Appendix C -- Final HSP 402

Final Analysis 402
Kendra M. Rhodes
Human Services Program
























Adjusting to this quarter compared to last year has been such a challenge for me. The content of this class is very much different than those last year. It has required a shift in my perspective and even the fundamental type of thinking required to grasp the content of the course. Nonetheless, I sum my learning in terms of the outcomes outlined by the syllabus.
Learning Outcome #1: Compare and contrast class-ism related to socio-economic stratification and how it is reflected in political ideologies that affect human services.
In reading Marx (2004) I learned about how political ideologies are such a fundamental and often times underlying or undetected influence on the way society is as a whole. In some ways I wonder if the ideologies affect and/or cause some of the class-ism and socio-economic stratification or if the socio-economic stratification is what creates the ideologies. Either way, they are undeniably linked. The way our society holds reverence to one another in terms of economic standing creates such issues as class-ism that permeates every pore of our field. The fundamental ideas, or ideologies, that are a part of our experience affect the way individuals see themselves, their families, jobs, homes, neighborhoods and what we as a society value to be healthy, successful, and even adequate. These ideologies can either prevent or enable human services to be of help, depending on the individual, the professional and the relationship between them.
Learning Outcome #2: Analyze organizational structures and design processes to initiate and sustain organizational change.
In reading about organizational change from Burke (2008) and about system blindness from Oshry (2007), I gained the building blocks of theory, terminology, examples, and tools to begin to understand and recognize change within an organization. With the experience of reading the books and applying that knowledge with the writing of the change paper. I now understand the fundamental elements of an organization and the manner in which they sustain or reject change. I also know that change comes in different forms and for different reasons. I also know about how individual perspective can either hinder or add momentum to change within an organization.
Learning Outcome #3: Describe the relationships between human service agencies, political structure, political ideologies and socio-economic class.
Human service agencies work toward evening the experiences of populations being affected by socio-economic class challenges. Many political ideologies end up perpetuating many of the challenges associated with living one end of the socio-economic class spectrum or another. The political structure seems to contribute to political ideologies as well as socio-economic class stratification. In turn, Human service agencies work to manage the individual experiences therein as well as working toward change within the systems of political structure and societal ideologies.
Learning Outcome #4: Assess your professional development, beliefs, willingness, skills and strategies for engagement in organizational conflict and change.
While I do believe that I’ve gained a knowledge base and some perspective regarding organizational conflict and change and that I am beginning to gain skills for utilizing that knowledge and ability, I’m still progressing on believing that my work would actually be worthwhile. I recognize the presence of my professional development, skills and strategies as something progressing with the experience of learning content. I also recognize that my beliefs and willingness are still being created and molded. I do not firmly hold the belief that the presence of skills is enough to perpetually influence organizational conflict and change. The big picture of organizational realities and related change is difficult for me to translate from individual influence.

Reflection of other learning from the quarter, not necessarily the outcomes:
Overall, this quarter was a blur. As much as I tried to pull my focus of learning from individual experience to larger scale understanding, I still struggled. My personal life has played a huge part in preventing me from completely engaging in the content of this course. My main lesson this quarter made me realize that however many times people tell me to give myself a break, nothing works better than coming up short and having no choice but to accept what I’ve managed to accomplish as good enough. I have the best of intentions in broadening my perspective of learning and being able to follow the coursework in the following quarters.

















References
Burke, W. W. (2008). Organization change: Theory and practice (2nd Ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Marx. J. D (2004). Social welfare: The American partnership. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Oshry, B. (2007). Seeing Systems: Unlocking the mysteries of organizational life (2nd Ed.). San Francisco:
Berrett-Koehler.

Sargent, L. T. (2006). Contemporary political ideologies: a comparative analysis (13th Ed.) Belmont, CA:
Thomson/Wadsworth.