Post 24: An Image

Post 23: Coalescing Knowledge

A Lifelong Love of Learning: Centralizing Knowledge From Experience Social Engagement as Self-Transcendence: Education, Culture and Altruism

Post 22. Balance.

Post 22. Balance.

I think that people who place a lot of emphasis on the institutions that grant degree qualifications, rather than the work produced to earn those qualifications, may have a somewhat distorted perception of the abilities of the general workforce in The United States. Education at Walden Univerity I had noted while at the International Democratic Education Conference, required in large part the characteristics of intrinsic motivation that were imbued through my story at Tanglewood Elementary and Jefferson County Open School. I had been in a conversation with Arnie at the time, who I will only refer to as Arnie, because that is the way we were taught to address the teachers in our lives who were all founders of Open School. Internalizing the values of the community and sharing in an appreciation for the community and a desire to help it grow were a part of the "It takes a village" philosophy of the Open School. So, when offered a chance to educate myself and also to enable greater healing in the community, I naturally chose to commit to the work and create the level of education I saw would be successful in my perception and did not choose to simply meet requirements. Overall the education one might receive has not much to do with the learning that one chooses to accomplish.

One example I have is the development of what would intellectually be called a mastery skill, or a skill for constructing and employing dynamics as a part of the learning process. I wrote about this skill once, and I will present it here. What follows is a Google Drive link to the 2014 capstone document that I wrote as a part of the completion of my undergraduate program, as the result of some of the extra postgraduate training I was comitted to. If there can be any doubt about the legitimacy of a man's education, then the internet and the process of information sharing and peer review, serves to disperse that shadow quite well.


Balance
***

I think from a highly sensitized viewpoint, that my career objective is the establishment of symmetry, in life and in various social dynamics. Dynamics in psychology were in many ways first elaborated by Kurt Lewin (1935). I can only hypothesize that these dynamics began through reconstructions of Kant’s transcendental idealism as an epistemology, but in that case at least the geography is almost in alignment. Dynamics throughout my education were something that I learned to reframe as dialectics. As I would talk about various social dynamics or individual dynamics such as with the idea of diathesis-stress that I had mentioned, I began to understand them as reciprocal systems (Hixson, 2012).

These I termed dialectics. Examples of dynamic fields in contemporary writing are widely available. In Soul of a Citizen, Loeb (2010) begins describing social change as the formation of a displacement, the accumulation of awareness and social capital through shared experience, and the eventual discharge or balance of the displacement through the actions of social leaders who empower groups who are ready for the change. Looking at this from a slightly over-rated intellectual standpoint, this collective process is not unlike individual learning processes had been described classically. The Gestalt Cycle of Experience developed by Joseph Zinker (1978), is an individual dynamic of this type. In the Gestalt Cycle of Experience a displacement exists where there is a new opportunity to learn that an individual first senses intuitively, then becomes aware of the opportunity, then mobilizes to balance the displacement, achieves contact between intuition and objective awareness or object of knowledge, then begins to resolve the associations created between the initial polarizations, and then withdraws until a new displacement raises this awareness again (Zinker, 1978). This action that occurs between displaced polarities is a dialectic, and the larger communal action that occurs as a part of the sense of social injustice in the larger community also follows through dynamic changes, as I attempted to show with the previous example.

In criminology dynamics began to be demonstrated as an awareness of energies displaced through actions of criminal intent. In Changing Lenses these dynamics began to be described as the fields which build before crime takes place, crime itself, and the acts of restoration that can begin to achieve equilibrium again as a part of a potential change to punitive or retributive justice (Zehr, 2005). Restorative justice principles reflect the awareness of displacement created through crime. Restorative justice focuses on obligations created by the criminal act in society and for the offender to seek balance, the understanding of the harms that describe the crimes and the needs resulting from them, and the civic responsibility to maintain engagement among all stakeholders in criminal events (Zehr, 2002). Victim offender conferencing programs offer the chance for people who have been victimized and the offenders who had victimized them to attempt to achieve a sense of balance through an understanding of the crime and also through the achievement of balance through shared meaning (Amstutz, 2002).

Conflict is best described as dynamics or fields that begin to set up around mutual needs that can be in conflict. The conflicting needs can be survival needs that describe basic resources and security, interest needs in terms of tangible interests and representation and respect in terms of processes for negotiating them, and identity needs related to the sense of group autonomy identity and belonging (Mayer, 2012). The dynamics which motivate actions of balance and imbalance among mutual needs are displacements in relationships in terms of power, culture, personality, or information (Mayer, 2012). So when thinking of dialectics the learning and larger social dialectics mentioned previously would be compared as a T-test in statistics would be compared to a multifactorial ANOVA, but the reciprocal interactions between fields can exist simultaneously.

Dialectics can also be applied practically, some parts of emergency management can be described as fields. Hazard and risk assessment plays a role in the establishment of mitigation and preparedness strategies available to balance the awareness of risk (Haddow, Bullock & Coppola, 2011).

So, putting this all together a lot of fields exist in social space collectively as well as individually. I think that the best perception of my career then is finding ways to establish symmetry. Of course my most current goal is to obtain the degree in mental health counseling, but in terms of application I am seeking the degree in order to begin healing displacements that occurred through the existence of violence and trauma. The idea that I have for this is the application of meaning for experience, and in some cases greater community engagement and awareness in order to help the larger community become motivated to begin mitigating the larger losses that occur from traumatic events (Hixson, 2013). Over the next 5 years I also hope to share the larger message about the meaning and value of experience that I had identified was a way to de-escalate the social energies that I feel are the result of the acceptance of violence as a normative context in our social environments, and through one of non-profit organizations I am committed with I can develop a leadership academy that can begin that process based on the ideas I developed for PSYC-4010-1 this term.

References

Amstutz, L. S. (2009). The little book of victim offender conferencing. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.

Haddow, G., Bullock, J. & Coppola, D. (2011). Introduction to emergency management (4^th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.

Hixson, S (2013, December 26). Diathesis-stress, default network, and epigenetics. [Discussion post for PSYC-4010-1]. School of Psychology, Walden University.

Hixson, S. (2014). PSYC-4010-1 capstone presentation: Corey Hixson. [Video Podcast]. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTMavqfeueU

Lewin, K. (1935). A dynamic theory of personality (Adams, D. & Zener, K. Trans.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Loeb, P. R. (2010). Soul of a citizen: Living with conviction in challenging times (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: St Martin’s Press.

Mayer, B. (2012). The dynamics of conflict: A guide to engagement and intervention (2^nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Zehr, H. (2002). The little book of restorative justice. Intercourse, PA: Good Books.

Zehr, H. (2005). Changing lenses: A new focus for crime and justice. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press.

Zinker, J. (1978). Creative process in gestalt therapy. New York, NY: Vintage.

***

Here I present the link to my final capstone document, that addresses violence in the context of The United States as well as the development of new therapies for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

B.S. Psychology Capstone: Choosing a Professional Role

Post 21. Resolutions.

On the first day of 2014 I had created a presentation that addressed violence in the cultural context of The United States, stress, traumatic stress, and the associated interventions. I think one of the best ways to demonstrate mastery of a theory or a concept in social space, is to begin teaching the concept, in a way that also demonstrates the meaningful life experiences contributing to it. The video is academic work related to a degree program at Walden University, but the awareness of larger social problems that it intends to address, was reciprocally communicated as a part of the discoveries I had made and the solutions that I had developed throughout my experiences so far. This includes my education within the larger life-context in Jefferson County, Colorado; as a part of my secondary school program graduation in May of 2000 at Jefferson County Open School.

***

Corey H. - 2014 B.S. Psychology Capstone - Walden University

Post 20. Public Awareness

Post 20. Public Awareness.

One of the places that my commitments to society are reflecting, is at Friends Of The Open School. The website reflects just a few communal accomplishments within the context of Jefferson County, Colorado.

Http://www.jcosfotos.org

One of the other shining lights in the social haze, is the success of the now National, regional pilot program, for the Service to Armed Forces transportation program at The American Red Cross. This activity now supports a regional hub with offices throughout Colorado, and there is no longer a shortage of drivers.

Potential SAF drivers can contact Tim Bothe at 303.607.4785

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Post 19. An Image.

Post 18. Continuing Growth. |o|

Post 18. Continuing Growth. |o|

There have been a lot of events that have developed out of the previous efforts in the community. I have little doubt that my own self-awareness now is as an extension of the culture, and as I transitioned in a transpersonal sense toward accepting a role in the growth of the larger world, that the world by reflection changes with me.

Overall the 2013 International Democratic Education Conference (IDEC) was a success for my community and for my organization. The concept of applying meaning to learning and creating a space for meaning making in the context of the classroom, has become a solution for a wide range of social problems. I will speak to The United States and The State of Colorado and those cultural milieus in a moment. For now I must note that this awareness is global and no longer only an issue that should be pursued just in the local context in Jefferson County. So, this project has grown exponentially because of the process of cocreation that occurred with others in the global community during the IDEC. The awareness that I am referring to is the process of actualization and identity formation as it happens for young people in our institutions. The greater transpersonal awareness that was elaborated by Abraham Maslow and Viktor Frankl as well as many other researchers who have published work in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology is that under the right conditions people do begin to accept their influences, actions, and therefore responsibilities; this growth continues as a part of larger personal, social, intellectual, and spiritual contexts for development. I believe that one of the contributions to this idea coming from the community, is the awareness that this transition into transpersonal awareness also functions as a transition from extrinsic motivation to internalized intrinsic motivations in the interest of becoming a strong part of a healthy and functional larger community. This process is what the Jefferson Country Open School seeks to develop, and that community objective is operationalized in the learning goal Seek Meaning in Your Life.

The application of meaning fits in many contexts, and this process has elucidated some of the causalities around major social problems experienced in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States of America. Firstly, United States culture can be viewed as restrictive, but it is also considered a low culture in social sciences. This means that the mores and norms created by the culture are not overtly enforced such as in high culture societies like China or Japan, but instead expectations placed on members of society are wholly created by the functional stereotypes presented in mainstream culture. As people begin their process of identity formation and meaning making, they may encounter difficulties with the resulting perception of mistaken identity placed upon them by the larger community. One of the causes for lethal violence in our culture is this conflict between social identity and personal identity, and the lack of socially available strategies for mending the dissonance in social space (Lee, 2011). Our culture enforces a set of expected identity characteristics and expectations by subvertly creating the space for those expectations according to stereotypes. Stereotypes therefore create a restrictive cultural environment, which is indicated by the emergence of new and frightening social problems. These problems exist in social space, and are attacks that are created as an angry response to perceived social wrongs against the future perpetrators of lethal violence, who may have peculiar, narcissistic "Superman" concepts of self-identity (Palermo, 1997). Meaning making, is a way to begin providing a safer social space for healthy identity formation, and for developing the skills that help young people mitigate, interpret and influence stereotypes, and the implementation of social prototypes, respectively.

The way to develop Meaning Making in the context of Jefferson County Schools is to encourage the superintendents plan to move forward in innovative ways and with appropriate technology and resources that will help measure the current culture and create an awareness of cultural trends. This will provide a roadmap for arriving with great efficacy in the future social space, having created regulations and policies that fit the future paradigm based on the current one. This plan requires an awareness of the larger community and the current and future states of concepts present in culture and media texts. Understanding the culture is work that students in secondary schools could be doing as a part of their own self-analysis and growth regarding the existence of media stereotypes and expectations within the social milieu of The United States.

The solution to a wide range of social problems within Jefferson County comes from an education that in part encourages an awareness of Modern Culture, as it is currently taught at the university level. This is the discovery that has come out of the work with Friends of the Open School, and Jefferson County Schools, along with the 2013 International Democratic Education Conference as mentioned in previous posts. I look forward to working with others in the local community, to bring this global solution to fruition, which will be very helpful to my research.


References

Lee, M. R. (2011). Reconsidering culture and homicide. Homicide Studies, 15(4), 319-340. doi: 10.1177/1088767911424542

Palermo, G. (1997). The berserk syndrome: A review of mass murder. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2(1), 1-8.