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Autonomous and Cooperative Leadership

Autonomous and Cooperative Leadership is a practice which blends community studies and leadership studies while focusing on the disciplines of organization development, communication, psychology, and sociology.

The big questions examined were:

How can we build healthier practices, communities, and technical systems?
How do we increase ethical thought and action at the organizational level?
How do we create cooperative work cultures? How do we foster autonomy at work?
How can educational theory be applied to grow processes, practices, and people?

I’ve spent enough time in sink-or-swim work environments that treading water feels like I’m struggling, and struggling feels just awful, like I'm underwater.

I recently learned about the TILT framework's transparent assignments. The TILT framework is Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Ed, an approach to pedagogical design which leads to both better learning outcomes and more equitable outcomes for marginalized students. By defining the purpose, task, and criteria for success we tilt the playing field to be closer to fair.

TILT assignments have the following attributes.

Purpose — define for the learner both: a) the intended learning, and b) the benefits of learning
Task — define for the learner: a) What do you need to do? And how do you do it?

Fall

Social/Media: Critical Inquiries into Internet Cultures taught by Julie Russo & Eric Stein
The Meaning of Work: A Creative and Critical Inquiry taught by Steve Blakeslee & Sarah Ryan
Leadership Development: Theory & Practice, Interventions, and Use of Self taught by Marcella Benson-Quaziena
Community Building Through Social Entrepreneurship and Business Development taught by Don Chalmers & Rebecca Chamberlain & Thuy Vu

Winter

| (A comparison) | positive impact | negative impact |

Hello $PERSON_NAME:

$OPENING_PERSONALIZATION

$OPTIONAL_REQUEST_OR_COMMITMENT The rest of this email is an FYI update on my health and career plans — nothing which needs action or response below this line. :)

In response to mental health difficulties in late January, I took leave from work in February. I suspected I had a trauma disorder and I knew was not able to manage it. I also knew that education could be used as therapy. I started studying at Evergreen on April 1st as part of the Unruly Bodies program. Since then, I have made significant progress reducing my light sensitivity and other sensory issues.

I received a termination notice April Tenth, and a diagnosis of my trauma disorder April Twelfth. I sent in my forms for disability, and qualified to receive short term disability, which I have exhausted. I did not qualify for long term disability, but I am appealing that decision. In the interest of getting a clearer diagnosis and establishing a timeline of when this disorder developed, I reached out

Who I was when I came here

I joined Evergreen this quarter, divebombing into the Unruly Bodies cohort. I came to Evergreen because I had become unruly… Unruly means 'disorderly, disruptive, and resistant to discipline or control.' Despite appearing to be ordered and achieving a decent career as a Software Engineer and Technical Teacher, I had gotten stuck. And in being stuck I began to feel indignant and afraid.

Too much adrenaline and excitement can burn a person out. Once you've gotten to a point of no return on the crispy horizon, there's no amount of good will that will prevent burnout from making you toxic. And for a clever child like me, the burnout could be masked, but not controlled. I began losing my sense of judgment, my patience, and my professional demeanor.

And then my health got worse, and I lost the thread for a while. I came into Evergreen with 7 years of tech industry experience, but I also came in angry, confused, and prone to panic. In the weeks I have been here, my health has turned

What is a Firefighter Without Fires to Fight?

I'm not a firefighter, but I grew up in wildfire country and I know the basics of preventative firefighting. Whether you are concerned with lightning strikes or with arson, the strategy is the same — reduce the number and density of flammable targets.

For me, to build a fire is a meditation. Last summer, I built a fire in the middle of the Olympic National Forest. It was the most at peace I have felt all year.

I have specific trauma around learning and addiction, which makes me addicted to learning about trauma.

For a person who does caretaking work, trauma carries a unique and terrifying danger. When you are traumatized, the reactive mind clicks into place. The reactive mind is useful, in small doses. However, when in a reactive state our judgment goes down. With inhibited judgment and cognitive functioning we lose more recently acquired skills, and our social processing is reduced.

	[
	{
	"author": "Russ Harris",
	"isbn": "978-1590305843",
	"name": "The Happiness Trap",
	"statuses": ["owned", "reading"],
	"amazon_url": "https://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Trap-Struggling-Start-Living/dp/1590305841"
	},
	{
	"author": "Amy C. Edmondson",

	### Fall

	- [Social/Media: Critical Inquiries into Internet Cultures](https://www.evergreen.edu/catalog/offering/socialmedia-critical-inquiries-internet-cultures-27886) taught by Julie Russo & Eric Stein
	- [The Meaning of Work: A Creative and Critical Inquiry](https://www.evergreen.edu/catalog/offering/meaning-work-creative-and-critical-inquiry-24011) taught by Steve Blakeslee & Sarah Ryan
	- [Leadership Development: Theory & Practice, Interventions, and Use of Self](https://www.evergreen.edu/catalog/offering/leadership-development-theory-practice-interventions-and-use-self-23989) taught by Marcella Benson-Quaziena
	- [Community Building Through Social Entrepreneurship and Business Development](https://www.evergreen.edu/catalog/offering/community-building-through-social-entrepreneurship-and-business-development-23886) taught by Don Chalmers & Rebecca Chamberlain & Thuy Vu

	### Winter

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