Week 7: Theories in Action
This week I have been able to reflect on my position and how I have been able to gain authority in the eyes of my scholars. In our theories course we looked over many different types of intelligences and we highlighted how if one has a certain intelligence they are able to gain followers. Having been a part of the program for my than five years, as a scholar and as faculty, I have been able to utilize and understand how having a high emotional intelligence is important when dealing with these scholars. Since I am able to empathize with these scholars I have been able to push them towards recognizing their own personal efficacy. I think another factor that has played a role in my current success with these scholars is my ability to identify with their social identity. This reflects the idea that Hoggs presents–prototypicality.
I look forward to this upcoming week since it is the second to last week of our summer institute and things have picked up tremendously.
Whenever possible, identifying concrete actions/behaviors (yours or others) that illustrate the concepts/theories you are discussing; this will assist you when completing the fall assignments. For instance, providing examples of actions you take that illustrate/embody empathy (or any of the other EI factors – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, social skills) and the response you receive/elicit from the scholars. As for prototypicality, you sort of throw that in here. Again, provide some specific examples of prototypicality, how you connect with their social identity, etc. This seems like very broad application of theory – it needs to be integrated more with your experience.