Practitions of Care

The Prompt:
"The practices of care require a kind of decision making appropriate to the human realm in which they operate. I have proposed that these practices need to rely on practitioner judgment informed by a reflective understanding of the changing situations in which they are performed. The ideas for reflective understanding were assembled from Aristotle's notion of phronesis as an alternative to deductive reasoning for deliberating about practice in the human realm, from Dewey's idea of learning in-situation from the effect of an action, from the understanding of the role of background in practice decision making, and from Gadamer's description of dialogic engagement. Reflective understanding draws on the full human capacities for interacting with other persons. It involves an integration of previous personal and cultural learning, of imagined scenarios of responses to an action, and of emotional reading of possible actions in the situation. In reflective understanding the practitioner is attuned to the salient features of a specific situation and responsive to the nuanced changes that are occurring during an interchange. It is a decision process that adapts to the particular complex situations in which practitioners of care serve. " (176)

Practice and the Human Sciences: The Case for a Judgment-based Practice of Care, Donald E. Polkinghorne, New York: State University of New York Press, 2004

Don Polkinghorne casts a broad net in defining practitions of care. Please consider his ideas here within your own context. How are you a "practitioner of care" in your own profession? Does your profession have standards for "caring" embedded in mission statements and policy documents? Can there be a healthy "self-care" beside the responsibility of caring for others?

My Response:
I spent this past Saturday morning with the AgriInstitute’s Indiana Agricultural Leadership Program class. This is a group of 30 professionals with a passion for agriculture from across the state. I had the morning to work with them on board leadership issues. Two years ago, I had this same opportunity--although the session was longer, the hotel room was quite sterile and by the end of the session, I was exhausted. Being exhausted is a sign to me that a session did not work—when they do, I am energized. In reviewing the facilitation agenda from the last time in preparation for this one, I instantly saw what had happened. I had come with content and information and wanted them to take it…without truly engaging in or experiencing it. So this past Saturday, I designed the day to be about them and their group learning. Participants started off doing appreciative interviews (http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/) to help pull out the themes of what made great board/volunteer experiences and determine what questions they had about board leadership issues. Then, they broke into small groups to discuss scenarios and came up with their recommendations to each. These scenarios were based on key issues most of them will face in their board service (see the scenarios at the bottom of this post). For each scenario, we had a discussion as a group and I was able to throw in my thoughts along with the rest of the class. The design of the session was flexible and open to the learners. The morning flew by, everyone’s questions were addressed and classmates learned from each other. Success! Quoting Polkinghorne, “It involved an integration of previous personal and cultural learning, of imagined scenarios of responses to an action, and of emotional reading of possible actions in the situation.”

In college, I took typical teacher education courses in classroom management, educational psychology, curriculum design and more. I excelled at lesson plans as I figured out the formula quite quickly…objectives, opening with a context setting experience, core content integrating visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities, and a closing that tied to future learning. Since student teaching, I have rarely used this knowledge in a high school classroom. My profession has evolved from one of using this formula for pure training…to one of flexing this formula and skills to facilitate learning.

As a facilitator, I see my role as creating and holding neutral space for the group to do their best work thinking and learning with and from one another. I may have some subject matter expertise but am able to put the group’s knowledge to work and simply weave my knowledge into the mix through the processes. In the past, I might have seen myself as having the answers and it being about the content and the participant walking away with the content. Now, it is much more about how the participant can tie the subject matter to their own experience and what they can learn from these experiences to build upon for the future. From this approach, I have found more sustainable solutions are reached and deeper relationships among the group are formed due to the mutual trust created from the sharing.

As a grantmaker and nonprofit professional, I find myself guided by practitions as well. These are tied to realizing our mission to do the most good possible, responsibly manage the resources, and engage constituents (in my case the family members and the community) in the process whenever possible. Interestingly, there has been a push to articulate these principles as a sector over the past few years, which I have eagerly embraced. Here are the ones from the Donor’s Forum of Illinois (http://www.donorsforum.org/publictrust/principles.html):
• Operate for the public good;
• Comply with the law, especially in executing fiduciary responsibilities;
• Uphold fundamental values including honesty, integrity, fairness, and trust;
• Observe articulated and rigorous ethical boundaries, including respect for all people's race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ability;
• Maintain complete and transparent financial accountability; and
• Make appropriate information available to the public.

Practitions of care are important guideposts regardless of profession as they set an intentionality and pathway for practitioners to follow. However, it ultimately comes down to the individual and the care they take to ensure they are offering their best in each situation. I could have easily presented the exact same presentation to the AgriInstitute this past weekend—but my conscious and my quest to facilitate a better board leadership discussion won out.

Photo from www.agriinstitute.org

Board Member Scenarios:
Scenario #1: You are in the middle of your board term and just not feeling engaged. You really do not want to quit the board. What are some steps you could try to enhance your engagement? Who could you reach out to? If nothing seems to work, how can you step off gracefully?

Scenario #2: The board you are serving on is considering a merger with a similar organization in the area. What kind of questions/due diligence should the group consider?

Scenario #3: The organization you are a board member of has never had a strategic plan and needs to think strategically about the next 1-3 years. As a board member how would you go about helping the organization get started? Who would you reach out to and what steps would you take?

Scenario #4: When you joined the board you did not know you would have to help fundraise for the organization. Now you are expected to raise $5,000 in the coming year for the organization. Come up with at least five ways to fundraise for the organization and how you could get started.

Scenario #5: You just sat through the THIRD two-hour plus board meeting in a row and are FED UP with not feeling like anything is getting done! What are some ways that you could help the organization’s meetings be more effective and what are some steps to implement these suggestions?

Scenario #6: You have just joined a board. After sitting through a few meetings, you still do not seem to understand the organization’s financials. You also fear that the Treasurer who is in charge of the financials might not have a great grasp on them either. What could you do to ensure you and other board members have the full picture of the finances? What makes nonprofits finances unique?