summative reflection - prlc 1810, 1820
PRLC 1810: Ethical Leadership
PRLC 1810 introduces students to the fundamental principles of leadership, ethics, and critical thinking that will establish the foundation for their subsequent PLC program, academic, and personal development. Students will gain an understanding of themselves and how they might collaborate and interact with, and lead others. Students will gain experience in making arguments and presenting their positions verbally and in writing. Students should be able to appreciate the symbiotic relationship between leadership, personal ethical reasoning, and critical thinking.
Becoming a Leader Objectives
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Raise self-awareness and recognize your individual strengths and weaknesses
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Understand multiple theories and apply them to enhance leadership effectiveness
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Appreciate the importance of moral courage and ethical leadership
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Sharpen your ability to think strategically about leadership challenges
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Build analytic and critical thinking skills to support decision making
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Adapt your leadership practices to differences among individuals, cultures and situations
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Enhance your ability to speak and write clearly, concisely, and convincingly
PRLC 1820: Community Issues in Leadership
PRLC 1820 challenges students to think about the dynamics within and among communities, and how leaders work to build and sustain healthy communities. Students will gain an understanding of how communities are conceptualized, the underlying realities that challenge communities and how committed leaders are addressing those challenges. Students should apply their critical thinking skills, ethical reasoning, and foundational leadership knowledge gained in PRLC 1810. Students will also join with a community partner to address a real-world challenge utilizing design theory and practices.
Leadership Application Objectives
Leadership application is the knowledge of how to persuade, guide, build, and develop teams of diverse individuals and to direct those individuals as a team in the accomplishment of shared goals.
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Critically examine one's strengths and weaknesses in motivating others to accomplish a defined goal
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Contrast differing leadership approaches and theoretical perspectives in directing others
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Design diverse teams to maximize team performance
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Construct mechanisms to evaluate the performance of others in a work group and to use that assessment to positively influence others' behavior
Summative Reflection
When I first applied to PLC, I did not realize that I would be taking classes. I thought it was a scholarship. However, I am glad it was so much more than a scholarship because the classes I have taken have had such an impact on how I see things. Plus I have made amazing friends through the program.
PRLC 1810 was a rather interesting class for me. I was used to being at the top of my class in high school, always answering questions or giving my opinions. However, I wasn't active during this class, just passively listening to opinions and the professor. I honestly didn't want to be judged or come off has ignorant because of my background (coming from the second poorest county in Colorado). I would still listen to the conversations and have my secret opinion, so I would say I learned a lot about ethical leadership, but I could have learned a lot more at the same time.
One of my favorite things about these courses was that we had recitation with CAs. My CA for PRLC 1810 was great for adjusting to college life. Garrett was very understanding and personable. I think I liked recitations more than the actual lecture because of the smaller group setting, which I was used to from my high school. I feel that these smaller class sizes allowed me to break out of my shell and offer up the opinions I had in class but didn't say out loud. It was less intimidating, and I appreciated that. The CA for PRLC 1820 was great also. Molly was very supportive and a great connection to have as I was interested in the same field she was in. Unlike Garrett's class, Molly's was still slightly intimidating but less intimidating than the lecture as a whole.
PRLC 1820 was more hands-on and more my style. I appreciated that we had the opportunity to work in teams. This was my first big team project at college, and I was excited to learn what kind of team leader/follower I was. In this course, we learned about Human Centered Design (HCD), a way to find solutions when working in groups. Since this course, I have used HCD multiple times in group projects to find the best solution. For our project in PRLC 1820, we were paired with a local program called "I Have a Dream," and our goal was to help create a sense of community between the students in the program. I was responsible for transporting our team members from CU to the school in Longmont, and I created a synthesis video of our prototype which can be found here.
Overall, I learned that all leaders will be faced with ethical dilemmas, and we need to be strong in our morals to make the best decisions for us and our followers. I also learned that my leadership style in groups is passive among individuals who I believe have more experience than I do. That is something I hope to change in my final years at CU and throughout my career.