Aaron Braunwalder
Staff Writer
Carol H. Sawyer, professor of organizational leadership, will be traveling to Poznan, Poland, in May to present on the topic “Learning Globally Management Education That Connects Through Learning Theory and Reflection,” at the fourth international conference on Innovation in Management.
Her talk will cover powerful ways to learn and to carry new ways of learning from seminar to workplace to personal life.
“I have designed my contribution to this conference in ways that will not consist of my telling, but rather that I will create an opportunity to share how we design our classes here at the University of La Verne, using reflection, right-brained skills, and the learning entry points researched by Howard Gardner of Harvard University” Sawyer said.
Sawyer has presented at many international conferences around the world.
She’s presented in Hong Kong, South Africa, Greece, England, France, Poland, Italy and Canada.
This will be the first time that Sawyer will be presenting at this particular conference.
Sawyer has taught at the university level for 15 years and teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Through her years of teaching she has come to find that teaching at the university level presents a diverse variety, especially at the MBA and MSLM levels.
The students that Sawyer teaches come from all walks of life.
This has required Sawyer to realize the importance of teaching in a universal way that every student can relate to, she said.
“I think it is essential to learn (and to teach) in ways that recognize that diversity and draw from the richness it provides us as we study” Sawyer said.
Her presentation will include leadership strategies and notions of continuous learning, related to change initiation and change management.
This conference will have a casual format to encourage conversation and facilitate the sharing of ideas among colleagues, Sawyer said.
“I go to conferences to learn,” saw I know other conference participants learn from and with me, and that they come to a better understanding of the fine quality of education here at the University of La Verne as they interact with me and with other faculty who regularly contribute in these professional settings” Sawyer said.
Sawyer holds a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California.
She holds two master’s degrees, in public administration from USC and a degree in library science from Western Michigan University.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in English with from Michigan State University.
Aaron Braunwalder can be reached at aaron.braunwalder@laverne.edu.
