I really liked the Harvey reading, especially in terms of the analysis of each question. Specifically, I liked the analysis of the “how are we doing” question. In this section, Harvey explains how many teachers received satisfactory scores in terms of their teaching and there were relatively low amounts of teachers who received unsatisfactory scores. I saw the correlation between this idea and the Forsyth reading we did a little while ago, about confidence boosting and self esteem for college students. For example, Harvey says that if “we can’t distinguish between good and bad teaching, how can they succeed in their mission of teaching?” (Harvey 211). I saw this point relating to the point in the Forsyth reading about students becoming “complacent” in their levels of studying and academic success. If students can not separate effort from confidence/self esteem, then how can they improve in their mission of learning and academic performance? I know that the Harvey reading was centered around leadership and I liked his overarching comments about leadership throughout this section and the article; however, I saw a correlation between these two points and wanted to think further about how they are related.
Additionally, I really liked Bezio’s comments about Brexit in particular. Specifically, I liked Bezio’s commentary about how youth (the 45 and under category) tend to have “a higher capacity for cross- national cooperation” (Bezio 60). I think this is an interesting point because as Bezio points out, this is a quality of future generations that will definitely have an impact on leadership. We would definitely be able to see this is we applied Harvey’s questions to the leadership of these future generations. Additionally, I think it is interesting to look at the current Brexit decision (UK leaving the European Union) in comparison with Bezio’s comments. The youth, who tended to suggest that the UK stay in the European Union, were outvoted in this decision. How will this effect the future of leadership for the UK, especially if they have this “cross-national” cooperation and attitude? How will this then affect Harvey’s questions?
I also really liked the section in the Harvey reading asking ‘how we are doing?’ I found the point he made about the distinction between how frequently people are assessed in the private sector versus the public sector, a lot of which is due to perceived job security. I think it is dangerous to get in this mindset and can have negative repercussions in other areas of life. I think it reiterates Harvey’s earlier point that knowing one’s self is essential so the context they are put into does not change their end result.
I also liked Bezio’s focus on Brexit. It’s interesting to think about how that cultural shift between younger and older generations happened, potentially through the Internet and the increased ease with which we can connect and interact with people from other countries and backgrounds.