Conference

Linguistically Diverse Women Wrestle with Authenticity, Belonging, and Communities of Practices: 12 Lessons Learned from Barack Obama's "A Promised Land"

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Abstract

This interactive roundtable discussion offers members of the ISU community multiple small group spaces to learn 12 personal principles and habits (PPAH) articulated by Barack Obama’s book “A Promised Land.” The 12 PPAHs were excavated from the perspectives of a group of linguistically diverse women who were spontaneous critical friends and peer mentors in the Literature Circle. Throughout the year of 2022, we individually read the book followed by the iterative literature circle sessions occurring both in intentional and liminal learning spaces. Aiming at lifelong wellbeing and meaningful living, we conceptualized our 12 PPAHs within the three dimensions of inquiry: Authenticity (e.g., Who am I? Who are we?), Belonging (e.g., what is my work? What is our work?), and Communities of Practice (e.g., How will I contribute? How will we contribute?). Finally, our professional development practices were mainly guided by Wenger’s Communities of Practice, Spencer’s (1997) Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory, Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory, Sloterdijk’s (2011) concept of spheres, Archer’s (2007) articulation of reflexivity, and Kegan’s (1982) Evolving Self, as we conceptualized the 12 PPAHs based on a unit of “personal epiphanies” especially within the micro-systems of the ecological systems.