Intro - Robert Richard LO12850

Robert Richard (rrichard@agctr.lsu.edu)
Mon, 10 Mar 1997 14:55:16 -0600

I have been lurking, or is it listening, on this listserv for quite some
time and decided it was time to introduce myself.

I currently serve as an organization development specialist for the
Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service. Cooperative Extension Service
was formed in 1914 as a unit of the US Dept. of Agriculture with offices
in every county of the US. Our original charge was to improve
agricultural and home economic practices in rural America. Our survival
instincts tell us that we need to expand our work into urban areas (with
only 2% of the population engaged in production agriculture) but you can
imagine the paradigm shift that will take.

The conversation here has been mind-expanding to say the least. However I
must admit that the more I learn the more frustrated I get with my
colleagues who think that the hierarchical model is just fine and should
not be tampered with. My current frustration is how do I practice what
I'm learning here? One obvious choice is to practice elsewhere and that
is becoming more and more appealing. The caveat to that is that the
Cooperative Extension Service has the educational model for informal
education that everyone seems to be talking about!! The organization I
work for has the model everyone wants, we just dont know we have it and
if I want to practice what my organization says it does Ill have to go
elsewhere!! Sense the frustration?

My formal training ranges from a B.S. in Vocational Agriculture Education
with an Aninmal Science emphasis to a Ph.D. in Vocational Education with a
minor in Public Administration.

-- 
Robert F. Richard
Asst. Specialist
Program and Staff Development

504-388-6194 rrichard@agctr.lsu.edu

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>