Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Learning Inventory MPA Fall 2016 Katie Breen (Week 3: U.S. Constitution…
Learning Inventory
MPA
Fall 2016
Katie Breen
Week 2: Empathy
how to be a good listener; effective listening
Brene Brown:
"empathy is not sympathy"
"empathy gives opportunity to build connection"
"empathy is the antidote to shame"
"empathy never includes 'at least'"
downsides to empathy:
-empathy is exhausting
-it is zero-sum
-it can erode ethics
Week 3: U.S. Constitution & Federal Govt
purposes of federal govt:
-security
-money
-regulation
-financial assistance
federal jobs & civil service jobs
"separation of church & state" is not in the constitution. It is from a quote by Thomas Jefferson
U.S. has had 2 different constitutions
U.S. govt cannot be sued unless it agrees to it
Plenary power
Week 1: Orientation
TED talk video on introverts
Introverts & leadership styles
Introverts vs. extroverts
Week 4: NCAI
NARF: Native American Rights Fund
Assimilation throughout history
Tribal Governance is Public Administration
tribal federal recognition process takes 30 years on average
Indian Reorganization Act of 1934: many tribes lost federal recognition
Week 9: group work & practice presentation
learned how to work professionally and cohesively with others on the policy recommendation, blending multiple people's ideas, research, and writing styles
critical thinking skills; time management skills
Week 7: Nonprofit
The Four-Cs of Third Sector-Government Relations: Cooperation, Confrontation, Complementarity, and Co-optation
contracting with private or nonprofit organizations
Week 8: Public Administration
Theory:
-concept formulation & hypothesis testing
-proposed description, explanation, or model
Epistemology:
-how you come to know something
-lenses you use to acquire knowledge
-worldview
-personal experience, instruction, or both?
Ideology:
-generally accepted theory or idea
-organized collection of ideas
-comprehensive vision
Paradigm:
-ideology becomes dominant in form & substance
-thought pattern within discipline or field of study
Lecture with Commissioner Goldmark
Week 10: final presentations
conclusion of group work. We were able to effectively communicate, coordinate, and worked together very well. We faced a stressful situation (the mic not working right) and were able to deal with it calmly and efficiently and stay positive. We learned good teamwork skills and enjoyed working on the project together.
seeing how other groups work together and using critical thinking skills to listen and evaluate presentations
Week 5: Guest Speakers
Lt. Governor Brad Owen
Suchi Sharma
Justice Mary Fairhurst
Public Service
WAC: Washington Administrative Code (regulation; rule)
RCW: Revised Code of Washington (law)
Who is a public servant?
Important takeaways and valuable lessons
the lesson on empathy was my favorite. It hit home with me because I always think a lot about other's feelings before taking an action, and sometimes this felt like a negative thing- like I take too long to decide, that I don't take initiative, etc. The empathy lesson taught me that this is not a negative trait and new ways to listen and consider others in a more efficient and effective manner. I was also pleased to find that this is an important topic in public administration- it took the worry of this program being too "business-y" out.
I learned a lot of new material when we covered the constitution and WA history.
the most fundamentally useful lessons were writing the decision papers and then the policy recommendation. I think that I gained the most "real world" experience from those exercises.
Connections
fall term was about learning what public administration is about, who is a public administrator, and how public administration works.
the readings point toward a more hands-on approach to learning about public administration, including what public administrators do and how it functions more specifically.
Montgomery Van Wart article:
decision making
leadership theories; different types of leaders
values, ethics & integrity
Sometimes you Win, Sometimes you Learn
lessons in being positive
learning from mistakes
different types of leaders
looking forward
reads like a "self help" book for business professionals
Radical Dharma & Flyover Nation
Both of these books were helpful in acquainting me with public administration; they both offered different opinions, both very very serious and seemingly well thought out. It felt like a good reminder of the lesson that it is important to be frustrated with an opinion, not a person.
Learning how govt functions --> how to function in govt
theoretical --> more hands on