This newsletter covers what happened in September and will give you a heads up on what to look for in October and the months following.

In this issue:

“Thoughts are powerful things when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire.”
Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich, 1937)

As I begin this message, I hope that you are well and finding moments of joy, reflection, and peace in this pandemic environment. Our reflective thoughts frequently compel us to act in unique and meaningful ways that enrich our families, our communities, and our work settings. Thoughts are powerful.

In July, we began the process of implementing the Academy’s Strategic Plan that will guide us in becoming a more developmental community. The overarching goal speaks to focusing on our members’ aspirations, contributions, and accomplishments as we empower transformational change. In the spirit of our mission, we would like to hear about your acts of inspiration, transformation, empowerment, and innovation. What are your thoughts? How are you actualizing the Academy's values of community, diversity, growth, and performance? How do these values direct our commitments? How do these values shape your mindset and guide your actions and choices? What is important to you? What is the one big thing that you are committed to supporting the Academy in accomplishing over the next two to three years? We are listening! Share.

Transforming what we do (teaching / learning / leading) takes courage, compassion, and connection. So, let us assist each other with our performances and achieve our individual and collective highest aspirations.

What is one developmental (growth-oriented) thing that you are engaged in that takes you out of your comfort zone? Do you have knowledge, skill, or mindset goals that require you to stretch?

In researching leaders and success, Napoleon Hill learned that one's thoughts can determine one’s level of success. He discovered that when thoughts are “mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire”, one can accomplish amazing things. Thoughts are things. Mindsets are real. On a daily basis, anyone can channel her or his values, thoughts, and mindsets to create the future. I am excited about collaborating with you as we embark on a remarkable journey that will expand our knowledge, skills, mindsets, and actions.  Our destination is Academy performance that transforms everyone we touch. Share your big idea for our journey.

Recent Board Meetings

Remember, you can find out the Board’s current work by checking the Academy Board Meeting Agendas and Minutes posted on the Academy members’ page:

July 2020 minutes (approved)
August 2020 minutes (approved)
September 2020 minutes (not yet approved)

Summary of August and September Board meeting work:

In August, the Board

• Continued its work on developing a strong and coherent Conflict of Interest Policy

• Continued its development of understanding ways to become a better developmental community

In September, the Board

• Approved the budget for October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021

• Approved the dates (June 24-26, 2021), theme (Experiencing Growth in the Times of Change), and location (online) of the 2021 Annual Conference

• Approved an Academy project proposal for developing the self-growth community this year

• Captured ideas for professional development topics to better support new members and the Strategic Plan

• Began discussions on ways to learn more about the needs and wants of members as well as areas where members may want to support the Academy

The Next Board Meeting:  Wednesday, October 14, 2020 (10:30 am EDT)

All Academy members are welcome to participate. You will be able to find the agenda for the meeting as well as the needed information to attend through Zoom on the Academy Member site.

When the Academy Board approved five priority goals for us to work on this year, it set the stage for our individual, collective, and organizational growth. These five goals require that we expand our knowledge, skills, mindsets, and actions to transform the Academy. Whether you are interested in strengthening your expertise in Process Education, creating developmental communities or organizations, establishing systems that elevate the Academy, building communication models, or recruiting new members, we need your insights, talents, and actions. Are you interested in professional development opportunities? Implementing the strategic plan provides multiple opportunities for engagement and growth. We invite you to join one of the planning teams in implementing our priorities. If you are interested, contact any board member or president Joann Horton at  joann@processeducation.org.

Links to the Strategic Plan and the priorities for this year are below.

Current Strategic Plan (2020-2025)  http://www.processeducation.org/docs/sp2020_2025a.pdf

Current Priorities  http://www.processeducation.org/docs/sp2020_2025_priorities.pdf

The 2020/2021 edition of the PE Academy’s Self-Growth Community has 40 members, with room for more! This year the community is strengthening growth and self-growth capabilities through exploring 20 impediments to growth and self-growth. In our first two sessions we explored Not Wanting More Out of Life, and a Lack of Belief that You Can be More Valuable to Others by Being More Valuable To Yourself. We look forward to the learning, practice, and research developed through these sessions!

This year's community is also designed around two roles: growers and self-growers. Each grower has a self-growth coach who is a self-grower. This coaching relationship can help all members strengthen their consciousness of self-growth and build upon their PE practices for continued growth and self-growth.

Here's how consciousness fits with these roles. Consciousness is the level of awareness of how one is addressing the current moment within a context. A grower reacts to opportunities for improving something during and after the moment by consciously using growth skills, applying criteria, self-assessing, and reflecting. A self-grower does that, too, but has also thought through expected moments, anticipating opportunities and action plans for using mentoring skills to produce self-growth experiences with the aim of improving growth capabilities and skills. A self-growth coach, then, can assist their grower at both levels -- elevating reactions to moments, and helping to pre-think upcoming opportunities for greater growth.

Want to join the community? Contact Ingrid Ulbrich and let her know whether you plan to take the role of grower or self-grower this year.

The Academy of Process Educators invites you to participate in a conversation on Systemic Racism and Bias to better understand the impact of structural racism and how we can collectively improve the lives of everyone in our communities. As an educational organization, we value community, inclusiveness, diversity, and actions that transform.

We are honored that Natasha L. Robinson, Esq., Assistant Teaching Professor in the Government, Law and Justice Department at Roosevelt University will lead our conversation on Systemic Racism and Bias on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 from 6:00 pm to 7:30pm Central time. A licensed criminal defense attorney for 20 years, she has served as Assistant Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago, IL and taught Criminal Law and Criminology to high school students prior to her appointment at Roosevelt University. Professor Robinson frames the upcoming dialogue with these words:

"In our country, the symbol Lady Justice stands tall, holding balanced scales with her right hand, her eyes blindfolded with a cloth so that she cannot see (and remain impartial), along with a sword that she holds with her left hand. The blindfold lends to the often-quoted phrases of "Justice is blind" and "Justice is fair." However, also in our country are built-in systems of oppression, bias, and racism that, arguably, render these phrases invalid. One need only see the current times in which we live to know that sustained change is needed and must come. These systems (academic, criminal, political and economic, to name a few) are institutions of visible and tangible evidence that demonstrate that, in fact, many procedures, protocols, beliefs, and outcomes need to change.

Having been an active legal professional and participant in both the criminal and academic environments, I am convinced that I (and others) do not wish for justice to be blind. Being blind then ignores my personalized and particularized plights in life as a Black woman in America, whose race and gender are honored by me, and for others, are weaponized against me. Addressing systematic racism and bias centers the conversation of what justice looks like and feels like for many of America's citizens, with the intention of being heard and together, a coalition of collaboration ensues so that the application of and access to justice is improved.
 
When Lady Justice looks at me, I do not want her to be blindfolded. Rather, I want justice to see me. And, I will continue the fight and the right to be seen."  --Professor Natasha L. Robinson, Esq.

Professor Robinson is also the creator and curator of Legaleaze, Please!™, an online platform and digital space that empowers the development of individual and collective comprehension of criminal laws, cases, and policies through decoding, deconstructing, and demystifying legal language. Legaleaze, Please!™ provides relevant knowledge to legal information as well as equitable access for all users to understand and apply in their everyday lives.

Robinson earned her Bachelors of Arts in English from the University of Iowa, her Masters of Arts in English from Chicago State University, and her Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Of all her accomplishments, accolades, and awards, Professor Robinson states that “Grace’s Mama” is the most amazing of them all. She is the proud mother of a three-year-old daughter, Grace Corrine. Together, they are partners in life and in love.

Join us for a dynamic exchange on Is Justice Just?: Conversation on Systemic Racism and Bias on Tuesday, October 13, 6:00pm – 7:30pm Central. Let’s explore the topic together and develop strategies to facilitate change. Look for more details over the next couple of weeks on the Academy website under professional development.

We invite you to REGISTER NOW for this very special event!

To strike, or not to strike?

On June 10, scientists worldwide went on strike (#ShutDownSTEM). The intent to spend the day pursuing actions in support of our Black colleagues instead of doing academic business as usual. I went on strike. OK, I attended a PE board meeting, but otherwise I spent the day doing relevant readings, working on incorporating increased awareness of the contributions of Black scientists into my Fall courses, and making plans for Fall courses that will increase equity in my classes.

On September 8 and 9, another strike was scheduled. #ScholarStrike was organized with the intent to spend these days having dialogs about racial injustice and unjust policing policies. I did not strike this time. The June strike occurred when I did not have classes so my students would not have been impacted by the strike. The September strike occurred when classes were in session and Wednesday is my heaviest teaching load. Since we only have 10 labs, how do I tell my students it’s not OK to miss lab for their things but it is OK for me to go on strike? Who would have covered my lab while I was on strike? My Black colleague would have been the first to volunteer to help me, but was it logical to ask them to cover my class? What would my administration have said about me going on strike? Given that I am currently writing my promotion packet, would this have negatively impacted my promotion and/or dual appointment?

I did not strike in September because I felt I needed to be in lab with my students. Does that mean I am a bad ally? Or someone who supports my Black colleagues only when it is easy? Or was I afraid of the impacts to my promotion? Maybe all of the above are true. I believe I did right by my students by being there, coaching them, and encouraging them during lab. The decision not to strike was not easy. I am grateful to the faculty who not only did strike but also contributed public content (see https://www.scholarstrike.com/resources) to the teach-in. I look forward to reviewing this content over the next few months.

Mark your Calendar! The annual Academy of Process Education Conference for 2021 will be presented on Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, June 24, 25, 26, 2021 with the theme of Experiencing Growth in Times of Change.

As we begin this work, we are seeking volunteers to play a number of roles in the conference planning, including recruiting Keynote presenters, inviting our colleagues to submit proposals, creating innovations in the methods we adopt to bring together Academy members and guests in meaningful dialogue and establishing plans for technology support for presenters.

The Call for Proposals will be available later in October. Registration information and links will be posted on the Academy website and in the November newsletter. Though it is early days, the 2021 Conference website is up and running.

We hope you will embrace the theme and join us to share your insights and experiences!

We are excited to offer three events this month. Please register for each event separately so that you can be contacted with additional information about each event.

All sessions are Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30pm EDT (6:00-7:30pm CDT).

October Event Calendar

October 6 (Rescheduled event)
How to Make Learning Outcomes Useful: Write Performance Criteria!
(facilitated by Tris Utschig)

Learning objectives can sometimes seem static and impersonal in nature. How can we make them come to life in the classroom? Write performance criteria! Performance criteria are the expectations given to learners before a performance that define the characteristics which make up a high-quality performance related to achieving a learning objective. Participants attending the workshop will be able to articulate the value of writing and using performance criteria, practice using a methodology for writing performance criteria, and assess performance criteria to improve quality. In Part A of this session we will focus on the scholarship surrounding why performance criteria are worth the time invested in creating them. In Part B we will use the Methodology for Writing Performance Criteria to create a set of performance criteria aligned to the interests of those attending.
CLICK TO REGISTER!

October 13
Systemic Racism and Bias Discussion Series Session 1: Is Justice Just? An Open Conversation on Systemic Racism and Bias
(facilitated by Joann Horton)

See the separate announcement in this newsletter! CLICK TO REGISTER!

October 27 
Ways to Contribute to the Academy - What You Need to Know About Participating in Academy Research
(facilitated by TBA)

There are many opportunities for member participation in Academy research. These opportunities are emerging through new Academy efforts in developing plans to secure sponsored funding supporting research on Process Education implemented at member institutions across the nation. The strategic planning committee dedicated to this effort is establishing critical policies and procedures to support our collective research efforts. In this workshop you will have the opportunity to learn about this policy development and how to contribute to and/or propose Academy research efforts involving qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method research. CLICK TO REGISTER!

Having just approved a powerful strategic plan, the Academy of Process Educators has an ambitious set of goals and a clear vision to lead the way. Upon reading this plan you will notice the importance placed on Growth as our top organizational value. It is fitting then that for October the Academy's Grants Director, Chaya Jain, has singled out module 4.3.1 Self-Growth Plans for Faculty Members. This salient article is credited to Betty Hurd, a current Member-At-Large for the board. Chaya's comments speak for themselves:

"Training in effective teaching practices is not generally provided to faculty as part of the training within their specific disciplines. This coupled with cultural, generational and some time language differences between teacher and student make effective delivery of content even more challenging. Increasing faculty understanding of how affective/motivational factors impact student’s academic performance could prove useful.

Training the faculty in self-growth methodology thus becomes critical since it begins with metacognition, the foundational skill that helps improve critical-thinking. In turn, a trained educator can help students with critical thinking skills implement an active-learning classroom environment."

Given that motivation to create a self-growth plan you may be wondering how to take the next step and what Academy resources are available. A supportive community and contemporary scholarship await you in the self-growth community that currently meets bimonthly. For more information on how to join contact Ingrid (ingrid.m.ulbrich@gmail.com) or myself (Matthew.Watts@rrcc.edu).

In our leadership mentoring relationship, Ingrid and Joann had an opportunity to ruminate on the mentoring skill Validating Personal Impact. We wanted to share a story and tips for you to reflect on, too.

Jordan, the Department Chair, opens the biweekly department meeting with a welcome and thanks everyone for their time and dedication to supporting the department. Today’s key item is the application for an internal grant of CARES Act funds to support majors significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jordan invites Jake to explain the situation and the requirements for departmental proposals. Jordan thanks Jake for the overview and sees that many hands are raised for discussion. Jordan calls on Judy, who suggests components of a proposal. After about 1 minute, Jordan interrupts to thank Judy for her comments and calls on John. John repeats what Jake said, without adding to the proposal. When he says he’s finished, Jordan calls on Jennifer, who supplies new ideas about a proposal. After about 1 minute, Jordan thanks Jennifer for her comments and calls on Julius. Julius says he has a framework for a proposal, and describes a scenario that includes Judy’s and Jennifer’s ideas. When he’s done, Jordan praises his ideas. Jordan looks to call on another woman, but none have their hands raised. So the discussion continues with Jack and then Jeff. Julius’ solution is then moved, seconded, and approved by the meeting.

After the meeting adjourns, Jordan and past department chair Jessie have their regular post-meeting mentoring session. As is their regular practice, Jordan assesses her performance as Chair of the meeting and asks for feedback from her mentor.

Jessie says, “I know one of your current growth areas is the mentoring skill validating personal impact. What did you observe about your impact on the discussion of the grant during today’s meeting?” Jordan describes how she gave everyone with raised hands an opportunity to speak and moved through the agenda productively. Jessie shares the observation that Jordan let the men speak as long as they liked but stopped the women after about a minute, and praised the men who suggested solutions that were originally suggested by the women. And that after a few rounds, the women stopped raising their hands.

Jordan is really surprised. “I was completely unaware that I had a bias, and that it had played out this way! That was terrible leadership, and how am I going to apologize to the women of the department?” “Let’s not rush to evaluation”, Jordan replies. “I think there are several opportunities for growth here.”

Through their discussion, Jordan realizes that she wants to strengthen the mentoring skill self-monitoring (having a continuous camera on every performance so it can be replayed and assessed) so that she can have greater awareness of the impact that her actions have on others by observing herself and the reactions of others. Jordan and Jessie discuss how to strengthen her leadership performance. They explore how she would feel if she were the object of bias, or the observer of bias. They also explore what Jordan would want a leader to do in that situation.

Jordan decides to use five minutes at the start of the next department meeting to share her post-meeting learning about her bias and the impact it had, and to ask the department members to agree to a new guideline. After the introduction of a discussion topic, each contributor can speak for up to two minutes. At the end of the meeting, she’ll invite her colleagues to contribute to assessing the meeting. This will let her know if they observe this bias or an area for improvement. With the feedback, Jordan is sure that she can improve her leadership skills on an ongoing basis.

Leaders, in any role, need to validate the impact of their actions to lead effectively, grow their skills, and advance organizational outcomes. Here are three tips for validating personal impact:

1.    Step back and reflect on meeting process and outcomes.
2.    Ask a mentor to provide feedback on the meeting dynamics.
3.    Use assessment to design action plans that addresses any issues and reflect on progress from past action plans.

With implementation of these tips, the leader begins to create an environment that is more open, collegial, and just.

Last month, we shared an article, "Unmet Needs and Effective Learning," framing learner needs in terms of Maslow’s Hierarchy.

We asked about where our expectations are, as educators, during the ongoing pandemic, economic disaster, severe weather, political/civil unrest, and injustice. We asked how to help our students meet their more basic needs. We also asked how to meet our own more basic needs during these times.

We received two very thoughtful responses that we're extremely happy to share below. Both strike us as fruitful avenues for future research!

(From Tris Utschig)

"It seems to me that while in the classroom or other learning environment we may be able to temporarily suspend needs along the hierarchy that one's life does not meet, as long as those needs are met within the learning environment. Therefore, analyzing our QLE concept in light of Maslow's hierarchy would be an interesting exercise."

Resources: 3.1.1. Overview of Quality Learning Environments (FGB module), 3.1.3. Methodology for Creating a Quality Learning Environment (FGB module)

(From Steve Beyerlein)

"There is most certainly a situational and naturalistic order of in which capabilities need to be developed/invoked (for our students as well as ourselves).  Skipping Maslow levels in pursuit of a more alluring higher level, not matched to the operative or prepotent Maslow level, is a prescription for banging everyone's heads against the wall.

In PE scholarship it would be good to map different skills in the CLS for their suitability in addressing different Maslow levels. This would also have the result of greater valuation of skills that people might think of as overly basic or remedial. IMO there is great integrity in all of the skills in the CLS and we should not be discriminatory. Similarly, I wonder if it would be instructive to incorporate something in our template for facilitation planning regarding classifying 'learning situations' by different Maslow levels. With this addition, we may be able to better prompt attention to alternative learning skill interventions which would be less subject-centered and more student-centered."

Resources: Classifying Learning Skills for Educational Enrichment (IJPE article), Classification of Learning Skills (web-based skills explorer)

We are pleased to now feature blog content from Richard Stone... Thanks, Rick! You're welcome to visit his blog as well and fill out the contact form on his site if you'd like to subscribe to his weekly blog.

As potent as story is to enrich life, like Jekyll and Hyde, there is an evil twin on the other side of the coin. Like fire, stories can warm our hearts or destroy lives. This is particularly relevant in the context of the current political climate and the ways some prominent leaders are using their words and stories to create discord.

In my Jewish tradition, the sages have devoted extensive commentary on this subject, defining right speech with the term Lashon Hara, literally translated as “speaking with an evil tongue.” In the 1800s, Rabbi Israel Kagan, commonly known as the “Chofetz Chaim,” published tome after tome detailing and clarifying the laws regarding Lashon Hara. Through the centuries, Jewish sages came to equate this kind of speech with the gravest of crimes, putting it on par with the sin of murder. Judaism views most sins as forgivable, but this one, along with murder, could get you into a heap of hot water in the afterlife.

The first Biblical reference to Lashon Hara is Leviticus 19:16: “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.” This was followed by Psalms 34:13-14: “Who is the man who desires life…? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” They even included gossip in this panoply of destructive speech.

What’s most interesting about how the sages tackled this problem is the depth of distinctions they made. They even inveighed against listening to Lashon Hara, suggesting that the act of allowing someone to speak evil of another was equivalent to the speaking itself, and a sin as monumental as the original speech.

The following story perhaps sums it up best. A woman in a village was known to be spreading malicious and false rumors. As much as people resisted listening to these fabricated narratives, they were having an effect. Her words planted seeds of doubt in people’s minds about upstanding citizens. Craftsmen, trusted for the quality of their work, suddenly discovered that people were hesitant to hire them. Faithful husbands and wives were having to respond to accusations of adultery, undermining a mutual trust that had taken a lifetime to build. Finally, the village’s rabbi sent a messenger to the woman, demanding that she report to his study the next morning. Shamefully she listened to the litany of sins she had perpetrated and promised to do a better job of guarding her tongue in the future. Her promise was insufficient for the rabbi. He gave her a task. “Tomorrow morning, I want you to take a feather pillow to the town square, cut it open, and then come back to me.” She was happy that such a simple undertaking was her penance. The next morning, she did as she was told. It was a windy day. As soon as she split open the pillow, feathers were blown into the trees, down the streets, and carried by the wind for miles. She returned to the rabbi, who then commanded her to collect all the feathers scattered now across the countryside. She recognized that this was an impossible chore. With contrition and understanding in her heart, she had learned the lesson that once words departed her lips, she couldn’t take them back. No making amends would make up for the damage done to people’s reputations and livelihood.

The sin of Lashon Hara is particularly true if the things you’re repeating are based on what someone else has said. The Talmud, the body of work that came from centuries of oral teaching, proclaims that “the tongue is an instrument so dangerous that it must be kept hidden from view, behind two protective walls, the mouth and teeth, to prevent its misuse.” Unlike stealing or cheating in which one can compensate someone for their loss, it’s practically impossible to repair the effects of harmful speech. The Talmud says it kills three: the person who speaks it, the person who hears it, and the person about whom it is told.[i]

The guardrails for right and wrong speech are many. For example, you’re not allowed to call a person by a derogatory nickname or by any other embarrassing name, even if he is used to it. (Consider how one leader today makes that a daily practice.) Another example: you may not ask an uneducated person for an opinion on a scholarly matter, thereby drawing attention to the fact that he lacks knowledge of that subject. You may not even compliment a person if you don’t mean it.[ii]  

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for gossip is transliterated as “rekhilut,” meaning a merchant or trader. Trading in false or defamatory information about others is made easier in these modern times. Just the press of a button can spread vicious lies around the world, giving them a permanent life on the internet for all to see and read, damaging lives for what might feel like an eternity.

How do we, as a society, manage this phenomenon? Do we post signs on our work establishments reading: Please! No Lashon Hara Here. Or, should we police speech on the web that is hateful and damaging? How do we balance that with our professed commitment to free speech enshrined in the U.S. Constitution? Where are the limits? Should Alex Jones have the right to speak vicious lies about the Sandy Hook massacre that destroy others’ lives to preserve his free speech rights?

This is the crux of the tension between right speech and free speech that all of us must contend with. Should my rights to free speech infringe on others’ freedom to live without harassment and disparagement? It doesn’t appear that we, as a society, are going to resolve this tension in the foreseeable future. Perhaps the best that we can do is for each of us to take responsibility for the words and stories that pass our lips and that we give our attention to. More importantly, we must hold our leaders accountable for their speech. This is not a Jewish issue or a Christian one. It’s an American imperative and crucial for creating a society grounded in decency. The preservation of the soul of our democracy is at stake as we grapple with this challenge. It’s worrisome that many in places of power have figured out how to manipulate us with printed and spoken stories, more aptly thought of as propaganda. We must learn how to inoculate ourselves from these destructive forces, discerning truth from patent lies.

[i] Talmud Arachin 15b

[ii] https://torah.org/learning/halashon-chapter10/

Academy of Process Educators
www.processeducation.org