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This article is actually an interview of Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, and Margaret Wheatley, author of Leadership and the New Science; both are also organizational theorists. The two discuss how organizations can be more successful if they can work better with uncertainty, and incorporate meditation, derived from periods of silence in dialogue sessions, into their work. They claim that organizations need to accept that change should be accepted as the reality, and that life is a continuous state of change. The two also discuss the concept of "collective cultivation," wherein Buddhism teaches that cultivation is the practice of meditation, study, and service. Organizations not only need to accept change, but they need to collectively work hard and know how to accept this change. Unfortunately, most organizations don't have the tools or methods to support this idea. This interview allows the reader to think more about the concept of organizations and leaders in general, and how we understand them. We can't blame the hierarchy for the way things are, because we put the hierarchy in place. We are responsible for our own actions when we obey the demands of our leaders. If we can change our own views of organizations and the habits that we have adopted to work in them, then we can potentially change the way that they function from the inside out.

What struck me most about this article is their suggestion that we need to change our concept of what it means to be a leader in an organization. Particularly in the Western world, we look to our leaders, in fact expect our leaders, to have all the answers. As a leader, being comfortable sitting with uncertainty makes those you lead uncomfortable with you. The process of action research incorporates many of the same characteristics Senge and Wheatley identify: listening, being open, engaging in dialogue. Actively using action research in the workplace may help us reform our model of leadership.

I thought this article was very different but also very interesting. I like the combination of a business perspective and a religious one. I never really put too much thought into any similarities between the two. The suggestions on an effective leader and an effective organization are insightful. I agree there needs to be more dialogue as well as more reflection in order for things to work more efficiently.

This reminded me of discussions we had in the Research Practices class about how to use notebooks to capture ideas, and I thought it might be useful to folks. "Why I Keep an Idea Notebook October 26, 2010, 8:00 am By Natalie Houston The simple practice of keeping an idea notebook has been absolutely essential to my research and writing over the years, and it's something I often recommend to thesis students and others who are starting a large complex project. I designate a small spiral notebook as my idea catcher. It's not for writing notes from texts or critical sources that I'm using, or for writing formal drafts. Instead, it's for capturing my own ideas, which sometimes can seem elusive at certain stages of the writing process. I teach students several forms for distinguishing their own ideas from those of others in the note-taking process (such as writing a precis or using Cornell-style notes), and I use similar strategies myself. But the idea notebook is for those ideas that occur to you at odd moments of the day - usually when you're not at your desk. Of course, your cell phone, smartphone, netbook, tablet, or other mobile device undoubtedly has one or more notepad or notetaking functions. You could also use Evernote to create an always-with-you "notebook." But personally, I find that that the analog notebook works better for me for this purpose, both for quickly capturing my thoughts (I can scribble faster than I can Swype) and for skimming through old entries. Some specific ways I use my idea notebook include: * Jotting down questions, thoughts, and ideas that relate to my current research or possible future projects. I typically get better ideas while I'm cooking or exercising than I do when I sit down at my desk to think about something. * Noting problems, questions, and doubts I have during the research process. Often I find my way to a solution while writing about the problem in just a few minutes. It's also helpful

As a research methodology, Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an ideal blend of CCT skills and tools. The author of the article, Couto quoted Freire (1970) in saying that "PAR is a community-based, problem-centered, active learning pedagogy, and it imparts several social problem-solving skills and lessons about participation in democratic societies". The article chronicles efforts by the author to engage students from the University of Richmond in a participatory action research project. The purpose of the research was to better understand needs and issues facing the Richmond Juvenile and Family court system. During the project, students worked with detained juveniles to better understand how the system was affecting each individual. The article provides a clear overview of participatory action research, offering numerous benefits of the process. The author suggests that PAR has the potential to be seen as the "scholarship of engagement" and is spreading in the same way that community service and service learning caught on in the 1970's and 1990's.

This method sounds like it could deliver much stronger learning experiences than typical service learning can because there the students usually remain formally outside what they study, though they learn and gain a lot through personal interactions and experiences. Here they directly engage in situations, working for change as partners, that through the service learning model they generally only try to alleviate and understand. The example is extreme and probably unsuited for most groups, but the methods are intriguing and exciting. The part about the community affected controlling the agenda would be key, as it can be a balance act, trying to have students really learn from experiences and not take condescending approaches.

This article was a good complement to the interview of Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley (Changing How We Work Together) and Senge's work is also quoted in the article as well. Senge says that learning organizations should nurture new and expansive patterns of thinking, have higher standards for collective learning, and engage people in the team. It would be interesting to see what would happen if higher education institutions engaged in more participatory action research, wherein the students, faculty, and staff had more of a say in the actions of the institution. As it stands now, feedback from students and faculty is sought in some respects, such as in committee work, but many students are too busy to offer feedback to the institution. Instead, there is still a hierarchy of administration that makes the final decisions for actions that affect the students, faculty, and staff.

This is a reference guide for Environment-Based Education for advanced learning skills and character education. EBL stresses developing lifelong learners; effective future workers and problem solvers; thoughtful community leaders and participants; and people who care about the people, creatures, and places around them. The article references the outdoors environment, specifically science and math learning, but I think that the 'environment' can take on a vast definition and the concepts are applicable to many learning objectives/situations.

This article functions as a Press Release of sorts, providing news about important alliances with science and "Rock Stars" for the purpose of informing and funding important science and research programs. This joining of forces with the entertainment industry's foundation provides Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. with a tremendous opportunity to addressw "critical concerns for those affected by ASD including, diagnosis, biology, risk factors, treatment, services and outcomes for the future". The foundation seeks to promote science: "We need to tap into the psyche of a younger generation that is turning away from careers in science," says RSOS™ Executive Producer, Meryl Comer. "If it takes music and rock stars to connect kids to the 'cool' in science, and make researchers the new 'heroes' to emulate.

"developmental evaluation" contrasted with traditional: Complexity-Based, Developmental Evaluations... provide feedback, generate learnings, support direction or affirm changes in direction. develop new measures and monitoring mechanisms as goals emerge & evolve. position evaluation as an internal, team function integrated into action and ongoing interpretive processes. design the evaluation to capture system dynamics, interdependencies, and emergent interconnections. aim to produce context-specific understandings that inform ongoing innovation. accountability centered on the innovators' deep sense of fundamental values and commitments. learning to respond to lack of control and stay in touch with what's unfolding and thereby respond strategically. evaluator collaborates in the change effort to design a process that matches philosophically and organizationally. evaluation supports hunger for learning.

A RaW Stemä refers to an open-ended statement or question that leads your mind to reflecting on the past, in the present and/or for the future. The 'R' stands for reflective; the 'a' stands for and; the 'W' stands for writing. A Reflection and Writing Stem is like a sentence completion or question which allows you to fill in your thoughts.

I consider myself a "reflectologist", a term I created during one of my reflection sessions. A reflectologist believes in the importance of reflection for growth and change. A RaW Stemä refers to an open-ended statement or question that leads your mind to reflecting on the past, in the present and/or for the future. The 'R' stands for reflective; the 'a' stands for and; the 'W' stands for writing. A Reflection and Writing Stem is like a sentence completion or question which allows you to fill in your thoughts.

Greenwald presents 3 key features that must be present in a TRUE problem-based learning lesson: initiating learning with a problem, exclusively using ill-defined problems, and teachers acting as thinking coaches. She gives and example of an ill-defined problem scenario, and also 10 Steps to PBL approach. This article is a great read and gives applicable tools, which seem like they would be great for teachers or facilitators to probe students to dig deeper in their hand-on investigations. In regards to my own project, I am always interested in problem solving approaches in graphic design, and a lot of the 10 steps in this article could easily be translated to a design problem/problem and the research that is required for it.

"Woodhead, M. (1988). "When psychology informs public policy." American Psychologist 43(6): 443-454."

Jenal Austin December 2010 "When Psychology Informs Public Policy" According to this article, there has been significant evidence that early childhood programs in the United States increase cognitive competence, school readiness, school achievement, social development, and health status in young children. Regardless, the government has not fully acknowledged the importance of such programs on the political agenda. Leaders should know that providing preschool education is a solid financial investment for the country. Children who attend these programs have shown promising long-term impact including higher high school completion rates, greater occupational aspirations, and improved employments rates and reductions in referrals to special education, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy. However, the author reminds us that there are limits to how much we can generalize these findings. He explains that this will not be a one-all, fix-all solution to our society's complex social and economic problems. It is also important to understand that the effects of early childhood intervention cannot be taken in isolation from the context in which it occurs and it may not be possible to replicate all aspects of an experiment of such programs on a national level. "..Effects are the result of a complex interaction of variables in home and school, throughout the school years and beyond, but also… the children themselves play an active part in the process through the images they project and the self-concept they acquire of themselves, either as competent and motivated, or apathetic, problematic, and unwilling." Governments should use the research on the positive impacts of preschool education when designing public policy; however they should not expect a simple solution. "..Where human development is concerned even an experimental approach can rarely yield definitive universally applicable statements about the extent to which a program is effec

e-book designed to help people who think in pictures-a segment of learners that by some estimates includes almost 30 percent of the population-gain skills and confidence in their writing abilities. this beautifully designed e-book takes full advantage of its rich media format with a wealth of images and links to articles, books, websites, blogs, wikis, video, and audio podcasts.Both experimental and pragmatic, Marks's methods will result in stronger, more verbally confident artists and designers

This article briefly examines communication skills. Although the article approaches such skills from a teacher to student perspective, I think a lot of the material can be used in any type of group or individual setting. After defining oral communication and listening, the article offers two methods for assessing speaking skills-the observational approach and the structured approach. Both methods can be assessed through a rating system. The assessment of listening skills is similar to a reading comprehensive test. The elements of a listening test are the stimuli, the question, and the test environment. The article offers assessment for communication skills in hopes to develop such skills and abilities to listen criticlly and to express oneself clearly.

The author presents examples of policies that are "bright ideas that have backfired in the real world." Specifically, examples such as random drug testing in prisons, giving juvenile delinquents tours of prisons to scare them straight, and randomised controlled medical treatment trials. She points out that what many of these policy makers are lacking is research on evidence of effectiveness, and that policy makers and researchers need to be in dialogue with each other. "Stubborn ideology," as she calls it, is costing us money.

Jenal Austin December 2010 "Science Rules OK: Running Societies the Rational Way" This article discusses the importance of basing public policy on evidence found through appropriately- conducted research studies rather than on assumptions or "feel good" ideology. Unfortunately, due to the fact that politicians want to come across as confident and decisive, they often prefer a simple evaluation of policies that research may have found to be unbeneficial for society. "Rigorous evaluations are seen as threatening rather than supportive of better policy" and many people view the task as "laborious, slow, and expensive." Social policies are also often seen as harmless when, in fact, there has been evidence showing that poorly researched policies have increased drug use in prisons as well as the number of teens involved in car accidents. Large randomized trails are necessary to evaluate whether or not a program might work on the national scale. It is also important that researchers and policy makers communicate with one another and that governments utilize proven facts rather than clinging to idealistic visions.

Through narrative and reflection, this paper explores how somatic awareness can add to professional development in areas that, historically, have been 'disembodied'. It addresses my subjective experience of a critical incident, a cycle accident, and how it interrupted my habitual sense of embodiment. It explores how the experience presented an opportunity to visit again my body as 'ground of my being' and 'my body as first home' (Halprin 2003), and to listen through silence to the layers that give way to somatic awareness. Reflection offers an opportunity to pause, and explore the space for deep engagement in what it means to be professional. This paper addresses itself to the theme of the embodied professional educator.

This article talks about when it may or may not be appropriate to use action learning. Action learning is an approach you take on with a group to gain a better knowledge of a particular objective that can be achieved through shared reflection and action. Through this process individuals willingly participate to deal with a problem as a group and create innovative ideas that can be carried out and evaluated to continue revisionism. (Our action research class in a nutshell) The example chapters at the beginning outline a clear picture of a kind of problem that needs continued learning and revision to meet a better goal after reflection and reassessment occur.

The article is about a systematic approach and learning about "a problem" resolving them with a group of committed people through reflection and dialogue. This action learning approach may not be suitable for everyone due to the time constraints and the possible need for immediate problem- solving. There are tools that are utilized during the process of trying to learn about a problem that help to facilitate the learning process of that problem.

This article provides more resources to the Action Research Process. This involves identifing a problem and wanting to implement change to improve outcomes. Something each Action Research articles have in common are reflection and evaluation.

This article outlined several issues. 1. High powered politicians coming together to make decisions on federal policy that directly effect their financial profits. 2. The use of insufficient evidence from studies, the lack of scientific correlation and the improper transcription of results from studies being used to make "the best" decisions in standardized tests and phonics instruction on reading skills. 3. The emphasis and funding for schools being put toward standardized tests and phonics instruction along with materials/products needed for them instead of other places that may be in more need.

This article brings to light what Metcalf describes as the "Bush Revolution" in education. After providing a brief history of education, referencing Horace Mann and John Dewey, Metcalf stresses education as a business, connecting McGraw (Publisher McGraw-Hill) and Bush. Bush changes the system and creates new standards in education, as a result new materials are then needed to implement his new education 'revolution.' Metcalf implies the situation is more about business between friends than actually worrying about educating children.

This article discusses technology improving communication within the education realm, among all levels. Examples are drawn from multiple schools but specifically Lewis Elementary School in Portland, Oregon where they are using technology to increase the improve staff communication and professional development. The main focus is around blogs as a means to improve staff communication and collaboration. The blogs are used with the school system as well as connecting parents and the larger community. The use of wikis and blackboard are also discussed.

This article discusses the use of large-scale randomized trials to evaluate social policy. For decades, policy makers have rolled out changes without taking the time to conduct research to determine if the idea would be effective. One reason policy makers shun trials is the reality that the trials and experiments do not always support the ideas or policies. Rather than taking the time to conduct trials, policy makers prefer to "act swiftly" and propose policy. The article references the efforts of abstinence education, Scared straight programs, drug testing in prison populations, and school driving programs as examples of policies that have not worked--the research and data suggest the programs are not effective, yet policy makers continue to support the efforts.

Julie's point about not taking the time is a good one. This article was somewhat shocking in that it highlighted just how poor the research is behind many of our public policies and programs. Policy makers and politicians rush to gain political capital by moving decisively when they have only a kernel of research in support of their claims, without taking the time or making an effort to test the findings or dig deeper. After a policy or program is in place, it is not in their best interests to support research which may disprove the efficacy of what they have put in place. This could all tie back to our educational system, to whether or not we teach solid critical thinking and research skills.

I found this article to be very interesting. My favorite part was the study done in schools that polled the most influential peers, informed them on dangers of smoking, and attempted to decrease smoking by reverse peer pressure. I think this was a great idea!!!

In recent years, Action Learning has gained currency as an approach to developing people by using work-based or problem-based learning. This book introduces theory, research, and practice of the two authors and colleagues (O'Neil & Marsick) who have both researched and applied Action Learning.