WEEK 1 - LEARNING STYLES - OR ANNE ELK'S BRONTOSAURUS THEORY REDUX

How do I learn? The articles I read recently were good if not confusing: who knew "learning" as a concept could be theorized about so. I'm sure it helps some educators, even some individuals and makes for great debates in some academic circles.  

I saw myself in so many of the various proposed structures, chuckled a bit at one when a mental picture of all French speaking and Italian speaking people got clumped together as a bunch of right side thinkers (the Rose and Nicholl model) because, let's face it, if you want to silence one of them, the old joke is to tie their hands behind their back - and I know as I'm one of them. By the end of Rhonda Wynne's article, I was so hyphenated style-wise that the song "I'm My Own Grandpa" started to run through my head. 

I admit that my leaning style is chameleonesque at best. I'm the classic sponge: info comes by and -schloop- it's sucked in there. Ok, sometimes it's hard to squeeze it out, especially if I'm tired but it's in there. I take notes, I learn by observing, I learn by myself,  I learn with others, I do flashcards and rote, I learn by trial and error. And I hate surveys that ask me what is "best" for me because, so help me, it what happens to be handy at that time or for that "bit" of information. And, yes, somethings work better than others but I can't afford to stop and ask them to put it in a form that's more palatable to my "according to the latest" cognitive reasoning style.

I'm learning Norwegian (or trying to!) with rote, flashcards, the occasional "snakker med norseman" and the mind glazing read through of grammar rules. Mastering a Chopin nocturne, on my own, observations (aural through recordings and visual with the teacher) and lots and lots of repetition. Lectures, webinars, seminars are with pad and pen.

Certainly I'll play around, flipping one learning style over to another to try to make something sink in more. And in some cases, I just can't seem to get the knack no matter what or how hard I try. Thank God for loafers and no, I will not buy velcro tied shoes while I still have all my teeth, hair, sight and hearing: I'll curse and re-tie my shoes yet again if need be first.

So, my learning style? Depends.

OK - SO THE COURSE HASN'T STARTED YET

But if I don't take the time to work on this blog now, I'll likely keep putting it off to the very last for each assignment during the course. Or am I revealing too much to the prof... Well, I am trying to take a proactive stance so that should count for something. And the more I do it, the less "Oh, this will take for-e-ver!" the work will feel. Yeah, I know. Sounds if I'm about to do a Julie Andrews and chirp about being jolly in the face of, well, whatever - pick a movie, she's chirping about making things fun in it somewhere!

Thoughts on leadership. Being the lemming in the lead. There's the vision of Napoleon on his white horse in the Alps with his right hand either pointing the way forward or having just thrown a snowball at the head of one of his generals and acting as if he didn't. Noble, valiant, inspiring. So why is he off the road while the rest trudge in the background doing all the grunt work? It seems they're doing well enough without having to trudge in his horse's droppings. And there were those little snafus in Moscow and Waterloo. 

Then there's that image of what I like to think of as the angry leader, you know, all teeth, no hair like the stereotypical gym teacher, army sergeant, Susan Powter - now how frightening was she? Yeah, people were motivated alright but only in a Hollywood movie or an extremists camp could that sort lead and be admired. And I don't count Richard Simmons in this group: scary alright, make-up deprived circus clown channeling Shelley Winters scary, but not in a "do it or else" motivation.

Let's not forget the Moses style of leadership: wanders off, comes back with a set of rules, wanders off, comes back with a new set of rules, wanders off... well, you get the picture. Got the feeling that the ol' tribe would see him coming and collectively go: "Now what? Oy!" 

Or the Lord Kitchener approach, out of touch with the frontline reality being miles away with no clue as to the hardship, misery and sheer logistic stupidity of his latest directive on the lives of his troops. All looks fine on paper and what could go wrong with a bit of mud and a slight uphill incline to get to the enemy? And surely if we send a couple of a thousand over the trench tops at once, they can't all get shot. Oh, they can..., well, send over some more as the enemy can't possibly have that much ammunition. Oh, turns out they do..., well,...

Or the Monty Python King Arthur approach (divine right or "you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you"). 

Or the classic, all powerful "Because I'm Mom that's why!" Somehow, being dad just isn't as fear inspiring because a refusal is usually followed by a "Mommmmmmmmm!" followed soon after by a "Oh, honey..."

Alright, so enough for now of what I don't think is good leadership - didn't say they weren't effective leaderships: those pyramid and that big wall over in China didn't just build themselves you know.

OK - SO IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED...

Well, my first attempt at a blog for a SOLS course on Web 2.0, though not quite the love child of the Hindenburgh and the Titanic, failed to take off. Many reasons for which I won't go in here... would make the British Doomsday Book look like light reading.

But, with a new course and new goal, it rises again, ah, yes, well, maybe somewhat like one of those inflatable novelties you see on lawns during holidays, you know, the ones were Santa looks like he has dropsy or St Vitus Dance as he jiggles more then a jolly man really should, Frosty isn't quite the full three snowballs one on top of the other and would look at home in Pisa, despite the heat, or the Hallowe'en witch looks like she's just had one too many cup of the ol' brew. But, darn it, this time for sure.

Now this new course is on leadership, which is great as I haven't got a clue. Well, not quite true. Over the years, I have had many opportunity to observe, learn, grow yet just never had the chance to hone. Moan, yes, oh my, yes. Then, I came into a situation where though the previous leader worked hard, let's face it, the Donner Party had a better game plan. 

I am blessed with staff so amazingly gifted and hard working that I need to become the leader they deserve. The people who use the Library are also great people who deserve better than what they have had. I also need to develop the skills to look at City Council in the eye and say: "That's enough..." because, from what I've been able to piece together from office files, they gotten away with way too many things while patting the Library on the head with a "There, there,..." I don't necessarily wish to bite the hand that feeds but like the put-upon secretary whose had enough, I want that hand to keep to itself.

So, bring on the 24th, the wisdom from above, the enlightenment of the path, the sages and the pages (as in blog pages...), and to quote the great Groucho and many others: "Play, Don..."