Leadership in Action: Transforming Self and Structure

Q: Ken, it’s wonderful to get to talk to you after hearing you speak at various conferences. I was very much struck by the broad scale approach you’re taking to the challenges of education in the future, and thought that they might have some implications for leadership. Perhaps, though, we might begin by finding out the major thrust of your work these days?

A: Most of my work is focused on creativity and innovation. I’ve spent many years in education and have been particularly interested in the need for a complete reorientation of national education system. I have worked in a number of them to try and press for a different approach to education reform. I also work with cultural and commercial organizations.

One of the great problems facing us is that these three sectors—cultural, commercial and educational have operated separately from each other, almost in isolation. For the future, it’s essential that they recognize the challenges they have in common and the ways they can collaborate. For example, I feel that education has to be enlivened and enriched by cultural practices, beyond traditional schooling. Also, for generations there has been a tacit compact between the economy and education. That compact is now breaking down seriously. The way forward has to be through increased dialogue and collaboration. My work is focused in promoting ideas about innovation and creativity, and also methods and strategies of implementation in and between those three sectors.

Read more here.

After we watched the Milgram experiment in class it made me think about how humans react to those in power and what they would or wouldn’t do to another human being.  I knew there were many instances of unethical treatment of people by their government but I wanted to know more and came across the patriotic re-education of Tibet’s monks and nuns by the Chinese government. 

The re-education plan involves five principles (www.tibet.com/humanrights):

1. Opposition to separatism;
2. Unity of Tibet and China;
3. Recognition of the Chinese appointed Panchen Lama as the true Panchen Lama;
4. Denial that Tibet was or should be independent;
5. Agreement that the Dalai Lama is destroying the unity of the motherland.

The re-education plan has included such thing as removing the monks and nuns under the age of 18 from the monasteries, issuing ID cards, limiting the number of monks and nuns in a monastery, expelling them from monasteries because they wouldn’t denounce the Dalai Lama, limiting their movement, burning all pictures of the Dalai Lama in front of the monks and nuns plus other countless restrictions or requirements that have been imposed by the government. 

OK all if anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated.  I would love to read the articles that Mary has assigned but does anyone know the link to retrieve them online or even where to retrieve them from?  Let me know cause this old brain isn't working well today to figure it out.

Thanks to all,

Connie

Yeah! I have started reading this book finally and find it hard to put down.

Ken Robinson establishes that the major theme of the book is developing people's natural talents and abilities right there on page 20.

As I sat in on the Parent/Senior meeting with my daughter I was happy to know that she had met all requirements for the "Walk" but saddened to hear that the school will not allow those kids that failed the WASL test requirements to walk with their classmates. It has begun. I don't know how many of the class of 2008 will not graduate based on this academic requirement and as I read Sir Kens words I wonder if this first group of seniors that failed to meet the requirements will be able to continue on a positive course, what will they be doing next year? in five years? What creative mind has been shut down before it even found the medium of it's desire?

The prime consideration is always the physical and mental well-being of the client. Therapists never engage in abuse of any form of a client.  Hypnotherapists only practice within the limits of their training, competence and state laws. Advertising must be truthful. Therapists are always honest about their titles and degrees and practice within the confines of our profession. Therapists only work with clients on medical or mental disease on written referral from an appropriately licensed medical or mental health professional. Withhold non- hypnotic services if a client’s behavior, appearance or statements indicate a licensed health care professional should evaluate the client.

On the topic of ethics I'm reading a fascinating book by Allen M. Hornblum Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison documenting  the then legal but unethical use of inmates  as guinea pigs to test everything  from chemical warfare to syphilis  (while withholding treatment  as they  documented the infected  inmate  die an agonizing death.

From Library Journal

Relying on prisoners' firsthand reports, Hornblum (urban studies, Temple Univ.) has written a thorough account of the questionable medical experimentation carried out in Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison from the mid-1940s to 1974. Research on everything from cosmetics to chemical warfare agents was conducted there, often with minimal or no record keeping. Such research raises serious ethical issues. Throughout, Hornblum asks whether prisoners can give informed consent, particularly when the potential consequences of the research are not fully explained. Although most of the book centers on Holmesburg, Hornblum does cite other prisons across the country where similar practices took place before they received widespread condemnation in the 1970s. What is shocking about this is that it did not happen in the distant past but in our own generation, with the doctors involved still in practice. Frighteningly, Hornblum reveals that at the Nuremberg trials Nazi doctors cited American prison practices as a defense for their nefarious medical experiments in the camps. 

The ethical principles for The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) closely relates to my volunteer work for a local hospice program.  In my role as a hospice volunteer, I provide respite care, social contact, companionship, and/or assistance with transportation, errands or other activities.  I am part of a hospice team.  "The hospice team consists of medical directors, nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteers, bereavement counselors and others who support the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients and their families."  While some team members may follow principles specific to their profession, the NHPCO has a set of principles we all are to follow as well.  Below are the ethical principles of the NHPCO have been provided. 

On a related note, the local hospice program where I volunteer makes it very clear to their hospice volunteers, "A volunteer must be able to enter a home without judgment or a need to impose their belief systems".  For me this statement has served as a reminder, as its application is not solely limited to my volunteer work.     

There is not Code of Ethics @ my place of employment. However there is a form that states the agency I provide services for has a Mission statement, Vision/Belief statement and a list of Goal Statements. All of which reflect the same thing. Mission Statement states:That we promote and facilitate a multi-disciplinary, child focused approach for the prevention, investigation, intervention, prosecution, and treatment of child physical and sexual assault. Vision/Belief Statement states that the Children's Advocacy Center(CAC) believes that all children have the right to breathe, stretch, grow and thrive in a loving, warm, safe and healthy families. These Services are offered by the CAC and are designed to be developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant. Briefly the Goals Statement: ~ is to ensure access to a neutral-based, child focused facility designed to meet abused children's needs for warmth, support, and protection while simultaneously supporting investigative efforts. ~To conduct forensic interviews of children who have allegedly been sexually assaulted.

While I was on the Internet browsing around looking for different articles about ethics in the mental health field I came across the Code of Ethics of the American Mental Health Counselors Associations.  This ethical guideline for mental health counselors varied slightly from the usual code of ethics that I had seen in the past. The difference is that a whole section is included for the utilization of assessment techniques. The headings in this section are:  Test Selection, Administration, Interpretation and Reporting.

www.gse.upenn.edu/changes/pdfs/17-Research%20Ethics%20for%20Mental<