Month: June 2020

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Discussion responses week 6/8, Benjamin Fisch

1) I chose a TED talk done by Renata Saled to analyze for this discussion response. Saled uses real life examples of her’s to engage the audience. She does a great job at this. When she describes the life of her friend who was working at a car dealership during college, she speaks in great detail that really paints a picture for the audience and captivates them. She goes on to explain how her friend is brilliant in the field of psychology, and how her friend uses that to gain an advantage of selling cars. All of this description for example. really engages the audience. Renata is very talented at incorporating a hint of comedy into her speech. Adding subtle humor to her presentation is a way Saled explains her ideas to the audience. I think it is interesting how Saled uses stories of hers to express her argument about chance. In the second story of a friend, Saled describes how her friend and her organized an event at the University of Chicago. Saled and her friend would speak at the event on the panel. She describes a risk that her and her friend took to experiment with the idea of chance. Saled and her friend combined their papers by one reading each paragraph off an on again. When their presentation was done, their audience was not aware that any changes had been made their presentation. The fact that the audience had no idea that their presentation was changed was very interesting to me.

2) In her TED talk presentation, Saled uses a ton of evidence to support her arguments..One of the ways that she best does this, is by referring or quoting well known phycologists. A great example of this is when Saled refers to a famous French psychologist, to support her claim that we are dealing with a certain societal obviousness. Her argument is that we have so many choices in our daily lives, some big and some small, and these choices are causing anxiety, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy. She suggests that individual choices could be distracting us from something larger, this is our power as social thinkers. Saled explains that we should focus on the choices we make collectively rather than the choices we make individually.

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Unit 1 Summary, Aaron

In the book “What Universities Can be”, Robert Sternberg (a psychologist and psychometrician at Cornell University)  devotes a chapter to diversity in higher education. He begins this chapter by saying rather frankly that people learn better and learn more if they are mixed in with people who don’t look and think like them. He says “You cannot be an active concerned citizen if your only concerns are for people you view as like yourself” (Sternberg, 73).

This is an anecdotal claim at this point, and he uses it to identify with the readers because it is sort of a no brainer concept if you think about it. Our social and educational experience can only benefit if we have variety in our peers. Sternberg than uses a few study examples, one being done in rural Kenya. This study pooled Kenyans and asked them to identify herbs that would help heal with different ailments. They all did a great job with this, but when the objective changed and they tested these same people in more academic tests, the results weren’t as good. This study is used to illustrate his point that there are different types of knowledge and intelligence. One group of people (mostly western, white people in this case) can be better at testing and doing well in standardized settings, while the other group of people might not do so well in that area but excels in the area of experiential knowledge, of being able to identify and do things in the real world outside of the classroom.  Another example is using Alaskan Yup’ik peoples, who are able to do things like ride a dog sled over vast areas and hunt animals and identify that storms may be on the way by examining their kill. These sorts of things are unimaginable for most students or people who aren’t part of that culture.

This goes further into what Sternberg calls implicit theories of intelligence- folks ideas of what they consider to be smart. The same idea is very prevalent in high school and college testing, where white people who tend to be more affluent do better on these exams and end up in a better situation for college and life afterwards, and minorities who may not do as well on these exams are slighted, yet they excel in other areas of intelligence such as in the social realm.

This chapter from the book has an academic style to it, yet the messaging to the audience could be more broad than someone who is in one of his psychology courses. He uses studies to back up his arguments about diversity and also brings personal experience to identify with the readers easier. What we can take from this chapter is that diversity and inclusion are important to the whole picture of academic life, and we benefit as a whole from participating in it. There is more than one cog in the wheel when it comes to intelligence so it serves us better to include as many of them as we can.

 

I have included a link for further reading from Forbes that addresses the new changes in college admission testing since the pandemic, and how the lack of using these exams may be helping expand diversity in colleges:http:// https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/04/27/sat-act-policies-may-improve-diversity-at-colleges-and-universities/#4eb2b3f83bd5

j.ctt20d890h.8       This is the link to the pdf file of my article I summarized

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Unit 1 Assignment Draft, Benjamin Fisch

To expand the canon and add to the topic of organizational culture and diversity, I chose an article written by Dr. Ronit Molko called “The Benefits of Neurodiversity in the Work Place.” This article addresses neurodiversity within the work place. First, the article addresses how individuals with neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are under represented in the work place. Following that, Dr. Ronit Molko, makes the argument that hiring more individuals who suffer from neurological disorders would actually significantly benefit an organization and it’s goals. Using the example of people who are autistic, one could easily fixate on the set backs that having multiple people who are autistic in a company could bring. However, if one could shift their perspective, he or she would realize that people who suffer from autism possess many qualities that are strengths and could potentially benefit a company significantly. Molko adds value for a broad audience of anyone in the work place, but especially those who are in higher up positions, that would be able to make decisions on hiring. He does this by explaining both the strengths and weaknesses of those with autism, and how they can benefit a company. This article is coming from a website called “Forbes Books.” This website is operated and owned by the well known publisher, Forbes. The intended audience of this article is anyone in business, but especially those with hiring privileges. The purpose of this article is to educated individuals in the work place about how individuals with neurological disorders could benefit a company significantly. This is done by Dr. Ronit Molko, by explains who people with neurological issues are under represented and then explaining how big companies are starting to take advantage of people with autism for example, that have advanced skills in some areas. In conclusion, this article supports people with neurological disorders, a group of individuals who are under represented, and their voices are hardly heard. In this course, we have been analyzing the topic of minorities within the workplace. This issue is less of a problem today, because action has been taken, in the form of laws being passed, that require a certain number of minorities to be employed at a company. Minorities voices on the topic of under representation in the work place have been heard, but much more work should be done and could be done\. People who suffer from neurological disorders are similar to people of minorities, because they both have been under represented in the work place. Yet, people with neurological disorders have yet to be heard for the most part. To support my argument and the purpose of the article I have chosen, I am including media. I have chosen a video by the company HSBC. The video is connected to my claims, because it interviews people who suffer form neurological disorders that work at HSBC. The employees with neurological disorders come off to be very bright, and they prove their brilliance, and make it clear that they can benefit a company.

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Discussion Prompts Week of 6/8

  1. The first TED Talk I watched was Jason Fried’s talk entitled “Why work doesn’t happen at work.” His rhetoric approach was very effective in proving his point that people daily do work anywhere else besides the office due to numerous reasons. One being that there are many interruptions at the office and many distractions that prohibits you from doing your work. He then states that while there are distractions at home as well, those are all voluntary, the ones at the office are involuntary ands he then goes on to give examples of those distractions which he calls the M and M (managers and meetings). In addition to persuading the audience just using this information, he grabs the audiences attention by asking them questions. This is really effective because it gets the audience involved early and he gets a sense of where the crowd is at. Overall, this is a really interesting Ted Talk because its something that is very relevant today people who work for these managers who are in reality distracting them from doing work. He also gives suggestions on what to do to and this is really effective way of presenting his argument that people don’t often do work in the office.
  2. The other Ted Talk I watched was Renata Seleci: Our unhealthy obsession with choice. She begins this talk by telling a story about one of her friends who worked at a car dealership and gave a customer a tough decision. She would give the customer a offer for a car that would be perfect for their lifestyle at this moment, but then she goes on to give the customer another offer for another car and goes on to explain how this is going to be the perfect car for you in the future. She gives this example because she stated earlier how the ideology of choice is very successful in opening for a space to think about the future. This is a very effective way at giving evidence because its an anecdote from someone who she knows well to get the audience involved and prove her point about choice. In addition, the speaker uses quotes from famous philosophers to further prove her points. She uses Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard who points out that anxiety is linked to the possibility of possibility. This helps prove her point about anxiety that she started earlier. Overall, the evidence that the speaker uses is effective and informative and keeps the audience intrigued.
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Unit 1 Assignment Draft – Dominique

Although we have read about diversity in abilities, we have not read an article specifically targeted at schools. This topic is important to me because my major is inclusive elementary and special education teaching, so it is important for me to understand diversity in the classroom. I believe that this topic is essential for everyone to understand because differences should be accepted and valued in society. In order to expand the canon, I decided to include an article about neurodiversity in the classroom called “Valuing Differences: Neurodiversity in the Classroom” which was published by Phi Delta Kappa International, an organization for educators. This article was written by Barb Rentenbach, Lois Prislovsky and Rachael Gabriel who wrote about their experiences as students and educators. This article is different from the others that we have read because the authors have disabilities, so they are writing using their experiences as people in the neurodiverse community. In this article, the authors list different ways that teachers can help students who have disabilities to succeed. The purpose of this article is to inform educators, and other people who work with those who have disabilities, and also to show them that there are things you can do to help your student or coworker succeed. Some people may believe that the best way to help people who have disabilities is to “fix” or “cure” them. However, people who are neurodiverse need to know that they are valued, accepted. They also may need accommodations that will allow them to succeed. All students should feel welcome and respected in the classroom, and this article explains exactly how to do that. In order to support what I have said, and learn more about neurodiversity, I have decided to include a YouTube video in my post. This video is by a woman named Amythest Schaber who has autism, and her thoughts on neurodiversity. Schaber says, “To put it simply, neurodiversity states that everybody on the planet has a different brain and that’s ok”. I like this video because Schaber has autism, so she has experienced some of the hardships that people with disabilities go through when others do not accept them. This video relates to the article that I chose because it gives a little background by explaining neurodiversity, and the movement that goes along with it.

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Week of 6/8 Discussion

  1. In the Ted Talk “Why work doesn’t happen at work” by Jason Fried, the overlying message is that the structure of office work in our society is flawed because of mandatory distractions in the workplace. Fried is a technology entrepreneur who in this presentation it is easy to tell that he is passionate about this topic. It seems that the audience he is aiming towards would be people who currently work in an office environment (or who have in the past).

His message of why the office environment is actually counterproductive is because while asking the question “Where do you go when you want to get things done?” (which is something he’s asked many people for quite a while) hardly ever comes back with the answer of “the office”. He came up with the phrase “M&M” being the cause of the biggest distractions in the office- it stands for managers and meetings.

His style is very conversational, almost like he is talking to a group of his peers and not in an academic sense, and he uses a bit of humor to make his points come across more comfortable for the listeners.

2. In the Margaret Heffernan speech “The human skills we need in an unpredictable world” we hear a very powerful message. She is a former CEO of multiple companies, and the audience of her speech is/can be a very broad one: it can be geared towards a group of students or it can be more of a social/political speech such as a state of the union address.  She begins with using an example of a grocery store chain switching to a digital format to capitalize on efficiency, and uses this to delve further into some anecdotal messages of how this actually makes people and companies less efficient because it doesn’t account for the human element, or that the world is just naturally unpredictable.

Further on however, she uses more concrete examples of this point:  CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness has to prepare for upcoming epidemics. They do not know when, what, or where they will be, but they have to prepare anyways. This might not be efficient but it’s robust (which is one of the central themes of her speech.) Another is the English rugby club who goes on expensive, unorthodox team building trips and adventures which strengthens their bonds together. Banks holding more capital than they need, which is different from the past. Then she gets a bit more into the political economical realm about countries building trade relationships, putting in the time and effort into befriending many nations because it is better for their economy.

She smoothly translates this into the theme of automation in our industries and personal lives, saying that the more we allow technology to take over, the less we become involved in things, and it doesn’t suit us well to do this.

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Draft of Expanding the Canon blog post-Michaela

To expand the canon and add to the discussion of organizational culture and diversity, I choose the article “Disability and employment – overview and highlights” from the “European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology”. This article includes a wealth of knowledge from the authors Katharina Vornholt, Patrizia Villotti, Beate Muschalla, Jana Bauer, Adrienne Colella, Fred Zijlstra, Gemma Van Ruitenbeek, Sjir Uitdewilligen, and Marc Corbière. These authors each add value in their own way, specializing in Social Psychology, neuroscience, psychosomatic rehabilitation, and more. This article, coming from a journal, is intended for a small audience of fellow scholars and people who focus specifically on the topics discussed. The purpose of this article is to outline how things stand in the existing research on disability and employment. It discusses one section of disabled people, those who have mental disabilities. Exploring topics such as the definition of disability, the legality of legislation regarding disability at work that is already in place in Europe and North America, things that enable employees and act as a barrier to employ the disabled. When discussing each topic they use existing facts from other resources and expand on where the research needs to go in the future. In conclusion, they present a solid plan for how research should continue in the field of disability and employment and the authors give suggestions on how things should be put into action. This article adds to the existing knowledge of the class because of its relation to diversity and inclusion. People with disabilities are a group of diversity that we have not discussed yet so this would open people’s eyes to another group that needs to be included. Similar to many of the readings we looked at in the past this text speaks about the inclusion of disabled people in the workplace, how there are low percentages of disabled people that are employed and extremely high levels of unemployment. Bringing awareness to how programs and legislations can be put in place to help incorporate these people, and keep them working mirrors what we have looked at with the inclusion of neurodiverse people and adds other strategies and data regarding organizational culture. It also opens the question of how we can bring the different sections of diversity into the conversation and not forget about certain groups. Another thought is how can each organization cater differently to each diverse group, because as you can see from the article I have chosen, and the past readings that each diverse group has specific accommodations. The existing legislation in “Disability and employment – overview and highlights” can lead as an example of how to implement systematic changes so that all companies must adhere to a set of rules that promote diversity and inclusion. To support my claim and enhance knowledge about disabled people I am using media. The media I have chosen is a ted talk from Elise Roy “When we design for disability, we all benefit”. Elise Roy is deaf and since she is disabled herself she adds a unique perspective. It is connected to the article I choose because as the article outlines research on disability and employment it leaves the question of how do we progress. Elise Roy gives insight on how design thinking and more specifically designed with disability in mind creates inclusion and a better culture for not only those that are disabled but everyone.

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Discussion prompts for Week of 6/8

1. When watching Renata Salecl’s TED talk her rhetorical approach stood out to me. She begins this talk about human’s unhealthy obsession with choice by stating a choice that she had to make when preparing. Since it is the first thing she discusses it sets a theme. She connects the topic to herself making it feel relatable. What was interesting was that the choice that she had to make was deciding between three quotes, these quotes were also about choice, giving the audience an example that stays directly on topic, making a clear and concise purpose. As she continues with the talk she uses quotes from philosophers, and psychoanalysts to prove her points, using credited people to back up her argument makes her seem more reliable to the audience. She also gives real-life examples about herself, or her friend’s experience, which allows the audience to connect to their own life. That engages the audience because they can picture themselves in the situations she speaks giving them a better understanding. She also uses language strategically, for example, she addresses the audience as you, making them feel like they are in a conversation. To conclude she goes back to what she talks about when she first begins the speech, the choice she had to make herself. This rounds out and connects all the points she made to one conclusion, it makes the talk feel more whole like there isn’t a cliff hanger or missing piece. Overall her rhetorical approach is convincing and showcases her purpose, that everyone has individual choices but we also need to focus on choices as a society.

2. Margaret Hefferman’s TED talk is a great example of how a speaker works with evidence. One form of evidence she uses is telling real-life stories. She tells these stories to introduce her topic of technology and human skills but she incorporates her own bias and judgment to show what side she is arguing. In the talk there are transitions from the real-life examples to her argument, connecting back between that evidence when she needs support in communicating her purpose. She makes her points more clear by summarizing the credited facts she includes as evidence, for example, she uses a word like “so what that means” to connect her evidence back to her claims. She walks the audience through the argument by using tools like metaphors to give them something to relate her point to. That allows her to talk about a wide variety of topics, such as global warming and company predictions, and still be able to relate it to her argument on efficiency and the unexpected. Evidence from past mentalities is paired with the thought of the future to encourage that her ideas enhance positive change that others should believe in.

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Discussion Post Week of 6/8, Dominique

  1. One of the TedTalks that I found interesting was Fried’s talk about work, and how people don’t actually get their work done at their offices. This speaker was very engaging and interactive with the audience. He was giving a formal speech, but spoke in a way that made it seem like he was having a conversation with just one person. He made jokes, and asked rhetorical questions that kept the audience thinking. He also spoke about the fact that he is manager, and that many managers need to work on not interrupting their employees, including himself. His awareness of this issue made him likeable, and easy to listen to. In order to explain his ideas, he gave the audience some insight into what it is like to be working, and have your day interrupted at the office. He also talked about employees, and how he has found that all of the people he talked to about the subject preferred to work somewhere other than the office. He spoke to the audience member’s experiences in their favor, which most likely helped them know that he understands their struggles at work. Overall, I thought that this TedTalk was very interesting, and made a lot of sense. 
  2. One of the talks that I listened to that I thought worked well with evidence was Heffernan’s speech. This is because she gave many examples that enriched the information she was speaking about. For example, she began her talk by speaking about a business chain that wanted to become more efficient. Heffernan says that this business embraced technology called a task allocator in order to do this. Instead of the business allowing for collaboration, the employees got assigned tasks, completed them, then went back to get more assigned. This did not end up being very efficient because the new technology could not predict different changes throughout the day at the grocery store. The main purpose of her talk was to show that if we rely on technology so much for efficiency, we will lack skills to deal with changes or unexpected occurrences throughout the day.  I believe that Heffernan was smart to begin her TedTalk with evidence like this because it gave the audience a clear understanding of what she was going to be talking about.
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Drafting your Unit 1 blog post

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working with a shared body of readings that have given us some insights into workplace cultures and, in particular, the challenges, complexities, and value of diverse workplace cultures. Now that we’ve got a foundation of knowledge, it’s time to build on that by expanding our reach into some of the questions and issues these readings have raised for us.

Each of you is contributing to that expanding body of knowledge by suggesting an article to the rest of us. Your Unit 1 blog post will provide a summary of this text in addition to your commentary about what we can learn from this text and why it should be part of our shared canon of work on organizational culture and diversity. Read on for some pointers.

Let’s think first about the summary piece.

Unlike the other summaries that you’ve been writing, your readers (us) have not read the piece that you are summarizing, so that really raises the stakes for the work that you do in your summary. We’ll be totally reliant on your explanation of what this source is, what it does, and what it says, so please be sure to read through the comments that you’ve gotten from me on your prior summaries, to review the Handout on summary  here or on Blackboard, and to consider what we’ve learned from the TSIS and Harris readings.

A few reminders: 

We need to know precisely WHAT you’re summarizing—what kind of text is this? Can you tell us a little something about the author and/or publication that would help us understand something about this piece?

We need to know what the authors are DOING in this text—are they reporting a list of facts? Are they making an argument? Have they conducted their own research? Reporting someone else’s findings? Responding to some other argument they disagree with? Diving into a public controversy? The authors might have several purposes in their text—help us to understand what their purposes are (to use Harris’s term, their project) so that we can really get what this text is. Verbs can really help you here–select action verbs that really help to pinpoint the work the author is doing (arguing, advocating, explaining, addressing, debating, contesting, etc.)

We need to see the BIG PICTURE of what the author is saying—as a rule, we don’t need the sequential play-by-play, but we do want to have some clarity on the overall point of the piece, as well as the major sub-points that add to our body of knowledge.

Make sure you name the author and article you’re discussing—there should be no ambiguity here. And if there are multiple authors, credit them all the first time, and thereafter, you can use the first author’s last name and “et al” if there are 3 or more authors. (Technically, APA style requires that you only use “et al” if there are 6 or more authors, but come on….. If you’re submitting for publication in a professional or scholarly journal, follow that rule, of course; elsewhere use your judgment.) Please include a full bibliographic citation at the end of your blog post, detailing all the publication information for this particular article. (Again, remember to consult the assignment sheet for the criteria that your source must meet.)

Let us see what you’re working with–use the “Add Media” button to provide us with direct access to the article you’re contributing. If it’s a web-based source (on the open web), insert the link using that button. If the article is from a subscription database, please link it as a PDF. See my post from earlier this week, linked below, for instructions on how to do that.

Overview of Week of 6/8

Now, let’s think about the commentary piece. Think about your audience and your purpose.

Remember that you know what we know–that shared body of knowledge built from the texts we’ve read together. Feel free to draw connections/contrasts with other pieces we’ve read and discussions we’ve had.

Write in your own voice–you don’t have to adopt the scholarly tone of the articles that you’re working with. Write as if you’re speaking to us. Be direct.

Remember that your task here is expand our knowledge, to complicate the discussion we’ve been having by injecting something new and explaining its significance. Tell us what you think this article means, what you think is important about it, why you think it matters, what you want us to learn from it.

Please categorize your draft post as Expanding the Canon, and tag it with “draft,” “week of 6/8,” [your name], and “canon.” This will help me and others to easily identify what’s what.

One final request–please double-check all of your recent posts to ensure that they are properly categorized and tagged, and edit them as needed. When I’m grading posts, I sometimes have to go hunting to find your work, and that’s not especially helpful. You’ll find the instructions for tagging and categorizing in each of the prompts, which you can easily access by clicking “prompts” on the tag cloud. Contact me with any questions.