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

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead."

―Nelson Mandela

The Academy of Process Educators (AoPE) is growing and changing to meet the needs of post-secondary education and its diverse membership. Since its establishment in 2007, there have been significant points for celebration, such as receipt of its 501c3 status and accomplishing priority strategic goals in AoPE strategic plans through 2020. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead”. Now, the organization is on its next journey to achieve its vision for 2025 as a “recognized leader of transformation of education through performance-based learning and growth”. Members are committed to developing the Academy while embodying the values of growth, community, diversity, and performance. As servant leaders in Process Education, we challenge ourselves to use process education methods to address issues that impact our members, their organizations, and the broader society using learning to inspire, empower, and innovate.

Over the past year, teams worked on priority goals established by the Academy board from the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. Priorities included: developing a community of Process Education (PE) experts; integrating Developmental Community principles; establishing a forward-looking business model; implementing a multifaceted communication strategy; and cultivating an inclusive, engaged membership. Ongoing performance areas, such as annual conferences and professional development, connected plans and approaches to support actualizing the vision and mission. Some outcomes of teamwork include workshops on justice, equity and inclusion, PE certification pilot project, and performance-based practices for developmental community integration. Team leaders and team members not only led specific projects but contributed to other initiatives as well. They are commended for sharing their time and talents in growing the organization.

Let’s celebrate your accomplishments, which will take the Academy to higher levels of performance. Celebrations include statements of appreciation as well as awards or ceremonies. While we cannot celebrate together due to the pandemic, I offer these thoughts of praise and commendation to each active member of the Academy.

"Celebrate what you have accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed."

―Mia Hamm

Your accomplishments should be celebrated. Frequently, we accomplish laudatory tasks and then move to the next one. As we value others and ourselves in each process, it becomes an affirming and energizing act that moves us forward to the next challenge. You have made a significant difference in moving the Academy’s vision forward with purpose from paper to performance. Here’s to each team leader and team member.

Congratulations! Congrats! You Rock! Felicitations! Best Wishes! Cheers! Kudos!

It has been a joy working with you on the Academy of Process Educators’ journey in leading educational transformation. Best wishes on the next leg of the journey.

President, Academy of Process Educators

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:

April 2021 minutes (approved)

May 2021 minutes (not yet approved)

Summary of Mayl Board meeting work:

In April, the Board

• Approved the Academy’s business model for immediate implementation

• Received updates on...

⇒ the nomination committee’s progress in nominating members to elected positions

⇒ the annual conference specifics

⇒ improvements in the communication policy draft, which will be brought to the Board for approval in June

• Shared the following...

⇒ The Grant Director’s Report

⇒ Progress made in developing a general memorandum of understanding template for Academy use

⇒ Developmental challenge to journal like the stoics

• ALSO, The Membership Committee sent out emails to current members to invite them to complete a very short survey, which should take less than two minutes to complete. If you have not completed the survey yet or did not receive an email, please consider completing it now by clicking on the link below:

The Next Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 11, 2021 (10:30am to Noon CDT).

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.

The 2021 Academy of Process Educators Virtual Annual Conference “Experiencing Growth in Times of Change” is almost upon us! In a month we will gather together to reconnect with friends and colleagues, recharge our batteries, and reach for new understandings of our commitment to Process Education and the unlimited opportunities it holds for all. If you have not yet registered, please do so soon so that the conference planning team can prepare for your participation. Click here to register!

An updated Conference Program/Schedule has been posted to the Conference website and presenters are hard at work on finalizing their presentations for the conference. A 1-Day Pre-Conference Leadership Workshop on the day before the conference begins (Wednesday June 23) is now open for registration. Participants in this workshop will learn methods to facilitate change efforts at their respective institutions. Conference registrants get a price break on the cost of the institute.

Special Pre-Conference orientation sessions designed to facilitate your use of the online tools have been scheduled for June 9 (for all presenter and participants). Registered participants will receive an email invitation and link to this session. A second orientation session for all participants, while focusing on new members of the Academy, scheduled for June 22, will also be made available to all registered participants.

The conference will offer three interactive Plenary sessions connected to our conference theme.

• Thursday at 11:00 AM Plenary Session #1 (90 minutes)
  A Journey toward Academic Leadership: First Steps
  Presenters: Kathy Burke & Jim Morgan
  
  
• Friday 10:30 AM Plenary/Symposium Session #2  (90 minutes)
  Mitigating Barriers to Self-Growth through Strengthening Mentoring Skills
  Presenters: Dan Apple & Wade Ellis
  
  
• Saturday Title: 10:30 AM Plenary/Symposium Session #3  (90 minutes)
  Mental & Physical Health and Their Impact on Equity in Educational Settings: A Potential for Growth?
  Presenters: Arlene King-Berry, Nathalie Mizelle, & Pier Broadnax

We are excited about the opportunities for learning, growing, and fellowship that this gathering will create for all of our members and friends. Please register and join us for the conference.

June 23, 2021, Online 9am – 6pm Central

As a Process Educator, you are a learning leader – leading the transformation of learning! Join us to strengthen your leadership skills in advancing learning across institutional boundaries in this Academy-sponsored workshop. Participants will grow skills and mindsets to advance your role in enhancing the Quality of Life (QoL) for the people you lead and who matter to you.

In this activity-based workshop, each person and team will identify their learning outcomes for the event, and the facilitator will model the characteristics of a learning leader who helps all participants achieve their outcomes.

We’ll study 7 styles of leadership through specific models of these leaders. These stories inventory desired characteristics of leaders and are contrasted to a Profile of a Transformational Learning Leader that participants can use to assess their current capabilities with a Performance Measure for Leadership.

We’ll also study the change process for transformation in an organization’s processes, systems, or culture, and learn how to better facilitate this change process. A methodology for project management will be analyzed and used to assess previous projects. And everyone will have the opportunity to explore possible transformational change projects from the Academy’s strategic and operational plans.

Finally, participants will have time to incorporate this new learning by advancing their growth plan and growth goals.
 
We encourage you to invite your colleagues to attend this workshop! They don’t have to be an Academy member to participate. And invite them to the PE Conference, too! The workshop prices is just $50 for those participating in the Conference and $100 to attend the workshop only.

If you have registered for the Leadership workshop, you are enrolled and can begin learning and participating now!

Your username is the same as your username for the Academy MEMBER site. This is ALSO your password.

The workshop site is available HERE.

The Pre-Activity awaits your attention and should be completed PRIOR to the workshop.

Agenda

08:00 – Activity 1: Developing Workshop Outcomes
08:30 – Activity 2: What Makes an Excellent Educational Leader?
09:30 – Activity 3: Profile of a Transformational Leader of Education
11:00 – Activity 4: Organizational Change
13:00 – Activity 5: Role of a Facilitator in the Change Process
14:30 – Activity 6: Project Management
16:00 – Activity 7: Enhancing Your Leadership Growth Plan

It's not too late to register for this unique opportunity!

Though the new issue of the International Journal of Process Education isn't quite ready yet, we're happy to list the articles you can look forward to later this month:

• Conceptual Understanding Required to Implement a Learning to Learn Experience (C. Woodbridge, I.M. Ulbrich, T. Nelson, D. Apple, W. Ellis, J. Horton, D. Leasure)
  
  
• Developing a Quality of Life (QoL) Framework for Self-Growth (A. King-Berry, D. Apple, W. Ellis, C. Leise)
  
  
• Improving Performance Using the Methodology for Developing Performance (A. Van Slyke, T. Utschig, D. Apple)
  
  
• Modeling Growth Capability — What is it? (B. Hurd, D.K. Apple, S. Beyerlein, W. Ellis, D. Leasure, C. Leise, T. Nelson)
  
  
• Modeling Self-Growth with Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (G.W. Dombi, M. Watts)
  
  
• Self-Growth Capability Components and Their Impact on Growth (D. Apple, C. Leise, W. Ellis, S. Beyerlein, D. Leasure, G. Batchelor, K. Burke, C. Woodbridge, M. El-Sayed, I. Ulbrich, W. Duncan, T. Utschig, A. Donald)

Process Educators tend to be big believers in relevance, especially the relevance of knowledge and learning to its application in the world beyond the classroom. In general, simply giving students a learning activity or course content is generally not enough to motivate them to do anything other than go through the motions or memorize information. Granted, some students will draw connections between what they’re doing and learning, and how the application of the knowledge they’re gaining matters beyond simple course requirements.

Step 1 of the Learning Process Methodology (which is the heart and soul of PE activity and curricula design) is, “Why?” This is because the motivation to learn depends upon the relevance of learning to personal, educational, career, and life goals. The “Why” statement in a learning situation makes clear why learning about a given topic is important and how it is relevant to the needs, interests, or concerns of the students. For a strong “Why” statement, it is critical to think beyond immediate needs and the perspective of the instructor.

Instructors should be aware of the relevance required by a “Why” statement, as not only have they designed the curricula, activity, and/or learning experience, they also have life and professional experience beyond that of their students. Students have the benefit of neither of these perspectives.

In order to write strong “Why” statements, it is necessary to dig deep into the issue of relevance. One excellent way of doing this is to assume a sceptical perspective and ask, “So what?” While “Why?” can be answered with “Because I said so” or “Because it’s required,” asking “So what?” begs for relevance and makes a glib response much more difficult. Asking “So what?” again and again allows for an increasing clarification of relevance.

Mindtools.com recommends this same technique, called “Appreciation” and frequently used by military planners, as a way to extract the maximum amount of information from a simple fact.
 
Here’s their example:

Fact: It rained heavily last night

So What?
The ground will be wet

So What?
It will turn into mud quickly

So What?
If many troops and vehicles pass over the same ground, movement will be progressively slower and more difficult as the ground gets muddier and more difficult.

So What?
Where possible, stick to paved roads. Otherwise expect movement to be much slower than normal.

Let's assume the Crash Test Dummy role and test drive the idea of using “So What?” as a way to get at relevance for a potentially strong “Why?” statement. Here’s our off-the-cuff example with a focus on unit rates (the mathematical concept) for a theoretical learning activity.

Content: Today we’ll be learning about unit rates

So What?
Unit rates are commonplace in everyday life and you’re likely to encounter them when comparing things like gas mileage where the rate is ‘x miles per 1 gallon.’

So What?
If you are able to understand how the unit rate for gas mileage works and how to work with this kind of rate, you will be able to compare the gas mileage for two different vehicles or even two trips in the same vehicle.

So What?
If you’re able to work those kinds of rate comparisons, you’re likely to end up making wiser driving and vehicle purchasing decisions.

So What?
Knowing how to work with unit rates can help you save money.

Of course this isn’t the only relevance of unit rates but the “So what?” analysis allows us to uncover at least one point of the content focus that is likely to be relevant to students. It's possible that this process could be even more widely applied as a tool for discovering relevance. What do you think? Do you find that asking “So what?” is helpful for clarifying relevance? Where might it be used, other than in helping to draft meaningful and relevant “Why?” statements for learning activities? Do you see other potential applications? Let us know!

Many people intentionally travel to the Grand Canyon Skywalk to experience it but then discover they are too afraid to step onto the walkway. They have beliefs that tell them they are safe, but they have aliefs that tell them they are in danger.

Beliefs are attitudes that we hold in response to how things are. Aliefs are more primitive. They are responses to how things seem.

A person watching a sad movie may believe that the characters are completely fictional, but their aliefs may lead them to cry nonetheless.

Or consider the findings of Paul Rozin, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, that people often refuse to drink soup from a brand-new bedpan, eat fudge shaped like feces, or put an empty gun to their head and pull the trigger.

The belief here is: The bedpan is clean, the fudge is fudge, the gun is empty. But the alief is stupid, screaming, ‘Filthy object! Dangerous object! Stay away!’ (from The Pleasures of Imagination by Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology at Yale University)

What a potentially useful term! Where we generally speak of misconceptions, misapprehensions, and wrong beliefs, the term alief allows us a way to deal more productively with the learning issues involved in overcoming aliefs (which are, by their very nature, constraining) in favor of beliefs.

As any teacher knows, one of the primary struggles is helping students to deal productively with their aliefs. Whether the alief is that “I am a failure” or “People hate me” or “This stuff is too hard for me to learn” (or a million others), the learner may well already have a belief that it is untrue. The chances are very good that, if pushed, they can point to successes, friends, and past learning. Hence merely saying, “You’re not a failure, people do not hate you, and you can learn this stuff” doesn’t quite go far enough, as this is something the learner already believes, on some level…there is, after all, evidence of that reality.

What that articulation does accomplish is an outside affirmation of the objective reality of the belief versus the subjective fiction of the alief. That’s important and will give additional weight to what beliefs the learner already has. What helps even more is for the learner to continue experiencing success, the affirmation and positive attention of others, and successful learning. One or even a few experience of this kind are generally not enough to make the alief less of a problem or shift it, especially when minor setbacks occur and failure happens. But continual experience that affirms the beliefs and puts lie to the aliefs does reduce their power. Perhaps the goal here is to teach students how to identify their aliefs, contrast them with beliefs, and work consistently to keep them from constraining success.

And maybe this is part of what we mean by taking risks – maybe it’s only the alief shouting that we need to proceed more cautiously because things seem scary.

(For a deep and extremely satisfying dive into the philosophy and science here, I strongly recommend "The Evolution of Misbelief" by Ryan T. McKay and Daniel C. Dennett in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2009. Clicking on the title will allow you to read the full article for free!)