Self Authorship in Education

Good Company

• Mentors and educators guide students toward self-authorship.
• Self-authorship means the ability to think independently, make decisions, and form one's own beliefs, values, and relationships.

The Challenge of Self-Authorship

• Many college students depend on external authorities such as parents, professors, and society.
• Individuals need to shift to internal self-definition for true adulthood.
• Internal self-definition involves authoring one's own beliefs, values, and relationships.
• This shift is essential for navigating careers, relationships, and life challenges after graduation.

The Role of Educators as "Good Company"

• Mentors provide expertise and structure, while allowing individuals to control their own paths.
• Educators should support students while encouraging independence and self-reflection.

Barriers to Self-Authorship in College

• Students commonly follow "external formulas" for success (choosing majors, jobs, relationships based on societal expectations).
• College structures prioritize knowledge acquisition, but not emphasizing internal development or decision-making skills.
• The crossroads phase is when Young adults realize after college that they lack internal direction.
• This often leads to career changes, relationship struggles, or therapy as they work toward self-authorship.

Fostering Self-Authorship

• Knowledge is complex and socially constructed.
• Debate and multiple perspectives help students develop critical thinking.
• Self is central to knowledge construction and students need to connect learning to their personal values and experiences.
• Authority and expertise are shared between students, educators, and peers and learning should be a mutual process for all.

Educational Principles for Good Company

• Validate learners' capacity to know and treat students as capable thinkers, respecting their ideas.
• Situate learning in learners' experiences by connecting education to students' real-life challenges and backgrounds.
• Mutually construct meaning by encouraging active participation in decision-making and self-reflection.

Transforming Higher Education

• Colleges should move from control-based education to mutual partnerships between educators and students.
• Classroom strategies involve introducing multiple perspectives and real-world complexities.
• Students should form and defend their own beliefs.
• Career and academic advising should focus on self-exploration.
• Leadership roles and extracurricular activities should emphasize decision-making and responsibility.
• Higher education must help students navigate their "crossroads" during college.
• Educators provide guidance, trust, and opportunities to develop self-authorship, allowing them to "control their own bicycles" on the journey to adulthood.

Learning Partnerships Model (LPM)

• The LPM is a framework for the relationship between educators and learners.
• It encourages to self-authorship, where students actively engage in their learning.
• shared authority and collaborative knowledge-building are promoted.
• Validating students as knowers are core principles.
• Situating learning in students' experiences are important.
• Defining learning as mutually constructing meaning.

Applying LPM Using the Tandem Bike Metaphor

• SOULs (Student Orientation Undergraduate Leaders) steer while supervisors provide support, guidance, and challenges.
• Supervisors offer experience and insights but allow SOULs to make decisions.
• SOULs guide new students during orientation, taking on the educator role.

Understanding Self-Authorship

• Self-authorship: defining beliefs, values, and identity based on internal standards, not external influences.
• Develops over time, not fully achieved in college.
• SOULs transition between learners and educators depending on the situation.

SOULs Expectations under LPM

• Taking responsibility.
• Communicating with supervisors.
• Using personal experiences.
• Working collaboratively.
• Being open to new supervision strategies.
• Practicing patience The journey is imperfect.

LPM and Job Structure

• LPM is not freedom, parameters exist.
• SOULs must still be on time, complete tasks, adapt structures, and co-create systems with supervisors.

Applying LPM to Group Work & Leadership

• SOULs use LPM strategies for leading small groups.
• Maintaining accountability.
• Utilizing talents.
• Learning new topics.
• Making team decisions.

Advanced Concepts in LPM

• SOULs explore forms of mind, internal/external definitions, elements of self-authorship, and LPM principles.

Key Takeaways

• Each SOUL's journey is unique.
• Supervisors may not provide direct answers but should encourage critical thinking.
• SOULs should challenge traditional learning.
• "Good company" means mutual support.

The Gifts of Imperfection

• Main themes include wholehearted living (embracing imperfections), vulnerability (open and honest expressing emotions), and shame resilience (overcoming fear of judgment).
• Courage, compassion, and connection are essential while letting go of perfectionism.

10 Guideposts for Wholehearted Living

• Cultivate Authenticity and Letting Go of What People Think by being true to yourself, stop people pleasing
• Cultivate Self-Compassion and Letting Go of Perfectionism by treating yourself with kindness
• Cultivate a Resilient Spirit and Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness by processing difficult emotions
• Cultivating Gratitude and Joy & Letting Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark by practicing contentment leads to joyfulness.
• Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith Letting Go of the Need for Certainty by intuiting instincts and embracing uncertainty.
• Cultivating Creativity Letting Go of Comparison because everyone is creative and insecure comparison.
• Cultivating Play and Rest Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol because being busy is unhealthy compared to productivity and rest being nesscary.
• Cultivating Calm and Stillness & Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle because calmness is about managing and regulating constant anxiety .
• Cultivating Meaningful Work & Letting Go of Self-Doubt and “Supposed To because meaningful work aligns with societal patterns.
• Cultivating Laughter, Song, & Dance and Letting Go of Being Cool and Always in Control because it helps people not be to controlling and fearful.

Final Takeaways on Imperfection

• Embracing imperfection leads to fulfillment
• Vulnerability is strength.
• Shame thrives in secrecy.
• Wholehearted living requires the daily awareness.

Daringly Great Chapter 2 by Brené Brown: Understanding Vulnerability

• Vulnerability: uncertainty, risk, emotional exposure.
• Vulnerability is the base for courage, connection, and meaningful living.
• Brown says it is a measure of courage.

Myths of Vulnerability

• Myth #1: Vulnerability is Weakness, Brown's work shows vulnerability being sign of strength and no courage without it.
• Myth #2: "I Don't Vulnerability", People live everyday avoiding being real everyday.
• Myth #3: Means Oversharing, Being honest is about trust, wrong people can affect your shame negatively.
• Myth #4: "I Can Do It Alone", Society glorifies and relies on self- sufficiency.

Relationship Between Shame and Vulnerability

• Shame is the fear of disconnection.
• Vulnerability is the antidote to shame and builds connection in the process of openness and sharing.
• Shame thrives in secrecy, loses power when spoken.

Cultural and Gender Differences in Vulnerability

• Cultural conditioning affects how men and women see uncertainty and risk.
• Women expected to be perfect, men expected to show no weakness.
• Breaking these norms helps authenticity, wellbeing.

Embracing Vulnerability

• Love, belonging, joy, creativity and innovation are Vulnerability's birthplace.
• Authentic, empathetic, connected leaders, parents, and individuals embrace it.

The Key Takeaways on Vulnerability

• Vulnerability is strength.
• Avoiding insecurity leads to disconnection, numbing, perfectionism.
• True connection and courage come with it.
• Interconnection shame and vulnerability need to be balanced.

Leadership as a Shared Process

• Involves leaders, followers, facilitators, and change agents collaborate making everyone having a role.
• Effective leadership needs honesty, wellbeing.
• Effective leadership fosters healthy wellbeing leadership and emotional intellect.

1st Chapter Themes for Leadership

• Leaders can be a positive change an someone who inspires others beyond ones own aspect of life.
• Successful leaders energize a cause, uniting people which enables effective to push towards a vision, movement, or goal.
• Everyone ,regardless of direction walks the path to lead and all positions/actions have an affect.

Authenticity

• Transparent, trusty, credible are aligned with actions showing honest motives and is credible.
• Losing trust is easy, rebuilding it is difficult since can affect relationships.
• Consistent and is is important genuineness since its an affect to being authentic.
• Self aware leaders open live by decisions with emotional intellect.

Impact of Inauthenticity

• Requires more than intentions to demand accountability because when leaders honesty their intentions demand disengagement.

Final Thoughts

• Good leadership should have authentic, strong and positive connections that embody the right actions in words

Key discussion points

• Key discussion points include understanding that learning and expertise are more collaborative constructed compared to being singular.
• Vulnerability is a key topic to be had when discussing building and being an ethical and strong team.
• Effective communication is vital and crucial.
• Good company is important because in leadership it requires relationships that allow growth.