Gbld 522 Reflective Writing Assignment

Engaging in this reflective writing assignment is an opportunity to examine consistent themes that have evolved in the larger context of what I have learned regarding my professional practice from the material presented in GBLD 522 - Managing Difficult Relationships Within and Across Community Dynamics. Additionally, it is an opportunity to reflect on these learnings in the context of the completion my MAIS program which has had a continuing emphasis and focus on the analysis, management and transformation of conflict. I will take the feedback shared in our team Queenston assignments and limit my scope to the reflections directly regarding the connection of leadership and conflict transformation. In this paper, I will share my understanding

The first was my weekly journaling practice and reflections (along with a larger reflective process that has occurred throughout my time as a graduate student) which form essential evidence of my wonderings and experiences. The second source are the academic offerings and theories that have been shared during the course (and program) through required readings, cohort discussions and other research, which have influenced my ideas and practices. For each theme, I will share my reflections regarding how I can specifically adapt and integrate my learning, understandings, and evaluations of the theories we have engaged with into my practice. Through this reflection, I will then express the deepened learning I have experienced from the coursework we have engaged with. This will identify some specific areas of growth I have had, along with some ways I could do things differently moving forward in my practice. Finally, I will share some new understandings I have had and finally an unexpected understanding that I have learned about

If we embrace the notion of the world being in a constant state of flux and change, then our interventions and processes must incorporate this. A much deeper consideration of how we approach complexity and the reality that from this understanding comes perspective has been critical. This is something that has immediate practical consequences in my practice and has been further affected my personal growth because it has exemplified that, “The way a conflict is approached is shaped by the criteria used to evaluate its possible outcomes (Gallo, 2013). A better understanding of a conflict sensitive approach (Conflict Sensitivity Consortium, 2012) in conjunction with a system thinking approach and theories of change has enabled me to understand the need for assessment and the design phase to be present from the beginning. By embracing a more holistic process that encompasses a system thinking perspective and a conflict sensitive approach to complexity, there is a larger capacity to engage with what Ricigliano (2012) referred to as “the power of all of us" (p 235). This can only occur by avoiding short term linear interventions in the hopes of long term processes that can promote resolution or even perhaps