faculty is the only education of which it can be truly said that it makes good citizens."
   
• Critical thinking and writing rests heavily on critical listening and writing skills. This is especially important in taking notes from lectures. The "Six R’s" of note taking might be helpful. Adapted from Dr. Dena Bain Taylor’s note taking handouts used at the University of Toronto, these "R’s" are: Read, Record, Reduce, Recite, Reflect, and Review. Record what is important based on the course outline, objectives, and framework. To know what is important the student should have read through assigned material—handouts and text. Before reading the text thoroughly skim through the chapter noting topics, headings, and summaries. During lecture do not try to transcribe everything, but map the main topics and examples discussed. Take verbal and non-verbal cues from the instructor to reinforce what is being stressed. Use spacing to show groupings of ideas. Leave space on the left margin and at the bottom for your own comments about what that grouping relates to, where it is covered in the text, or fits into a specific unit objective.
   
• Additional steps toward enhancing listening and writing skills that can facilitate learning and critical thinking are: to reduce and recite the material. Reducing means that as soon as possible after the class students should reread notes for accuracy and completeness. Pick out key words and concepts and write them in the left margin. If there appears to be gaps in the notes fill in material from the text or supplemental materials suggested by the instructor. Reciting means that the notes should then be reviewed using the key words to recall as much of the content as possible. Rewriting the key concepts in one’s own words carries the reciting process further and helps to move information from short-term memory to long-term memory.
   
• The final two R’s in this series suggesting ways to improve learning and critical thinking are to reflect and review. Reflection means that one considers the relationship between the current material and previous learning, noting any remaining questions, and relating the content to one’s own experiences and the overall context and framework of the course. Reviewing prior to writing an essay, taking a test, or giving a report involves reciting once again the material paying special attention to the key terms and cues written in the margins or high-lighted in the notes. Reflect once again on how specific facts, names, terms, and ideas fit into the larger context of the topic under review. Repetition of the six R’s can be a very good thing.
   
• According to Scriven and Paul associated with the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction: "Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: (1) a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and (2) the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with: (1) the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; (2) the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and (3) the mere use of those skills (‘as an exercise’) without acceptance of their results." In other words we must think about the information we receive, evaluate it for thoroughness and accuracy, and consider the impact of the information on others and ourselves as we use it.
   
• Critical thinking, defined by Scriven and Paul, is "…self directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking." As for results, a successful critical thinker "…(1) raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely; (2) gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it effectively…coming to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards; (3) thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, implications, and practical consequences; and (4) communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex problems."
   
• Critical thinking is a life-long journey that requires cultivation on a continuous basis. We all have episodes of irrational thought, self-delusion, blind spots, and prejudice resulting in biased, distorted, and uninformed thoughts and beliefs. Half-baked thinking is costly in both money and quality of life. Once realized, we must be ever diligent to ensure that our thinking is based on intellectual standards that can be learned and applied throughout our lives. (Review this series in the archive for helpful hints toward achieving this goal.)
   

• INVITATIONAL VS. DISINVITATIONAL SERIES
  The following are examples of personal behaviors that demonstrate positive vs. negative messages:

  INVITING	DISINVITING
  Smiling	Rolling one’s eyes
  Listening	Yawning
  Holding a door	Letting a door swing behind you
  Thumbs up/high five	Looking at one’s watch
  Sending a thank you	Forgetting an important date
  Waiting one’s turn	Jumping line

• INVITATIONAL VS. DISINVITATIONAL SERIES
  The following are examples of inviting physical environments vs. disinviting ones:

  INVITING	DISINVITING
  Fresh paint, especially on doors	Dark corridors
  Living, inside plants	No inside plants
  Clean walls & floors	Graffiti on walls & dirty floors
  Comfortable, attractive furniture	Old, broken-down furniture
  Fresh air	Stale, bad smells
  Positive signage (please, thank you)	Negative signage (NO, keep out)
  Well-lit, attractive landscaping	Dark grounds with little or no landscaping

   

• INVITATIONAL VS. DISINVITATIONAL SERIES
  The following are examples of inviting thoughts or "self-talk" vs. disinviting thoughts:

  INVITING	DISINVITING
  "Making mistakes is part of learning."	"Why am I so stupid?"
  "I could learn to do that."	"I could never do that."
  "I've misplaced my text book."	"I've lost my text book again."
  "I can."	"I can't."
  "Sometimes I have to think what to say."	"I never know what to say; I'm so slow to catch on."

• Creativity is the ability to imagine or invent something new by combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas to create something that is different. Everyone has that ability. It is very visible in children as they explore and experiment; but it becomes less apparent in adults as education and "learning the correct way" tends to suppress natural creativity. It can often be rekindled by making a commitment to be creative and assuming an attitude that accepts change, embodies a willingness to explore possibilities, is flexible, and desires improvement. Creativity is also largely a process. Rarely does anything come in a flash of brilliance; but rather through a determination to make things better. In summary: it is an ability, an attitude, and a process focused on a belief that there is always room for improvement.
   

• There are a number of ways to produce creative results. One simple way is through evolution. This is an incremental process in which one attempts to make something a little better until it is much better and often something totally different from the original. The evolutionary creative person does not subscribe to the idea that "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it," but rather to the assumption that every problem that has been solved can be solved again in a better way. If you embrace the notion that there is no such thing as an insignificant improvement, you are a creative thinker.
   

• A second way to effect creative results is through synthesis. This simply means that two or more existing ideas are combined into a third, new idea. Critical thinking might be involved in seeing correlations between two things, i.e. traditional seated instruction and the internet which could be combined into hybrid or distance delivery systems benefiting both students and institutions; however envisioning this new synthesis is clearly "creative." A third method is to identify a totally new idea or solution that is different from anything in the past. This method might be called revolution or "thinking outside the box." Here, an extension of the educational example might be rather than making lectures better and better or blending two delivery methods, one might stop lecturing altogether and have students working in teams to teach each other.
   

• Reapplication is a fourth method to achieve creativity. This is a process of looking at something old with new eyes and asking how it can otherwise be used. For example, an old car tire might be used as a swing, a flower planter, or as a boat-guard attached to a pier. A fifth process involves a complete change of direction. Sometimes known as creative insight, it occurs when attention is shifted from one angle of a problem to another. Here we must focus on the goal which is to solve an identified problem, not to implement a particular solution. When one solution is not working, move to another. There should be no commitment to a particular path, only to a particular goal.

SELF-DIRECTED LEARNING SERIES

• Thirty-five years ago Malcolm Knowles was encouraging more self-directed learning and less teacher-directed learning. These suggestions were based upon a number of assumptions that by now we should have had time to evaluate. If we haven’t, the up-tick in on-line, hybrid, and enhanced instruction which depends heavily upon self-direction, demands that we do so now. This six week series will review those assumptions so that both teachers and learners can assess their teaching and learning beliefs and capabilities in order to make better informed decisions.
   

• Teacher-directed learning, according to Knowles, assumes the learner is essentially a dependent personality and that the teacher has the responsibility to determine what and how the learner should be taught. Self-directed learning assumes that the individual sees and needs self-direction as a natural component of maturing, and this capacity should be encouraged and nurtured to develop as soon as possible.
   

• Knowles wrote that in teacher-directed learning, there is the assumption that the student’s experiences were of less value than that of the teacher, the textbook, or the other materials provided. As a result, it was the teacher’s responsibility to transmit the wisdom of the resources to the learner. The assumption in self-directed learning, however, was that the learner’s experiences become an increasingly rich resource for learning, which should be utilized alongside the resources of the "experts."