Running head: IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Learning Outcome Narrative: Implications for Professional Practice

Katie C. Pinney
Seattle University
April 2014

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Implications for Professional Practice (LO 6 & 10; Artifacts A1, A2, B1, B2, F1, F2,
H, & I)
Integrative Theme
The integrative theme that encompasses my future professional practice is
personal mastery. Because my professional life is such a significant part of my life in
general, to work towards personal mastery would be to say that I am happy, fulfilled, and
confident in the facets of my life. The SDA program has given me a clear vision of what I
am called to do in my life. If nothing else, I am called to help people and serve as a
mentor or friend. In order to be the best professional, I must exercise Authenticity and
Deepen My Personal Vision. I resonate with Baxter-Magoldas self-authorship theory
and can see much of myself in that theory at this point in my life. Becoming the author of
my life will require that I can stand up for my beliefs and trust my internal voice (Evans
et. al. 2010). To strengthen my voice, I have a lot of work to do and that is why this
theme is so critical to my future practice.
Learning Outcome Dimensions
Authenticity and Deepen my Personal Vision address LO 6 and LO 10.
Authenticity has become a driving force in both my personal and professional world.
Because of this program, I now strive to bring my true, authentic self to work every day.
If I am not being true to myself, I cannot be an effective leader. To deepen my personal
vision is to be in constant reflection about who I am, what I care about, what makes me
happy, and to live out my passions. The key dimensions of LO 6 are leadership
development, communication, and building my network. The key dimensions of LO 10
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are engagement, ethical practice, and life balance. These learning outcomes imply my
goal of becoming an effective leader.
Demonstrated in Artifact H, leadership development (LO 6) is one of my areas
of strengths, not only because of my strong desire to become an effective leader, but also
because of my passion for developing other leaders. I can remember feeling very insecure
and unsure of myself when I was in college and for many years after. From course work,
my graduate assistantship, internships and other experiences, I have developed and
enhanced skills in leadership and am committed to further developing these skills and
concentrating on skills that need more attention (Artifact H). Specifically, I must
develop in communication and building my network, which involves building
relationships and collaboration.
To establish and enhance my professional identity (LO 10), I have participated in
many experiential learning opportunities that helped me determine who I am as a
professional and where I can see myself going. As demonstrated in Artifact A1 and
Artifact A2, there is an obvious and significant transformation of my resume. My
original resume (Artifact A1) does not indicate who I was as a professional, nor did it
emphasize my strengths professionally. My current resume (Artifact A2) indicates a
theme of advising, helping people, developing programs, taking initiative, and is much
more authentic.
I have also been very intentional about creating time for myself outside of
graduate school and my professional world. Exploring new places, meeting new people
all tap into my adventurous and curious nature, which is very important to me (Artifact
B2). I must have that balance in my life where I can practice self-care (Artifact B1) and
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do things I am passionate outside of work that will ultimately make me a happy, positive
and authentic professional. While at work, I plan to deepen my personal vision by
engaging in professional development opportunities and getting involved in my
organization as much as I can (Artifact I), along with continuing to be creative, take
risks and build connections with students and staff (Artifact F1).
Demonstration of Development in Learning Outcomes
Prior to the SDA program, I did not consider myself a leader. I associated leader
with positionality and I had a difficult time seeing myself beyond entry-level positions. I
also did not consider professional identity as important. I had experienced many
challenging work situations that left deep scars and ultimately caused a lack of
confidence in my professional identity.
The most significant growth in my leadership skills (LO 6) occurred in my
graduate assistantship and in my second year of the SDA program. In University
Recreation, I was tasked with creating a student development and leadership culture
(Artifact F2) for the department. My leadership skills were further defined and
developed in EDAD 570: Leadership in Education in which I reflected on my values and
leadership philosophy influenced by Kousez and Posners (2012) five leadership
practices and the human resources leadership frame (Bolman & Gallos, 2011).
Demonstrated in Artifact F1, I thrive in an environment where I can be creative
with students and help them solve problems. My professional values include having the
autonomy to be creative in my work (Artifact B2), and this is just one of the ways in
which I have established my professional identity (LO 10).


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References

Bolman, L. G., & Gallos, J. V. (2011). Reframing academic leadership. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, D. P., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student
development in college: Theory, research and practice. Jossey-Bass: San
Francisco, CA.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge. (5
th
ed). A Wiley
Brand: San Francisco, CA.