SYLLABUS, Character and Conflict, HUSR 300
Monday 1:00-3:45
Joe Albert Garcia, PhD – Associate Professor
Office: EC 450 Email: Office phone: (657) 278-3153
Office hours: Wed & Th 11:30 - 1:00, or by appt.
Note: You must attend the first meeting of this class. This is a prerequisite. Regardless of the reason, if you do not attend this first meeting you cannot take the class.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor at first class meeting. Character and Conflict is an experiential, theme oriented class exploring life choices in the struggle for personal autonomy. Themes include: body image, sex roles, love, sexuality, intimacy, marriage, alternative lifestyles, loneliness, death, meaning and values.
This is consistent with the University goal of students being able to: “Integrate knowledge with the development of values, professional ethics, and the teamwork, leadership and citizenship skills necessary for students to make meaningful contributions to society.”
REQUIRED TEXT: Corey, G. & Corey, M.S. (2006). I Never Knew I had a Choice: Explorations in personal growth. Thomson & Brooks/Cole. Belmont, CA. (8th ed)
CSHSE ACCREDITATION:
This course partially fulfills the requirements set forth by the Council for Standards in Human Services Education (CSHSE). As such, this course also helps fulfill the requirements for the Human Services-Board Certified Practitioner credential. The specific standards being met are listed below each of the following objectives, as well as the learning activities that help fulfill those standards and learning objectives.
Course Objectives:
1. Increase development of self –understanding, and begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to engage and reflect in lifelong learning and self-development practices.
a. CSHSE Standard 12.c. Changing family structures and roles.
b. CSHSE Standard 19.e. Belief that individuals, service systems, and society can change.
c. CSHSE Standard 20.a. Conscious use of self.
d. CSHSE Standard 20.b. Clarification of personal and professional values.
2. Increase awareness and experience of small and large group dynamics in a human service setting.
a. CSHSE Standard 12.b.(1) Overview of how small groups are used in Human Services settings.
b. CSHSE Standard 12.b.(2) Theories of Group Dynamics.
3. Increase experience of group facilitation skills and practices.
a. CSHSE Standard 12.b.(3) Group Facilitation skills.
b. CSHSE Standard 14.e. Applying maintenance of client confidentiality and appropriately using client data.
c. CSHSE Standard 16.c.(4) Group facilitation and counseling.
d. CSHSE Standard 20.a. Conscious use of self.
4. Students will be able to actively participate in developing a lifelong commitment to personal, social/interpersonal, and emotional health and societal responsibility.
a. CSHSE Standard 12.c. Changing family structures and roles.
b. CSHSE Standard 12.f. Emphasis on context and the role of diversity (including, but not limited to ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, learning style, ability, and social-economic status) in determining and meeting human needs.
c. CSHSE Standard 17.a. Clarifying expectations.
d. CSHSE Standard 17.b. Dealing effectively with conflict.
e. CSHSE Standard 19.e. The worth and uniqueness of individuals including culture, ethnicity, race, class, gender, religion, ability, sexual orientation, and other expression of diversity.
f. CSHSE Standard 20.c. Awareness of diversity.
g. CSHSE Standard 20.d. Strategies for self-care.
5. Students will be able to articulate the skills from above in oral and written forms.
a. CSHSE Standard 14.f. Using technology for word processing, sending email, and locating and evaluating information.
b. CSHSE Standard 17.a. Clarifying expectations.
c. CSHSE Standard 17.b. Dealing effectively with conflict.
d. CSHSE Standard 20.e. Reflections of professional self (e.g. journaling, development of portfolio, or project demonstrating competency).
EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Students may only take Character and Conflict with the consent of the instructor. That consent is given at the first class meeting, and is contingent upon the student's becoming familiar with the nature and expectations of the course, as explained here and as described by the instructor. You should not finalize your decision to take this course until you have had an opportunity to carefully review this information.
HUSR 300, Character and Conflict, is emotionally challenging and therefore a very different sort of course. The purpose of the course is to provide an opportunity for a more personal self-understanding and expression than most of us usually get, with a focus on issues and conflicts that affect you directly in your daily lives. The readings and lectures are intended to contribute toward that end, but the emphasis will be on small group interaction in which you are expected to be an active participant in discussions of topics which will typically become personal, emotional, and intimate. Overall these small group discussions are an opportunity for you to clarify and define your own personal values, attitudes, and beliefs about issues that affect us all as human beings but which are not often the topic of discussion in content focused classrooms. Topics will include autonomy, masculinity and femininity, love, sex, marriage and relationships, body image, family, loneliness, death and loss, meaning in life, and other themes your group may develop on its own, including (perhaps most importantly) discussing the nature of your interactions with one-another in a frank and open manner.
It is very important for you to understand in advance that these discussions will be taking place on a personal rather than a detached or abstractly academic level. Of course no one will or could force you to talk about any specific topic that you do not wish to disclose and some people will be more reserved, modest or inhibited than others. Additionally, some topics will be especially difficult for some individuals. However, the course is about you, the focus will be on you, and the expectation, simply, is about your attitude. You are asked to stretch your “comfort zone” in what you share about yourself. There will be "peer pressure" for you to have a willingness, in general, to be a contributing participant in actively focusing on and talking about areas of your personal life which involve conflict and emotional sensitivity for you. If you are not generally willing to try to do that you will inhibit the readiness of others to fully participate. Please don’t delude yourself about whether you have a “right” to be a non-participant in a participation course. You do not have that right any more than you would have the right to sign up for a basketball course and then squat in the middle of the court and be in everyone’s way. If you do not want to open up about yourself in a course where others are struggling to open up about themselves, you will be in the way. In that case you should not be taking this course, you are not welcome to take it, you do not have the required permission to take it, and if it turns out that you willfully disregarded these cautions you will be removed from participation in the course regardless of how far into the semester we may be. You being denied continuing participation in the course is at the discretion of the instructor. Whether to provide alternative means of completing units in progress will also be at the discretion of the instructor.
The class is intended for students who contemplate careers in one of the helping professions (such as counseling, psychotherapy, social work), on the reasoning that the ability to understand the struggles of others is rooted in the ability to find counterpart struggles within oneself, and that the capacity to be empathetic draws from the capacity to be emotionally open. However, everyone in any major would benefit from observing and participating in a class that focuses so strongly on group dynamics and process as group work is a common experience in any field. A central feature of the course is the use of small interactive groups guided by student leaders who also are considering careers in counseling-related professions. Student leaders have the job of attempting to maintain an environment in which people will speak openly about themselves in connection with emotionally significant topics. Group leaders are not presented as necessarily being healthier or wiser than their classmates. Although the group leaders are studying theories and techniques that figure into the helping professions they are not attempting to provide a professional service. They are attempting to model and provide a commitment to an environment of openness and honest dialogue.
REQUIREMENTS FOR CREDIT:
1. Students may not miss classes. All absences regardless of nature will result in the student having to write a 5-page double-spaced paper. More than one absence may result in the student being dropped from class. Participation is primary and this commitment cannot be fulfilled if you are not present in class and in group.
2. Since class members will often share very personal thoughts and feelings, confidentiality is strictly enforced. If it is brought to the instructor’s attention that a student has been gossiping about confidences shared in class or group, it will be grounds for dismissal from class. In fact, it may be grounds for dismissal from the major as this would be a clear indication that the students can not meet the departmental requirement of Responsibility (see Fitness for HUSR Profession department document). If a person can not manage confidentiality in this class, it seems unlikely they could manage it in a professional setting. This is an ethical issue, which must be respected in order to establish and maintain trust. A breach of this ethic may be grounds for referral to the Dean of Student Affairs and Judicial Affairs where incidents involving suspensions or dismissals from the university are handled. To reiterate, what others share or discuss in group or class is to remain confidential!
CSHSE Standard 14.e. Applying maintenance of client confidentiality and appropriately using client data.
CSHSE Standard 17.a. Clarifying expectations.
CSHSE Standard 17.b. Dealing effectively with conflict.
3. Due: Thursday, January 26th Write a 5 page autobiography due the second class meeting. Focus on how people and events have impacted you to help make you who you are today and utilize the topics from the text to be covered in class as a guide for your paper. Please email a copy to me, BUT also email a copy to each of your student Leaders
CSHSE Standard 14.f. Using technology for word processing, sending email, and locating and evaluating information
4. Due each Tuesday, 10pm.Write approximately twelve reflection papers. These papers should be double spaced, and between 1.5 and 2 pages in length. They must be emailed to your instructor and leaders by 10 p.m. the day after class (Tuesday). Please put Reaction Paper in the Subject line. Reaction papers are extremely important because they help you to assimilate your thoughts and feelings for some of the themes explored in class. They also provide a vehicle for focusing your thoughts on the topics to be explored. I like them to be done shortly after group so that your memory of what happened is still fresh. Each of your reaction papers should consist of two general divisions:
A. What was your experience in the subgroup (small group) this week? In this part, discuss the degree of involvement in your group, what were you left with, the degree to which you took risks in the group, how you may be translating your in-group learning into action in your real world and any evaluations of, or reactions to, other group members, group leaders, and the instructor. In short, the first part of the paper is ongoing assessment of your role in the group process. This part of your paper describes subjectively your view of the group process. It helps you to see where you have been in your group, where you are now, and where you are traveling in your group.
B. What are your personal reactions to the topic assigned? What are your personal reactions to the assigned readings for each topic? How does the given topic apply to you? What might you want to explore or understand more fully in your group as it is related to the topic? Keep in mind that personal reactions are desired, not some abstract impersonal philosophical or intellectual treatment of the topic.
CSHSE Standard 14.f. Using technology for word processing, sending email, and locating and evaluating information
CSHSE Standard 17.a. Clarifying expectations.
CSHSE Standard 17.b. Dealing effectively with conflict.
CSHSE Standard 20.e. Reflections of professional self (e.g. journaling, development of portfolio, or project demonstrating competency
HOW IT WORKS:
Around the second class, you will be subdivided into groups. Most of a typical class meeting will be in the small groups, once the instructor and group leaders have made some opening remarks and led a discussion on the theme for that meeting. It is expected that you will have given some personal thought to the topic ahead of time in order to contribute to big or small group. You will also be prepared for meeting with your group by having written reactions to what went on in the group the week before. Student leaders who are being supervised by the instructor will conduct the groups. They will (usually) start off with the theme and then allow group interaction to take on a life of its own, subject to a few rituals of “checking in” and “checking out” and trying to include people in on the dialogue. The instructor will rotate among the groups, sometimes joining in on group leading. Student leaders and the instructor will meet to discuss the groups after each class meeting. Student leaders will also be discussing their groups in their Practicum on Group Leadership (Human Services 490). They may suggest various techniques, such as role-playing, to clarify the expression of issues you address. They will encourage you to participate, they will read and comment on the papers you write, and try to understand their own reactions to you and your group with the help of their colleagues in supervision. Drawing from these resources they will do their best to encourage you to have a meaningful experience in this class.
a. CSHSE Standard 12.b.(3) Group Facilitation skills
b. CSHSE Standard 14.e. Applying maintenance of client confidentiality and appropriately using client data.
c. CSHSE Standard 16.c.(4) Group facilitation and counseling