scenarios

When I signed up for this course I never expected it to be a drama in education/community course. I really don't think there was anything in the promo material to suggest it. I knew the prof on the email was a sociology prof. I can honestly say this course was nothing like I expected it to be. But anyway, that's all past . . . I think had I known the approach to this class I probably would not have signed in. But since I've been here I've given it its full share of attention. How can I expect to get anything out of it if I don't? Someone said to me that (the problem with people) is that we think everyone else/experts/professionals knows more than we do. Sometimes this is the case, sometimes people only have a specialty. They might know more about one thing, we might know more about something else. I think I tend to idolize my professors and figure they know more about Everything. When, like last semester I discovered the info my soc prof was teaching about breastfeeding was Plain Wrong not just incomplete I think it was an eye-opening experience for me. What I'm trying to say is that even if I don't like a class I figure my prof knows more than I do so I'd better pay attention and glean whatever gems are to be found.

The last two classes there's been more planning for the fall. We've been brainstorming breakout sessions and practicing presenting them. There has also been some role playing of mentoring challenges. I realized this week how much of my previous experience leading for La Leche League is related to the course. The training of a Leader Applicant is very similar to training a mentor. There is information to be learned (facts about breastfeeding/facts about learning), communication skills to be developed, and both culminate in practicing all of this in a safe environment before being thrown to the wolves. Once I made this connection I was flooded with all the tools and ? tricks? that I could draw on. What a wonderful feeling. I was shocked I had never realized it before. Sometimes the language is a barrier: all this semester we've been talking about mentors and I hadn't expanded the terminology to find other experiences that might match by definition even if they used a different name. This class has stressed that we are not teachers or leaders but facilitators and I think that discouraged me from reaching. I realize the LLLC Handbook would have been a wonderful secondary text - lots in there about giving feedback, providing information in a non-threatening manner, guiding discussions, keeping a group focused, how to deal with problems in group dynamics: what a valuable resource I will have in the fall!

Lucky me. :)