In this 5-minute Ignite talk, CSUCI faculty member, Andrea Grove, reflects on the depth of her students’ learning in Univ. 392: Journey to South Africa. Andrea shares quotes from her students, presenting compelling evidence about the impact of experiential learning.
The readings this week were interesting for me considering I have been an opponent of affirmative action since the day I learned what it meant. I had heard the words, affirmative action, pop up here and there when i was a teenager. I couldn’t believe people were being denied jobs and admissions to universities because of the color of their skin, even after they prepared hard and earned it. That didn’t sound fair to me, it sounded like reverse discrimination. I understand today that some drastic, and probably unfair things, needed to be done in our society in order to break the “monopoly” of white males dominating some aspects of society, such as higher education and the desired jobs in our society. The readings this week helped reinforce those beliefs quite a bit. The Supreme Court has had a difficult time weighing the pros and cons of affirmative action and handing down decisions as well. Their most recent ruling, in 2003, was the University of Michigan cases, where they ruled with the university, and affirmative action, and against the university, and the affirmative action policy in the other case. For, and against, all at the same time? That is how tricky and controversial this issue is. Now that I have learned more about these famous Supreme Court cases, I like the way the UC-Davis Medical School implemented affirmative action in the 1970’s. They reserved 16 spots out of 100 for minority to students, in order for them to have a the opportunity to become doctors and possibly serve their home communities, where white doctors may be less inclined to practice. In addition these minority doctors can serve as a great inspiration to others in their community. Lets all hope affirmative action is a thing of the past in this country, as that could signal a good balance of diversity in all walks of life.
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As you reflect on the assumptions of Theory X and Y, how would you describe your own philosophy of leadership?
Both theory X and theory Y are very precise with their attributes and ideas, if you will. Although the text presents the theories in a way that seems as though you can only be one, I believe that I have attributes and ideals of both. However, with that being said, if I had to make a decision I would say that I fall in line with theory Y. I do believe that people really don’t mind work and that it becomes natural because of the emphasis that has been placed on work by our society. When discussing this, we can also take motivation into play. I believe that everyone can be self motivated, it just takes time and situations for some to realize what their motivation is. From situations I have seen, it often seems like those who are “unmotivated” just need forms or encouragement and support to find their motivation.
Of the three styles of leadership, what style comes easiest for you? Describe how people respond to you when you use the style.
For me, the style of leadership that comes easiest to me is democratic leadership. I think that because this leadership style is the one that I use most often, people respond to me well. I love working with people and truly getting to know and understand them, not as above them, but as working side by side with them. Looking back a different leadership moments in my life, I would say that because I use the democratic leadership approach, I am constantly gaining new relationships with people and that is one of my favorite parts of life, meeting new people and maintaining a relationship with them. People that I have worked with when using the democratic leadership style seem to be more trusting and willing to build that relationship as well.
One of the aspects of democratic leadership is to help subordinates take responsibility for themselves. How do you assess your own ability to help others help themselves?
I think that it is important for people to be observant and take responsibility for themselves. I think that I can best explain how I go about approaching this by an example. This past summer I was an Orientation Leader for all incoming freshmen. Throughout their two day orientation, I had a group of about 14 students who I was constantly working with and getting to know. In this role I found it particularly important to maintain my typical democratic leadership approach because I wanted them to see me as “just another student” because in all reality, I am. I have been through what they are about to experience (i.e. college, moving, roommates, classes, and change) and want to be an approachable resource for them. Although I never really lectured them or spoke to them in a way that made me seem superior, there were certain topics that I wanted to stress to them, and this is where subordinates taking responsibility comes into play. One approach I had was to present them with confrontational situations they may find themselves in while at college, whether it be roommate issues or disagreeing with a classmate on a heated topic in class. I think by forewarning them of these situations that may happen to them and to encourage confrontation is a specific way that I allow them to take responsibility. By guiding them and sharing real situations that I have been in personally allowed me to encourage responsibility within themselves.
List three specific activities you could use to improve your leadership style.
1) Being able to recognize when my leadership style needs to change from democratic to authoritarian.
2) Learn how to effectively guide conversations when they are proving to be dragging on, going off topic or time is limited.
3) Always continuing to expand my knowledge on leadership so I can constantly adjust accordingly depending on the leadership opportunities I am presented.
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Last week’s class very interesting first I learned from Julian some helpful ways to improve my note taking skills and at the same time use those same tips to be a better writer. I also found lecture to be very interesting I could not believe how inequality is so present everywhere today even though it’s the 21st century specially in schools,i have ready enjoyed reading the class book diversity in america and learning more about this. My favorite part of the class off course was the outside activity we did made me feel more in touch not only with myself but with others. Doing that activity made me go back in time and think about everything that has affected me in my life, not only in the past but now and how everything really does shape you to be you in the end. I personally could not help and get really emotional and get tear eyed i hope i am not known as the one that cried in class now. It also made me think how everything affects us the second we are born from the parents we have to the environment and even the house we live in takes a toll in our life every second. But at the same time i also thought of my son because even though i was not the most fortunate person when it came to being privileged i can make a difference in his life and not technically make him more privileged but, at least he will have an easier life because he will have two college graduated parents.
The readings were very connected to the activity we did in class i feel that activity in a sense showed the reality of the diversity rationale. Justice Powell’s diversity rationale is i feel still very present in our colleges and universitys and will have an affect for a long time. As long as the magical thinking is present where we assume institutions are passive we submit to how campuses actually enroll. Looking at chapter 8 was very shocking i had no idea high school and specially college and university rates for Latinos and African Americans was so low and is still is low compared to other ethnicitys. Going back to the 1964 civil rights act signed by president Lyndon B. Johnson thinking about it sadly it was not that long ago,it just kind off made me feel fortunate and a little ashamed because of the times i complain because that was way worse for those minoritys back then. But most importantly i learned we need to increase education in our minority groups in order to get more children and families a chance for a better economic and social mobility and the ability to pursue an advanced degree. I look forward for the next class readings and activities.
Last week on Monday I had my first DIG group meeting. Julian went over some methods to improve our writing skills. We each got a package that includes many writing techniques that will be useful for me when I have to write an essay. Last class session was particularly interesting because everyone in class participated in a powerful activity outside. We all started out in a line linked by our pinkies and we had to step forward or backwards depending if the statement Jamie read applied to us. I believe I was more shocked than I should have been when I saw how far apart we all ended up. I had bittersweet feelings about the results. At first I was upset to see how far apart we all were and how unfair it is for those of us who ended up in the back. Those who were more privileged have had a huge advantage in their educational journey than those who were less privileged. Nevertheless, I felt proud of myself and all my classmates for overcoming any obstacles they encountered in their lives and now we are all CSUCI students. We are all one step closer to achieving our goals. In class we also discussed how corrupted our k-12 education system is. I was surprised to learn that in many ways students are still segregated. I find it frustrating that the K-12 education system has not been modified to work for the benefit for all students’ education and society here in the United States. Meanwhile other countries have taken matters into their own hands improving their K-12 education system. They have seen significant results in children learning and also in society. The U.S. government is mostly to blame for the corrupt system but society is partly to blame for letting this cycle continue.
Affirmative action was established after the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s. According to the article, The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action, affirmative action policies were the solution to inequalities in higher education. Universities encouraged minority students to apply for college, offered financial assistance for students and even provided support program for students to ensure academic success. Affirmative action is controversial in the United States because race is a huge factor in the college admission process. Affirmative action had good intentions to increase diversity in college and universities to obtain educational benefits from having an ethnically diverse student body. Since the States banned affirmative action policies then the government should generate new policies that would aid minorities to reach academic success. A year later after California passed Proposition 209, which outlawed affirmative action in California, African American and Latinos freshmen enrollments dropped significantly. I don’t understand how leaders of this country can see the rates of minorities in higher education decreasing drastically and still believe that the application system will be fair to every applicant. Obviously this whole issue leads back to the corrupted K-12 education system and the minor assistance the federal government has on school funding. If African Americans and Latinos have assistance for academic success from the very beginning then there wouldn’t be a problem with the college application system. As a first generation Latina college student I know that such programs could have saved me a great deal of concerns and anguish I encountered in my educational journey.
As you reflect on the assumptions of Theory X and Y, how would you describe your own philosophy of leadership?
To me Theory X and Y are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I feel like my philosophy lies somewhere in between the two. Although I consider myself to be a goal oriented person, always making sure that I meet my set goals, I know that they will only get you so far without any connections. I feel like a person can be very motivated, always setting goals for themselves and those around them, but if they aren’t social their efforts can possibly fall short.
Of the three styles of leadership, what style comes easiest for you? Describe how people respond to you when you use the style.
Personally I don’t think that any one of the three types comes the easiest to me, but I do find myself using one more than the other. Of the three I tend to use the authoritarian type of leadership more often. Not because I like to give orders but because I have come to realize that that is the best way to get a small group of children to listen to you. I am the oldest of five kids and growing up I have always been left in charge of them. Which is why I tend to use that type of leadership. Often times when I don’t show this type of leadership when I am in that position, especially when I am around my brothers and sisters, they find it odd. However, I feel like this type of leadership fits me because I know that I am the type of person that will hold high expectations and to accomplish this I will set up goals, because I know that those in the group will ultimately meet my expectations by achieving the goals.
One of the aspects of democratic leadership is to help subordinates take responsibility for themselves. How do you assess your own ability to help others help themselves?
Although I am the type of person that will do anything to help somebody out, I don’t like to make the situation too easy that they will not learn anything from it.
List three specific activities you could use to improve your leadership style.
1. Continue to practice different types of problem solving, simply because not one way is going to fit every type of situation.
2. Work on communication skills as one thing may not be seen in the same way by others.
3. Team building exercises, because a leader is only that if it has a group that listens to them.
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