Congratulations to our 2017 UEN Purple Principalship Program Completers!

Principalship Preparation Program completers - UEN Purple

Congratulations to our 2017 UEN Gold Principalship Program Completers!

Principalship Preparation Program Completers - UEN Gold

Congratulations to our 2017 All Iowa Principalship Program Completers!

 

Principalship Preparation Program Completers - All Iowa

Checking in with Dr. Decker

Robert Decker, Emeritus

Department of Educational Leadership and Postsecondary Education

University of Northern Iowa

Since retiring from the department in December, 2013, my wife Paula and I have served two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We left Iowa in January, 2014 and served in Fiji for 18 months as ITEP missionaries (International Teacher Education Program).  Our assignment was to teach BYU Hawaii courses to church school teachers who did not have a teaching certificate.  We worked with teachers from the Church Primary School (elementary) and from the Church College (high school).

While in Suva, Fiji we were able to travel to other parts of the South Pacific to such places as Kandavu (one of the 330 islands that make up the country of Fiji) as well as New Zealand and Australia.  Suva is on the island of Viti Levu which is the largest of the Fijian islands and is the capitol of the country.  During our stay in Fiji I took many pictures and have great memories of the people, culture, and customs of the beautiful country.  There are many stories that we have to share and we have made lifelong and eternal friends with the people of Fiji.  The Fijian people are some of the poorest people I have ever met but they are the friendliest and loving people I have ever met.  How I like to characterize the Fijian people is that they would give you the “shirt of their backs, if they had a shirt to give you.”

We returned home to Cedar Falls in August, 2015 and for five months we toured the US visiting our children and grandchildren.  We have seven children who live in seven different states, mostly in the western United States.  We also had a grandson who was going to school at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and playing soccer so we went East as well as West this this time.

After spending the holidays with family and friends we knew that we wanted to return to the mission field.  In January, 2016 we were looking out our living room window and watching the snow with blizzard conditions so Paula and I looked at each other and said it was time to leave.  In March, 2016 we received another mission call to go to Honolulu Hawaii Mission and are assigned to the Polynesian Cultural Center/BYU-Hawaii.  Our assignment here is to work with junior and senior students and help them develop internship opportunities at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We also help recent graduates who are on international visas obtain and additional year of training (called Academic Training) before they return to their country or island from which they came.  Students attending BYU-Hawaii come from over 70 different countries and speak 47 different languages.  At a recent graduation ceremony there were 29 different countries identified from the graduation class.

We are on the north shore of the island of Oahu and are about 50 miles from Waikiki.  We are enjoying the scenery and this part of the US where the customs are a little different from the mainland.  The native Hawaiian people and some of the beautiful people we have seen.  With a truly international representation here it is fascinating about learning about different cultures from around the world.  Living among this population is inspiring as well as a learning situation.

We will be completing our assignment here in Hawaii in June, 2018 and our plans now are to return to Iowa to figure out what will be our next chapter in our lives.

A Message from our Department Host

Dr. Nicholas J. Pace
Department Host & Professor of Educational Leadership

Several months ago, I felt incredibly fortunate to be selected to participate in the Provost's Leadership Academy at UNI. The group brought together an amazing group of faculty and staff from across the University to engage in a process of reflecting on the meaning and purpose of their work and build capacity to make differences in the lives of others.

We've met as a large group a couple times, in addition to some smaller group activities that explore issues and ideas on a deeper level. We've read, discussed, and reflected on a wide range of topics, from the leadership art of asking effective questions, to the way bureaucracies can limit growth, to effective mentoring and the role of higher education in an increasingly diverse, complex world. We've explored authenticity, power, time, and life balance. I'm beyond impressed by the talent and passion in the group.

We recently read an article published by Margaret J. Wheatley entitled Leadership in the Age of Complexity: From Hero to Host. The piece appears on her website and was also published in the Winter 2011 issue of Resurgence Magazine.

Wheatley asks why we’re drawn to heroes. She says we believe heroes have the answers and know what to do. She notes that people often like to be told what to do and that it can be easier to submit to the will of a heroic leader than stepping forward ourselves. When we step forward into the arena, we own both the potential for failure and the vulnerability that comes with it.

She further argues that in our complex world, it’s fantasy to expect heroic leaders to grab ahold of our complex and interconnected problems and do much with them. Because the answers are almost never simple, well-intentioned leaders often wind up generating even more chaos. Sometimes that comes from a lack of buy-in from those impacted by the heroes' attempt to solve problems. Wheatley argues for shifting the view of the leader from hero to host, and it’s squarely in line with one of our program’s core values--Leader of Service.

Her description of the hero was not unfamiliar. I remember anxiously serving as a young principal, intent on demonstrating that I was up to the myriad tasks that came my way. I was (and am) well acquainted with the Mask of Confidence new leaders put on in new roles. Many times I've asked students how they distinguish between that mask and another--the Mask of Competence, as we assume new roles when the stakes are high.

Wheatley writes, “Many of us can get caught up in acting like heroes, not from power drives, but from our good intentions and desires to help” and offers some quick ways to self-check. I invite you to take a look.

You’re acting as a hero when you believe that if you just work harder, you’ll fix things; that if you just get smarter or learn a new technique, you’ll be able to solve problems for others. You’re acting as a hero if you take on more and more projects and have less time for projects and causes and have less time for relationships. You’re playing the hero if you believe that you can save the situation, the person, the world.

The description fit me perfectly as a young principal. Truth be told, it still applies more than I might like to admit, despite knowing better.

I’ve revisited Wheatley’s test several times recently and am working to apply her wisdom to my current role as department head. As a visual reminder, I asked our graduate assistant to change the name card on my office door from Department Head to Department Host. I hope the change will serve as a symbolic and visual reminder.

If I fall into the hero’s trap, I’m not building capacity in others, I’m stifling it. If I’m so determined to learn new techniques that I fail to nurture relationships, I’m neglecting them. If I arrogantly think I can save the project, person or world…well, I’m just wrong.

I invite you to consider your own situation and practice as it relates to the difference between hero and host.

Perhaps you’ll find the questions useful. In the meantime, keep striving, dreaming and reflecting. That constant process reminds me of guidance from another wise woman, my mom, who likes to invoke the Dutch Proverb, “We are too soon old and too late smart.”

Happy hosting.