Spring 2010
EAD 863 Training and Professional Development
I know that I am a more effective instructor, facilitator, and trainer because of this course. First, I should state that this course helped me to distinguish between the previously mentioned roles that I had used interchangeably. An instructor offers new information to students, in addition to opinion offered by the text. Facilitators are skilled to draw knowledge from participants and are more acquainted with processes rather than content. Trainers help individuals produce a new skill or behavior. Before this course I thought each title referred to the same work, now I know differently.
If a student is serious about becoming more effective, this course will encourage students to perform at higher levels because the content is very streamlined. The content analyzes every component of active training experiences, from the setting and introduction to the assessment and follow-up. For me the challenge, was deciding which area to work on first or developing a comprehensive improvement plan.
I took this course while teaching EAD 315 Student Leadership Training, which presented several opportunities for me to implement the techniques offered in the course. One lesson, I focused on developing clear and measurable objectives. Even after reworking and editing Dr. Dirkx said my objectives were still vague. Therefore, I will have to continue working on developing concise objectives. It is also challenging for me to align assessment strategies with objectives. In class, I remember asking students what did they generally learn, while overlooking the objectives I worked hard to develop.
As a traditional lecturer, I want to become more comfortable in this form of instruction. After using active learning strategies for so long, I am uncomfortable lecturing because I have not practiced it very much. There is power in a leader being able to captivate an audience with only mere words, no PowerPoint or visual aids, just words. I have seen this done a few times and I marveled to myself how amazing it must feel to know that you are being effective alone without additional help.
Courses like this make me more anxious to return to training and facilitating.
EAD 864 Adult Career Development
What are individual factors that enable some to connect to their most authentic selves in work while others are extremely disconnected? I took Adult Career Development to answer this question. Also, I wanted to learn more about how people perceive their work as a demonstration of their purpose.
The course is designed to enhance the understanding of career development through studying the work and life of seven individuals from various professions. Each individual case study is considered a unit and consists of either an autobiography or movie about the person along with additional literature on aspects of career development. Reading the narratives of several influential people across professions helped me to define the implications of adult career development and identify common themes related to career progression. While there are many perspectives on the meaning of adult career development, I define this term as all the aspects of an individuals life, including personal identity, family, socio-economic background and life experience that influences one to pursue certain kinds of work over the course of a lifespan. Furthermore, there are stages of career development that are common across professions, which include formal training, apprenticeship and adjustment, acceptance, mastery and peer recognition.
Entry into most fields requires some sort of formal training through institutions of higher learning, employer sponsored training programs or community organization initiatives. The next phase usually involves a learning curve as an individual learns about his or her role, the organization, and the community of practice that supports the work. Communities of practice often share common identity and culture related to their work. For example, in the non-profit community it is expected of fund-raisers and program planners to attend evening community events to increase awareness about their organization's mission. I do not believe that this same expectation exist in other communities of practice.
I gained a deeper appreciation for the life experiences of others while exploring the content of each unit. Identifying when a career begins is a debated issue in adult career development. I posit that career development begins in childhood for some and later for other; yet, it definitely starts before accepting a job. During the first unit, I was introduced to Dr. Eleanor Arroway (Ellie), a fictitious character in the movie Contact. Ellie's career as a scientist began look before enrolling in college; it started in childhood when she fantasized about orbiting outer space. While all of us are not as fortunate as Ellie to be connected to our authentic selves during the early years of life, I firmly believe that each person has a set of life experiences that can provide direction to work that brings him or her pleasure.
Creativity and responsibility were other significant course themes associated with adult career development. The cases of Michael Bloomberg and Danielle Ofri were key to my understanding the previously stated themes in the context of career development. Bloomberg created the Bloomberg terminal that revolutionized the financial commodity trading industry by providing traders with real time feedback on stock price fluctuation. His empire evolved to the present-day Bloomberg Company, which offers a variety of services including news wire and financial information. Regarding career development, Bloomberg's case is significant for me because it featured him as an employee and an employer, showcased the challenges of work-life balance, and presented examples of his career reinventions. After reading his work, realized that
the development of greatness in performance or new ideas results from continuous practice. As I started the course curious about the characters of leaders that allow them to be succeed while living passionately, Bloomberg's ability to demonstrate creative thinking and spark innovation in his staff provided an answer to my question.
Creativity is important, but other attributes and skills are equally critical. Danielle Ofri's reflective medical practice illustrates the importance of emotional intelligence, active listening and the tension between learning while exercising power. Unlike other career paths, the process of becoming a doctor is very structured. Ofri's case offers readers the opportunity explore the inside work of medical practice and the personal skills that have led her to be perceived as an anomaly. One of Ofri's distinguishing characteristics is her reliance of patient narratives to provide complete diagnosis. She listens to her patients' stories in order to truly understand the physical and emotional aspects of their ailments. Also, the medical hierarchy demands that students learn with concurrently exercising authority to make both medical and administrative decisions. This case was impressionable because it forced me to thinking critically about the differences and similarities between structured and unstructured career paths and the implication for future development. It became clear to me that authenticity in developing relationships with those we seek to serve encourages excellence in practice.
As an adult educator, being aware of the process of career development will help me to design and implement programs structured to enhance career-specific skills and/or learning experiences to improve communication, relationships and understanding of other people.
The self-paced and hyper-link format of the course challenged me to engage in the material differently. Setting and adhering to my own schedule was definitely an advantage because while taking this course I was also teaching, taking courses and working. Without the flexibility offered in this course I would not have been able to successfully meet all of my other obligations.
Featured work: These are short reflections on the work of Danielle Ofri and Michael Bloomberg.
What are individual factors that enable some to connect to their most authentic selves in work while others are extremely disconnected? I took Adult Career Development to answer this question. Also, I wanted to learn more about how people perceive their work as a demonstration of their purpose.
The course is designed to enhance the understanding of career development through studying the work and life of seven individuals from various professions. Each individual case study is considered a unit and consists of either an autobiography or movie about the person along with additional literature on aspects of career development. Reading the narratives of several influential people across professions helped me to define the implications of adult career development and identify common themes related to career progression. While there are many perspectives on the meaning of adult career development, I define this term as all the aspects of an individuals life, including personal identity, family, socio-economic background and life experience that influences one to pursue certain kinds of work over the course of a lifespan. Furthermore, there are stages of career development that are common across professions, which include formal training, apprenticeship and adjustment, acceptance, mastery and peer recognition.
Entry into most fields requires some sort of formal training through institutions of higher learning, employer sponsored training programs or community organization initiatives. The next phase usually involves a learning curve as an individual learns about his or her role, the organization, and the community of practice that supports the work. Communities of practice often share common identity and culture related to their work. For example, in the non-profit community it is expected of fund-raisers and program planners to attend evening community events to increase awareness about their organization's mission. I do not believe that this same expectation exist in other communities of practice.
I gained a deeper appreciation for the life experiences of others while exploring the content of each unit. Identifying when a career begins is a debated issue in adult career development. I posit that career development begins in childhood for some and later for other; yet, it definitely starts before accepting a job. During the first unit, I was introduced to Dr. Eleanor Arroway (Ellie), a fictitious character in the movie Contact. Ellie's career as a scientist began look before enrolling in college; it started in childhood when she fantasized about orbiting outer space. While all of us are not as fortunate as Ellie to be connected to our authentic selves during the early years of life, I firmly believe that each person has a set of life experiences that can provide direction to work that brings him or her pleasure.
Creativity and responsibility were other significant course themes associated with adult career development. The cases of Michael Bloomberg and Danielle Ofri were key to my understanding the previously stated themes in the context of career development. Bloomberg created the Bloomberg terminal that revolutionized the financial commodity trading industry by providing traders with real time feedback on stock price fluctuation. His empire evolved to the present-day Bloomberg Company, which offers a variety of services including news wire and financial information. Regarding career development, Bloomberg's case is significant for me because it featured him as an employee and an employer, showcased the challenges of work-life balance, and presented examples of his career reinventions. After reading his work, realized that
the development of greatness in performance or new ideas results from continuous practice. As I started the course curious about the characters of leaders that allow them to be succeed while living passionately, Bloomberg's ability to demonstrate creative thinking and spark innovation in his staff provided an answer to my question.
Creativity is important, but other attributes and skills are equally critical. Danielle Ofri's reflective medical practice illustrates the importance of emotional intelligence, active listening and the tension between learning while exercising power. Unlike other career paths, the process of becoming a doctor is very structured. Ofri's case offers readers the opportunity explore the inside work of medical practice and the personal skills that have led her to be perceived as an anomaly. One of Ofri's distinguishing characteristics is her reliance of patient narratives to provide complete diagnosis. She listens to her patients' stories in order to truly understand the physical and emotional aspects of their ailments. Also, the medical hierarchy demands that students learn with concurrently exercising authority to make both medical and administrative decisions. This case was impressionable because it forced me to thinking critically about the differences and similarities between structured and unstructured career paths and the implication for future development. It became clear to me that authenticity in developing relationships with those we seek to serve encourages excellence in practice.
As an adult educator, being aware of the process of career development will help me to design and implement programs structured to enhance career-specific skills and/or learning experiences to improve communication, relationships and understanding of other people.
The self-paced and hyper-link format of the course challenged me to engage in the material differently. Setting and adhering to my own schedule was definitely an advantage because while taking this course I was also teaching, taking courses and working. Without the flexibility offered in this course I would not have been able to successfully meet all of my other obligations.
Featured work: These are short reflections on the work of Danielle Ofri and Michael Bloomberg.
bloomberg_reflection.pdf | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
File Type: |
Ofri Reflection.pdf | |
File Size: | 55 kb |
File Type: |