For our Action Research strand, we’ve been asked to attempt to articulate our personal core values in efforts to tease out what guides our behavior. While I’m not yet ready to etch these in stone, I can say that I think they sufficiently reflect my current personal ideals. Even the fact that they will indeed change over time is reflected to purposely leave room for future modification.
1. Driven by an uncontrollable curiosity, I’m a lifelong learner.
I brought this up during Cadre Camp during our poster presentation, but if I were to pick a word that describes me best, it would be “curious”; thus the value of curiosity. This ideal has permeated every aspect of my life and I will, quietly, find time throughout my day to learn something new. Whether that is my weekend regime for reading/watching the news, watching a TED Talk, taking a course on edX/Coursera (yes, I’ll probably even continue to do that while in grad school), or attending a lecture, I constantly feel a desire to know and understand more and seek truth.
This value was first realized as I began to reflect on why I studied and became passionate about the field of journalism as an undergraduate. The best journalists are able to take any subject or discipline and translate it to the public, and its a job that demands you are always collecting new information.
This value is the primary architect in what I have chosen for a profession. I work not only to build courses that have immediate impact with our on-ground OU students lives, but create byproducts opportunities in which make them accessible and consumable more broadly. Because of this I believe in the openness and transparency of data not just as a technological opportunity but as a cornerstone for an effective democracy.
2. I exist not to merely consume but to contribute.
Now this may seem contradictory to the first point, which essentially states that a commitment to being a consumer, but I actually believe that value one exists to enable value two. Inevitably, the world isn’t a better place if I’m only consuming information. I believe that you best serve your society by contributing your gifts, talents, and knowledge.
This has been reflected personally through a commitment my wife and I have made to serve in various ministries within our church body as our faith is explicit about this role.
Professionally, I have a strong desire to see physical manifestations of work which are, for the most part, enabled by the Internet. This doesn’t necessarily mean have to mean just sharing my own knowledge through mediums like blogs and articles. In fact, I’m more for creating culture where knowledge sharing is celebrated rather than simply imparting my own knowledge (very few people want to hear me speak!). I’ve done so through creating events like TEDxOU, which exists to bring together people from diverse backgrounds to foster dialogue about important issues. While the event isn’t free, you can watch all the Talks online for free afterwards. I also helped start a Constitution Camp on campus which holds similar like talks on campus and put the lectures on YouTube and iTunesU. While our physical audience is limited, these have a large appeal online with 88,000+ subscribers. But it really isn’t about numbers. It’s about having a space for other curious people.
My focus recently has been less on the public service aspect and more on academic curriculum. Those initiatives have included open courses in which OU students can earn credit but all the content is accessible to anyone who wishes to create a login as well as creating a hosting solution that allows students, faculty, and staff to register a domain for free and create their own web space.
And these kind of activities are what get me really excited about the Internet. In the mass media, it tends to get sold short as this space where one can go to learning about anything, which is, indeed, an incredible part of the narrative. But the other side of the coin is that that knowledge was initially created and shared by someone (and more than likely relatively easily). The opportunity to exercise knowledge creation has a multiplying factor that massively outweighs the opportunity to consume.
3. God is in control and Jesus is enough.
So this one begins to get more personal, but I would be remiss to not include it as it is the foundation in which all other values are built. I go through the self evaluation process a few times a year where I assess my current situation and ask is my work purposeful. This in turn leads to doubt and anxiousness and on the other side I come out realizing that my work is not my will but the will of God. Because of my faith, it’s impossible for me to not reflect on that when viewing someone else’s work whether they consider themselves a believer or not.
Additionally, I like to think big (REAL “big”) and rarely do I land exactly where I intended when I first jumped. I rest easy knowing that I can look at my plans, be as “big” as I consider them and understand that they pale in consideration to the plans that God has for me.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord , plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
It’s empowering to know that’s your starting position.
Character Strengths as noted by the VIA Character Assessment Survey:
Spirituality, Honesty, Perspective, Gratitude, Judgement, Love of Learning, Love, Curiosity
Conceptual frameworks
Through the process of building the online course, I’ve pulled from the following conceptual frameworks:
- Connected Learning
- Constructionism