Stepping Stones

I am at the last part of my paper now ...The Forces are working hard against me, but I know there are even greater Ones working for me. I just have to decide who will win for my time.


Being done is within my reach. People are cheering for me, but I am the only one who can cross the finish line. Only I can do it and it is something I have to do alone. Everyone who is cheering for me is waiting on the other side.


So, I have to set goals that when I accomplish one thing, I can reward myself with something else. Right now, it is going out to see Eat Pray Love next week. My second one is getting back on facebook. I haven't really missed it, but I have certain responsibilities that require it.


I have learned over these last few weeks that it is nice to disconnect. It is nice to just sit and enjoy nature and the world around us. I can't wait until I am done with this and will be able to have time to spend in the outdoors and reconnect myself with those things I love most.


Connection is important. Connection to God, real people, the earth, and yourself.

Progress

For the past week I have been sick and sleeping a lot. I haven't had much motivation to do anything. The deadline is fast approaching and I am beginning to freak out a little ... Just a little ...

Today I am on page 16 of my literature review. I haven't even gotten to my 10 required articles. Verbose ... But it's my first draft ... I think we will be OK. I would rather start with too much than not have enough.

This week my goal is to have my literature review done. I know once that is complete I will be one the downhill slide ... I hope ... And pray ...

Pray for me! :)

What is art?

This is my final project for COML 502. I do not know that it will make as much sense to those who watch as it does to me. We were supposed to put something together examining those things we learned during our time on campus for Leadership & Imagination.

I put together a series of photographs, quotes, and movies that are particular to me. They focus on art and leadership, and some have particular meaning. Enjoy and I would enjoy your comments in response :D

On my way

I got an e-mail back and I am good to go. My adviser said all I need to do is attach a more clear theory of what I am going to base my project on and make sure I keep my focus narrow. So yesterday and today I have been researching theory. I think I found what I am going to add to my proposal and the theory that will define, in a sense, my project. 

The theory will be the Anxiety / Uncertainty Management Theory. William B. Gudykunst created the theory based upon Berger & Calabrese's Uncertainty Reduction Theory. However, his twist is on the focus of intercultural communication. 

I am excited to be moving forward. So far, I have been pulling all kinds of articles. There is a lot to build on. My goal is to write 10 pages per week and be mostly done and ready for first round edits by the first week of August. The final goal is to be done by the end of August :D

First go at the Capstone Project Proposal ...

DIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS & LEADERSHIP

___________________________

A Project

Presented to the Faculty in Communication and Leadership Studies

School of Professional Studies

Gonzaga University

___________________________

Under the Mentorship of

Heather M. Crandall, Ph.D.

Communication and Leadership Studies

__________________________

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies

___________________________

By

Brandy A. Lee

June 2010

 

Thesis Proposal and Preliminary Reference List

Brandy A. Lee

COML 680

Gonzaga University School of Professional Studies

June 15, 2010

 

THESIS PROPOSAL

            The Star Trek Mission Statement is, “To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” Oftentimes seeking diversity in education seems to mirror this statement. For many educators, they don’t know how to work with persons or teach students from another culture; and for other educators, it is a step in directions no one knows how to seek.

            At Roy High School, the need for understanding diversity and how to capitalize on it is growing exponentially every year. The diversity of the school doesn’t deal with just ethnicity, but with demographics such as finance, family structure, and educational support at home. The faculty at RHS is 100% Caucasian. There are a handful of teachers who have spent anywhere from 18 months to two years outside of the United States and who speak other languages.

            In speaking with Gina Buttars, the new administrator at RHS, she states the need for diversity training for faculty and staff in the school is one of the key factors for student success. Many teachers are working with the stigma that the Latin American students don’t care about education, or that they will not succeed; or that the Special Education students are in school just to go through the motions; or are uncomfortable with promoting the idea for students to step outside of their social, academic, and cultural boundaries.

            This project will focus on building part of the Professional Development Plan for RHS this coming year, with a focus on Diversity Communications & Leadership. This project will focus on creating tools to facilitate diversity communications and leadership training among the faculty and staff at RHS. Also within this project there will be surveys and other methods of measurement created to help measure the progress, successes and failures of the materials.

Methodology

            My intended method for the creation of the Diversity Communications & Leadership component of the PDP at RHS is to research theory and other scholarly information in order to create a base for the project. I will also be creating survey instruments to be used as part of the instrumentation to gauge progress, opportunities for improvement, and the overall success of this portion of the PDP.

            Participants of the end product will consist of faculty and staff at RHS. There are more than 100 at RHS who teach a varying array of subjects. The project will focus on helping teachers not only understand, but to implement this Diversity Communications & Leadership training into their classrooms, thereby helping to increase the success rate of students across the board.            

Additional Information Collection

            In addition to the information that will be gathered within RHS and Weber School District, information will also be gathered from other local schools and districts who have been working to impliment similar diveristy trainings. This will help to ensure the efficiency of information being discemninated and not to repeat previous fauxpa’s. Information will also be continually sought from outside professional development agencies, etc. to ensure that all of the necessary components are included.

Preliminary References

Bertelsen, D. A., & Goodboy, A. K. (2009). Curriculum planning: Trends in communication studies, workplace competencies, and current programs at 4-year colleges and universities. Communication Education, 58(2), 262-275. doi:10.1080/03634520902755458

Buys, W. E., Carlson, C. V., Compton, H., & Frank, A. D. (1968). Speech communication in the high school curriculum. Speech Teacher, 17(4), 297. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=9565933&site=ehost-live

Caruso, T. (1972). High school speech and english: A communication department. Today's Speech, 20(4), 33-37. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=22096357&site=ehost-live

Dannels, D., Housley Gaffney, A., & Martin, K. (2008). Communication competencies in design education: An unconventional scholarship of teaching and learning protocol for communication across the curriculum. Conference Papers -- National Communication Association, , 1. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=44853279&site=ehost-live

De Marzio, D. M. (2010). Dealing with diversity: On the uses of common sense in descartes and montaigne. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 29(3), 301-313. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ879815&site=ehost-live; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11217-010-9179-6

Hanson, T. L. (2008). Teaching speech in texas: The challenges (and rewards) of teaching speech communication in texas public schools. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 33(1), 74-77. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=33662924&site=ehost-live

McDevitt, M., & Kiousis, S. (2004). The civic bonding of family and school: Bridging the domestic sphere and the public sphere. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, , 1. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=45284058&site=ehost-live

Mills, C., & Ballantyne, J. (2010). Pre-service teachers' dispositions towards diversity: Arguing for a developmental hierarchy of change. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 26(3), 447-454. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ872970&site=ehost-live; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.05.012

Miron, G., Urschel, J. L., Mathis, W. J., Tornquist, E., University of Colorado at Boulder, Education and the Public,Interest Center, & Arizona State University, Education Policy,Research Unit. (2010). Schools without diversity: Education management organizations, charter schools, and the demographic stratification of the american school systemEducation and the Public Interest Center. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=ED509329&site=ehost-live

Ngo, B. (2010). Doing "diversity" at dynamic high: Problems and possibilities of multicultural education in practice. Education and Urban Society, 42(4), 473-495. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ880431&site=ehost-live; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0013124509356648

Ryan, J., Pollock, K., & Antonelli, F. (2009). Teacher diversity in canada: Leaky pipelines, bottlenecks, and glass ceilings. Canadian Journal of Education, 32(3), 591-617. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ859264&site=ehost-live; http://csse.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE32-3/CJE32-3-RyanEtAl.pdf

Cinder Blocks

Q. In the Architecture and Imagination section of class, we looked at how Mario Botta envisioned the concrete block as significant and we listened to a new way to "see" music (and PVC piping) by The Blue Men Group. We recognized various ways to conceive of an arch (from the Romans to Antonio Gaudi) and we thought about how to "see and see again" the way something as simple as a doorway can inform our behaviors. We finished our face to face time with images of Louis Sullivan of the Chicago Style (and Frank Lloyd Wright) and with the quote "form follows function."
 
Discuss any relationship you see between Architecture and leadership. As you think about your role as a leader, how do you envision the "functioning" of an organization/group that is significant in your life (family, work, volunteer groups, religious communities, or any other group of significance to you) - specifically, what is your vision of the group's purpose or mission? As you "see and see again," how does our journey through Architecture and Imagination inform your ability to design the form that will help to achieve that vision? Feel free to draw from any of the material from the class.

A. I thought a lot about the cinder block. Strange, I know. But I was intrigued by it. The question was posed, "How would you phrase that in the sense of positive and negative space?"

The block not only builds, but it takes up space. It can create many different things. The block is strong, but it can also be demolished in a fell swoop. It can do some great good, or some serious damage. Things made from cinder block and either be really ugly, or something beautiful.

There are many metaphors that can be pulled from these descriptions. I see leadership with the potential of all of the aforementioned and more. In my functioning life, I see a need to build block by block and have a secure foundation for which to build upon.

In art & architecture I see much of my life. There are iconic things, there are historical things, modern things, and the like. History is part of who we are, it informs much of the design of who we are today. We all have iconic moments throughout our lives for the good or the bad. And somehow, we need to keep up with the trends of the life that will swoosh by us if we are not cognizant of it.

Some of my notes I had written for pondering were:
- Home: Finding your place in the world ... How does your home make you feel?
- We must be purposeful about making space, about being divergent.
- Any answer is a good answer.
- Small things can mean a lot.
- Be creative and it is only as strong as the weakest link.
- There are many things we can duplicate, but we can't duplicate people. We need our people!
- One-point perspective = One vanishing point
- How do you create possibilities?
- The arch ...
     -> How can we use the arch in leadership? What are the existing metaphors?
     -> How can we create openings?
     -> How can we cause people to look up?
- Form follows function ...
- Less is more ...

I am still pondering on the cinder block ...

Reflections about COML 502

Q. After experiencing art, film, and drama on the Gonzaga campus in Spokane, what are your initial thoughts about each of the sessions? Which session was your favorite, and why? What surprised you the most during your three days on campus? How would you describe Spokane to a friend?

A. I mentioned before that this is a lot of information to take in over 2.5 days. But it was good to soak everything in and enjoy learning how to think about leadership from a different aspect. Each professor brought their own unique view and everything seemed to building upon each other.

Perhaps my favorite session was either the Art session or the Architecture session. I am a little biased since I teach art, but it was interesting to ruminate on all the different angles (no pun intended).

In the Art session I was able to let go and be who I am. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when we did the drawing portion I watched as people nervously stared at their paper, gripped their pencil tightly, and tried to grasp the drawing from an angles perspective. It was all very interesting to me. In the end, I didn't care if I had an exact replica as long as I came pretty close and made my personal interpretation (a leadership rumination for another time ...).

I enjoyed the Architecture portion mostly for the sheer fact that we were outside doing some practical application. I also enjoyed pondering how it tied in to imagination, leadership, and our lives in general. Every building speaks to a certain time in architecture. Our own leadership styles and lives speak to influences from moments in time. We are all intrinsically tied together and it is awesome to be in awe of the plethora of events happening all around us.

In reflection of the classes, I also noticed a difference between my two on-campus experiences. This is a simple observation and nothing to take offense at, but the persons who are in the ORGL program seem to be much more left-brain oriented, get the task done, and not-so-touchy-feeley. I had a hard time synthesizing with those who were there, and other ORGL-like classes I have taken, because my approach if different.

I am the all-inclusive, lets go do things, let's create together. And perhaps that is the difference in the experiences. Last time I was here we were creating all the time; we were applying all the time; and we needed to come together as a team in order to have a successful experience. This time around was all about information sharing and not so much the application process (which I thought we were going to experience both).

At first I felt alone. And I admit I did it to myself. I am a middle ground introvert/extrovert. When I am not in my element, I stay inside and observe, process, and enjoy things happening on the outside. When I am in my element, I am all about participating. I did not do a very good job about pushing myself this weekend to get outside of my comfort zone as much as I could have.

Overall it was a good experience. I have a friend from the COML program that is there this weekend and it was fun to share with her all the fun places we went to. Also, I have two other college friends who are in this program and it has been fun to share about our experiences as I am now finishing and they are about half-way through. Spokane is a wonderful place and Gonzaga makes the experience that much more fun. GO ZAGS!!