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Managing to lead at UBC

A picture of documents on a table including a certificate for 'managing at UBC' leadership program.

May of 2023 was a pretty big month for me. We were moving (again, more on that later) and still had time to take a much needed vacation, to see old friends, the honor to attend a besties wedding and visiting family among the highlights keeping me busy. Professionally speaking, it also marked the completion of my most recent professional development endeavor ‘Managing at UBC‘, part of the leadership development program. Joining UBC Okanagan in February of 2022 marked several new challenges for me, not the least of which was providing leadership to the Learning Technology Support Team at The Centre for Teaching and Learning. Having had several inspirational managers in my career, I had plenty of sources to drawn on in terms of the ways I could be successful as a manager myself, but of course there are always unexpected challenges that go along with any new responsibility. In my case 2 of the biggest were a return to campus for all classes after 3 years of teaching and learning through a pandemic, and a return to the office, also after 3 years of working through a pandemic. And oh yeah, that and the fact that this was my first official job where I had direct reports.

I had so many questions. What was my team like, and would they ‘like’ me? Would there be time to provide them the support they needed and still accomplish the many other duties that were assigned to my role? Would we be as positive and effective a group as I had recently experienced with the hardest working team in Ed-Tech in this province?

This program came at the exact right time for me.

Managing at UBC is a leadership development program designed to equip newer managers with the foundational skills, knowledge and tools to succeed and grow in leadership roles at UBC.

UBC Human resources

I gained so much from this experience, and at times our regular workshops and coaching sessions were literally keeping me afloat amidst the storm of leadership challenges I was facing. It was an important reminder of the value giving yourself the time for your own professional development and personal reflection. I wanted to capture a particular aspect that really stood out for me.

I have strengths!

I mean, I have enough self confidence to believe that, but in terms of being a new manager, what did I really come to the table with? Wasn’t I starting out from scratch having to build this ability as I went along? The ‘strengths based’ assessment module was amongst the first of our training and real eye opener. Specifically acknowledging the fact that there are no one set of skills that make a good leader, in fact, everyone has the ability to lead but just may do it in different ways. In our assessment my strengths were

  • Adaptability – You live in the moment.
  • Developer – You see the potential in others.
  • Empathy – You can sense the emotions of those around you.
  • Strategic – Can sort through the clutter
  • Positivity – Generous with praise

All of which I genuinely related to. In this session were were asked to reflect on our strengths and activate them. First to redefine what are your strengths as things that give you strength. Next, to continue to seek out positive reinforcement as opposed to looking for things to fix. Finally, your strengths can be cultivated, and doing so will help you to let go of your perceived weaknesses, self doubt and imposter syndrome.

This also came with the realization that my strengths, or any other leaders for that matter may not be perceived as such with every member of the team. My ability to be adaptable for instance, known as ‘go with the flow’ may not land well will those that value consistency and routine for instance. Still, this was an invaluable insight to begin to build my own model for what kind of leader I will be and begin to explicitly define and lead with my values. Recognizing that a healthy, positive workplace and space is amongst my priorities allowed my ‘going with the flow’ to be directed and that everyone can identify with as a desirable outcome. I’m still figuring alot of this out, and looking forward to building on my experience to continue making a positive difference for the humans in the room.

HUMAN GENERATED COMMUNICATION.. A post-it with a little doodle of some icons representing sound, sight, touch and heart.
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Drawing research with learning benefits

There have been many studies on the impact of drawing and the brain, but several papers, and at least one thesis in recent years have again ignited interest in the use of drawing to support teaching and learning. One such paper ;

“The Surprisingly Powerful Influence of Drawing on Memory“, gained alot of media attention, notably on the CBC and in the Edutopia website which indicated;

There are several ways that teachers can incorporate drawing to enrich learning.

  • Student-created learning aids: Instead of buying or printing posters that reinforce learning—maps, anchor charts, or diagrams—have students create them.
  • Interactive notebooks: Don’t let students take notes verbatim—push them to be creative. One side of their notebooks can be used for written notes, the other for drawings, diagrams, and charts.
  • Data visualization: Asking students to collect, analyze, and present data in visual form can deepen their understanding of a topic. Examples include visualizing concepts in math, analyzing classical literature, and exploring fractals.
  • Bookmaking: Blending academics and art, students at Symonds Elementary create their own books to visually represent topics in subjects ranging from science to English language arts. Students can also create comics books to tell stories or describe events.
  • Assessing learning through art: Jill Fletcher, a middle school teacher in Hawaii, uses “one-pagers” to challenge students to show their understanding about a topic through art, making it less about finding the “single correct answer” and more about crafting a response they can stand behind. And students at Normal Park Museum Magnet School create travel journals as a visible record of their learning.

The takeaway: Encourage students to draw. Doing so is a powerful tool to boost student learning because it improves recall by challenging students to explore an idea in different ways.

The Drawing Effect: How Doodling Can Improve Your Thinking and Memory by Steven Handel

A supporting study “The drawing effect: Evidence for reliable and robust memory benefits in free recall“, was cited in on The Emotion Machine, noting even more general benefits to drawing including;

  • Taking notes and studying – One great application of drawing is to doodle more when you’re taking notes in class or during a business meeting. This will help you engage with the material more and absorb it better in the moment. It’ll also help when you go back to your notes to study for an exam or prepare for the next business meeting.

  • Making “to do” lists – Another benefit to drawing is to integrate it into your list-making, whether it’s a shopping list, grocery list, or a “to do” list for home or work. This will improve the power of your checklists, by making it easier for you to scan the list and retain all of the items on it. It’ll also better prepare you to tackle these tasks later in the day. (For example, when my friend had me watch his dogs for the week he drew little pictures next to each item, which helped out a lot).

  • Reflecting in new ways – While meditation and writing can be great tools for becoming more aware of your inner thoughts and feelings, drawing visual representations of your thoughts and emotions can also be a fantastic method for becoming more attuned to your inner world and expressing it. Similar to art therapy, taking a few minutes to draw how you feel can be a great way to express and release negative emotions by making them more tangible and changeable.

  • Brainstorming and creativity – One interesting lesson I learned in the book Creative Confidence is how important visuals can be when trying to solve problems or come up with creative solutions. Sometimes we need to draw out a problem (such as creating a flow chart, diagram, or illustration) to help us think in new ways and approach a problem from a completely different perspective rather than just trying to solve a problem by thinking about it inside our heads.

  • Relaxation and stress relief – Another obvious benefit to drawing and doodling is that it just feels good to be creative and take your mind off of things for a little while. This is probably why “adult coloring books” have also become a popular way to relieve stress and anxiety. Simply putting on some good music and taking 30 minutes to just doodle whatever you want can be a great way to refresh your mind, escape life’s everyday problems, and just relax more.

 

Art Teacher in Process: An Illustrated Exploration of Art, Education, and What Matters

Of more local note, “Art Teacher in Progress”, Meghan Parker went to the extraordinary step of creating her Masters of Education Thesis as a comic book. Quoting from her 2018 interview on CBC.

” It is about my experience as an early career public school visual arts teacher. It’s about why visual literacy is important, why art education is important, why the arts are important, and then sort of through the process, kind of figuring out who I am and what’s important to me,” Parker said.” – CBC – As it Happens 2018

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Visual prompts and daily practice

When incorporating visual activities in a learning context, you can consider two approaches to make things easier for yourself, your students or team.  Prompts and Practice. There has been a growing interest in “daily practice challenges”,  since inktober kicked off in 2009. Creator Jake Parker wanted “a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits”. The basic concept is one drawing a day for 30 days. One new prompt each day.

Many other such challenges and daily practice prompts have appeared on the scene, following a similar format, but changing the prompts to suit a specific audience. For educators wanting to to get students drawing, brainstorming and visualizing this can easily be adjusted to a course.

For those participating in the challenge, (or course) it answers one of the more confounding questions when working visually, “What should I draw?”

Over at lifelology.io they are picking up on this trend and directing it towards the #scicomm (Science Communication) community.

Lifeology is a platform and a community space that brings together scientists, health experts, artists, writers and broader audiences in the creation of mobile-friendly Lifeology mini-courses that can reach anyone.

They launched their event to coincide with inktober, and although I only completed 3 drawings that month, I still got to watch others share their creations as they approached the challenge in their own way. The prompts, as well as some simple instructions for sharing are all that are needed to run this activity, and it can be open to all.

You can check out my 3 submissions below.

My scicomm 2020 submissions

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