REFLECTIONS

Monthly News & Updates




Aug 28, 2025
 

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This month's columns include:


  • A Few Words from Auston (Pacific Crest News)
  • NEW Workshop: AI Agent Design
  • Next Generation Self-Growth Community Underway
  • Listening to Learn (podcast)
  • Episode 2: Connecting Beyond the Classroom
  • Series: The Learning Process Methodology
  • Step 11: Transfer/Application
  • Self-Growth Tip: Getting Out of Our Own Way
  • Self-Growth Institute: A Report from Dan Apple
  • Keeping an Eye on Higher Education in Troubling Times

This year, we faced not only operational challenges but also direct attacks from the current administration on higher education and on students protesting for their rights. These assaults on academic freedom strike at the core of our mission. Yet, despite this climate, we sustained operations and advanced our work—standing firm with students and educators in defense of education as a public good.


In this spirit, we appointed Dr. Grady Batchelor to our board of directors. He will help us deliver our intellectual property in new ways, including custom AI agents that support learning through Process Education.


We also proudly welcomed a new partner, Chad Bliss, a disabled U.S. Army veteran, who has joined us as a commission-only sales representative. After attending his first Self-Growth Institute in Santa Cruz, California, earlier this year, Chad embraced the program and has since become a Pacific Crest self-growth mentor. His passion for service and growth reflects the values driving our mission.


Our first president, Dan Apple, though retired, continues to guide Pacific Crest—training his successor and advancing our self-growth AI content. His enduring dedication ensures our founding vision remains strong as we expand into new opportunities.


Growth of Pacific Crest


I’m excited to share the progress we’ve made in the early months of 2025. Our efforts have been centered on pivotal initiatives that strengthen both our growth and operational effectiveness, underscoring our dedication to building lasting success. Key areas of focus for expansion include:


  • Subscription-Based AI Agents – Expanding our online AI agents into subscription offerings for both students and faculty, making process education easier to access and integrate into everyday learning.
  • Strengthening the Self Growth Community – With Chad’s leadership, developing our network of Self Growth Coaches to innovate best practices and discover new ways to apply Self Growth processes.
  • Expanding Our Voice Through Podcast – As part of our evolution, we are shifting from a blog to a podcast, with Denna Hintze transforming our content into audio using AI tools. This more accessible format will expand the reach of our Self Growth and Process Education communities, fostering deeper engagement and greater positive impact.


Looking ahead, we are prioritizing working to evolve our online learning activities into a SCORM wrapper. This upgrade will enable our customers to seamlessly embed our activities within their own Learning Management Systems (LMS). By doing so, we can greatly enhance the user experience, benefiting both students and commercial users who are interested in incorporating our activities into their training programs.

This intensive, practitioner-focused workshop showcases 10 high-quality, customized AI Agents developed using the Pacific Crest Design Process. Attendees will gain direct insight into what makes an AI Agent not just functional, but transformational.

Cost: $500 per person


Bring 2 from your college, the 3rd attends free!
Register

Whether you're an educator, developer, coach, or curious innovator, you’ll walk away with a clear framework and hands-on experience for creating AI Agents that foster self-growth, enhance decision-making, and elevate performance in any domain.


Workshop activities

Over the course of the workshop, participants will:


  • Interact with exemplary AI Agents in live demos
  • Break down what distinguishes quality AI Agent design
  • Apply the Pacific Crest Design Process to craft AI Agents that integrate methodology, growth capability, and quality mindset
  • Learn how to align AI Agents with life, learning, and leadership purposes


Logistics


This on-site Institute consists of 3 intensive days of synchronous participation (Oct 12 through 14).


Limited Seats Available. Reserve your spot early.




Take your AI Agent design expertise to the next level.

As I step into the role of community organizer for Phase III of the PE Expert Project, I do so not only as a facilitator of meetings, but as someone modeling the very growth this project champions. My involvement in Phases I and II ignited a mindset shift: from external benchmarks to intentional self-cultivation. Now, in Phase III, I am honored to steward a shared journey that fosters deeper presence, mutual support, and high-impact reflection. A primary goal of the community is to complement weekly one-on-one meetings between participants and their self-growth coaches. As such, I view my organizer role not only as facilitating biweekly meetings, but curating a space where real-time needs are surfaced, seen, and responded to with authenticity. This includes a Moodle site that provides resources as well as exemplars for just-in-time participant and coach support.


High-quality performance of the community, both for me and for participants, includes:


  • Broad and inclusive participation that welcomes diverse voices and experiences
  • Authentic sharing in response to evolving community concerns
  • Meaningful takeaways that translate into impact beyond the meeting space


For myself and special guests who join me for specific sessions, it means embodying:


  • Pre-meeting preparation grounded in participant needs
  • Inclusive facilitation that nurtures psychological safety
  • Contextual awareness of what’s most alive in our shared space
  • Openness to feedback and post-meeting reflection to enhance future gatherings
  • Closing the loop by converting insights into action items or community resources


Our gatherings are not intended to be passive events—they are social performances, co-created in the moment. The measure of quality isn’t efficiency; it’s transformation. As participants, we grow by clarifying our intentions, sharing from the heart, and reflecting collectively on what matters now.


One of the most powerful lessons I learned in Phase I and II is that tools alone are not transformative—their power lies in how we use them to listen to our lives, collaborate with others, and reflect with integrity. As such, I envision some self-growth community sessions having a hands-on workshop feel where participants interact with breakout room leaders to:


  • Use AI-enhanced feedback loops to elevate reflection and scripting
  • Facilitate Moodle-based knowledge sharing and modeling
  • Seed mentoring vignettes and cross-pollination among community members
  • Encourage use of right-sized weekly practices rooted in our real lives, not merely as abstractions


I invite each participant in this 26-week journey to see themselves as more than an attendee. You are a co-creator, a mirror, and a model. Let’s continue to build a space where reflection becomes performance, where scripting becomes becoming, and where presence becomes legacy. We are not just working on ourselves—we are building a shared future. One breath, one insight, one gathering at a time.

Episode 2 Connecting Beyond the Classroom (FREE!)

Listen on...
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music

Our second episode focuses on the article Human-to-Human Relationship Model as a Strategy for Student (and Teacher) Success by Romann-Aas and Hintze, published in the International Journal of Process Education, June 2025.


The article highlights that true student success stems not just from techniques, but from authentic human-to-human relationships. Inspired by nursing theorist Joyce Travelbee, it encourages educators to move beyond "teacher" and "student" roles, instead seeing each person as a unique individual. When teachers genuinely connect with students as whole human beings, fostering an "I-You" bond, it profoundly impacts achievement, growth, and willingness to learn.


The authors detail a five-phase process for building these impactful relationships: from the initial "Original Encounter" where we move beyond roles, through "Emerging Identities" where we recognize uniqueness, to "Empathy" and "Sympathy" (understanding and desiring to help), culminating in "Rapport"—a state of experienced relatedness. This approach aligns perfectly with Process Education's focus on the "whole person" and fostering environments ripe for active learning, where students feel valued and engaged.


Compelling evidence shows that strong teacher-student relationships directly correlate with not only academic success, but personal growth…on the part of both teacher and student! Facilitating this kind of success isn't about adding more to your plate; it's about rediscovering the profound humanity at the core of our educational journey.


We've finally gotten our ducks in a row (there were feathers everywhere and we apologize for that!), making Listening to Learn a TRUE podcast, available on Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Podcasts. Simply choose where you want to hear us!

Ongoing Series:

The Learning Process Methodology How to Learn in 14 Steps
 

The eleventh step is of the LPM is


Transfer/Application


After Step 10 (Critical Thinking) has been tackled, the learner is ready to put their knowledge to work!

As Watts explains in The Learning Process Methodology: A Universal Model of the Learning Process and Activity Design:

After thinking critically, the learner should test their understanding by transferring it to varying contexts and applying it in new situations. The underlying motivation of all adult learners is the awareness of situations that can serve as applications of knowledge they’re learning1.

This last point is incredibly important, especially for educators: What use is knowledge you can’t use? The more we can put knowledge to use, the more motivated we are to gain that knowledge. And, rather ironically, a big part of gaining knowledge is learning to use it! We don’t learn to ride a bike by drawing a picture of a bike, after all…we learned to ride a bike by riding a bike (even if it does have training wheels).


According to Nygren in the Faculty Guidebook module Elevating Knowledge from Level 1 to Level 3, “testing ideas against alternative contexts” is how learners elevate their knowledge from Level 2 (Understanding) to Level 3 (Application), and then on to Level 4 (Problem Solving).


In the Transfer/Application step of the LPM, we’re focused especially on Level 3:


Level 3 Transferring and Generalizing

Apply and transfer a particular item of knowledge to new situations and contexts.


Transferring and Applying knowledge works like this:

There's quite a bit there to unpack, but we'll work at it through the rest of this article! The most important point is:


Generalizing knowledge is not the same as transferring knowledge!

The process of generalizing means developing enough working expertise that knowledge can be transferred to new contexts at will. This is because, in generalizing, you understand the underlying principles of a piece of knowledge, rather than just now to apply it in any given context.

(To delve more deeply into generalizing knowledge, we recommend the article Developing Transferrable Knowledge Using the Methodology for Generalizing Knowledge by Utschig, Apple, Ellis, and Leasure.)


An example should help all of this make more concrete sense.

If you’ve studied the process of juggling, you know that there are certain movements that each hand and arm must make, both when catching and when tossing an object. These are the underlying principles of juggling knowledge.


(We can jump to underlying principles right away because we’re analyzing juggling instead of actually learning to do it, thank goodness.)


Beginners are often told to practice the catch and toss hand movements, without any object at all, so they become familiar with the motions themselves. Once your hand has completed the toss motion, it must proceed to the catch motion. When you’re comfortable with the movements, you can begin to practice them by tossing and catching an object (usually a beanbag). The question of exactly when your hands should perform a toss movement or a catch movement is dictated by where the beanbag(s) are; if one is coming down, you’ll need to catch, and if one is in your hand, you’ll need to toss. (See the image below.)

We can state these underlying principles somewhat formally:



  1. The catch involves reacting smoothly to the object’s motion and entry into the hand
  2. The throw involves considering the object’s weight distribution and/or shape
  3. When tossing or catching, you can’t look at the object in the hand; you should instead watch the object in the air
  4. Parallel processing is necessary; we must focus as much on the throw as the catch When we can perform the toss and catch, following those principles, we can successfully juggle three beanbags!

We can now look at the context for juggling and determine what contextual prompts alert us to a situation where we can apply our new juggling knowledge.


Maybe we see three apples on the kitchen counter (three similar objects we can toss and catch). Or what about a dull moment in a social situation...might we liven things up by showing off our new skill? And given the concentration that juggling requires, maybe we can juggle our beanbags when we need to take our mind off something else for a little while. These are all reasons (or prompts) for juggling (applying our new knowledge).


We can now look at intentionally applying our knowledge in different contexts, from the familiar to the far.


  • The most familiar context is juggling three objects that closely resemble our trusty beanbags; maybe tennis balls or balls of tinfoil.
  • The next context is not quite familiar, only similar: three potatoes, or maybe even rocks.
  • Then we can deliberately try a different context; maybe we sharpen our juggling skills by juggling while walking around.
  • The last context in which we can apply our new skill is also the least familiar or similar and the furthest outside our comfort zone: let’s juggle flaming torches and chainsaws!


OK...we’re probably not ready for that, but as we work our way through these increasingly unfamiliar contexts, we’re building working expertise. Another way to say it is that we are intentionally generalizing the skill of juggling. Once we have generalized our juggling into even completely unfamiliar contexts, we’re become expert jugglers and can juggle where and how we like without much trouble: while reciting Shakespeare, with objects that aren’t all the same, or while riding a skateboard, for instance.

The point is that when you generalize knowledge, you’re engaging in a deliberate process of learning to elevate the level of your knowledge. When you transfer knowledge, you’re applying it in new contexts or circumstances.

When designing learning activities, structure is crucial and skill exercises (opportunities for learners to apply their knowledge to contexts) should be carefully scaled in difficulty. Exercises should start with a familiar context, then move into less familiar and finally unfamiliar contexts in at least three exercises of increasing difficulty. This grows learner confidence and is what leads to generalization.


With this in mind, skill exercises should be:


  • Sufficient in number
  • Contextually relevant
  • Demonstrate differing levels of complexity
  • Give clear evidence of progression in contexts (most to least familiar)
  • Work toward generalization

Once a learner can generalize their knowledge, they’re ready for the next step of the Learning Process Methodology: Problem Solving.


(See you next month!)
  1. Knowles, M., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2005). The adult learner: The definitive classic in adult education and human resource development (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier.

Self-Growth Tip: Getting Out of Our Own Way

When we face obstacles to our professional and personal growth, it's easy to blame external factors. But what if the greatest barrier to your progress isn't a lack of resources, time, or support, but is actually you?

The sayings we use—"I overthought it," "I made a mountain out of a molehill," or "I sabotaged that opportunity"—are telling. They reveal a deeper truth: we are often the architects of our own obstacles. While external challenges are real, internal impediments, like self-doubt, overthinking, or a fear of failure, can be far more limiting.


Instead of asking, "What's in my way?" a more empowering question is, "How did I contribute to this obstacle?"


When you discover you are the source of your own roadblock, the next step isn't to assign blame but to focus on releasing that self-imposed limitation. True self-growth begins with self-awareness, and by taking responsibility for your part in the problem, you can start creating meaningful, lasting solutions.


What's one small internal obstacle you

can work on removing this week?

From August 4-8, Pacific Crest held its latest 5-day Self-Growth Institute (SGI) at the University of Indianapolis. The event drew together 15 dedicated participants, four of which had attended a previous SGI and who assumed various coaching/mentoring roles. New to this event were a variety of personal growth GPTs that helped individuals craft long-term growth goals within a life vision portfolio. This innovative element harvested reflective writing prompts that were conducted between the standard set of cooperative learning/growth activities in Annis Hall and which were explored on a self-paced basis during informal evening sessions. Each participant thoughtfully entered and interacted with their own life story and life aspirations. With the help of the GPTs, personal reflective writing was better leveraged and integrated than in the past. Each participant left the event with a clearer picture of their Horizon Self— an evolving, actionable vision of who they are becoming that breathes holistic purpose into annual measures of success and weekly growth opportunities. 


Here is a sampling of discoveries from the week.

 

Falling down the Rabbit Hole

Laura described the opening day as “falling straight into Wonderland.” From the first handshake to the first GPT-powered exercise, participants were asked to think metacognitively before catching their breath. The night work—journaling with AI prompts about the Horizon Self—set the tone: growth here would not end when the day did.

 

Shifting the Compass

For Natalie, the week began under the weight of inhibition, but she planted a flag: this would be a week for growth. She practiced redirecting her language from fixed to growth-oriented, a steady correction like adjusting a boat’s tiller. By midweek, she shifted from being a judge of herself to being a witness, “watching the clouds” of thought drift by without condemnation.

 

Quiet Victories

Josh shared how he discovered the power of reflection-in-action— adjusting course during a task, not just after. Daily rehearsal of upcoming conversations, small wins in focus, and nightly journaling revealed that growth is not accidental. It can be planned, tracked, and shared with others.

 

Technology, Teams, and Trust

Christine found herself thriving in the “Manage” role within rotating teams, balancing coordination with creativity. AI tools became an ally, helping participants design life plans, craft quality-of-life indices, and envision new possibilities. Just as powerful were the late-night conversations where trust and curiosity deepened connection with other participants.

 

Anchors and Lifelines

Peter entered with doubts “like an overstuffed backpack.” A simple mantra from the Truth-Seeker GPT—I belong because I care— became his life preserver. Struggles with technology and uneven results reminded him that growth isn’t always smooth, but he left with powerful first real strokes toward the deep end.

 

Mirrors and Firelight

For Abigail, the Institute held up a mirror, revealing how she had been pouring into others without checking her own needs. Her Horizon Self now includes self-care as priority. Meanwhile, Hiba tended her fire with five growth goals, practicing the SII model (Strengths, Improvements, Insights) to mentor others and discovering coaching as “showing people how to build their own fire.”

 

Blueprints and Beams

James likened the experience to engineering. Legacy became not abstract but structural: family, community, and volunteer work became beams and foundations. From this emerged his 26-week challenge that is being carried in the 2025 Self-Growth Community, turning ideas into stepwise actions. His mantra was “Growth never retires.”

 

Clarity and Confidence

For Aidan, the first four days brought a shift from fog to forward momentum. The event recognized and celebrated personal talents, harnessed GPTs as creative partners, and provided an environment for practicing self-monitoring without judgment. His arc moved from doubt to directed energy.

 

Becoming the Architect

Julianna closed the week seeing herself not just as a learner but as a life architect. She integrated the Weekly Transition system—reflection, planning, scripting, and monitoring—into her personal toolkit, alongside a set of tested mentoring skills and a solidified QoL framework.

Windows of Growth


Across these stories and associated event happenings, a dozen transformative experiences stand out:


  1. Reframing language within a growth mindset.
  2. Reflecting-in-ac2tion during performances.
  3. Investing in trust-building conversations.
  4. Discovering personal self-care needs.
  5. Taking some restorative pauses.
  6. Using AI to streamline growth planning.
  7. Wrestling with technology as growth.
  8. Engaging in real-time self-monitoring
  9. Practicing SII coaching.
  10. Seeing personal legacy as a life blueprint.
  11. Internalizing a Weekly Transition system.
  12. Celebrating belonging to a self-growth community.

 

Looking Forward



The week was not tidy, nor was it meant to be. It was kaleidoscopic, demanding, and clarifying. Participant experiences demonstrated that the Horizon Self is not waiting at a distant finish line. It is an evolving creation, informed by and slowly modified by daily choices, reflections, and the courage to step into both chaos and clarity. If you have not been to an SGI, stay tuned for announcement of the next event in 2026 and then circle the dates for consideration on your calendar. It promises to be an investment in yourself with a lifetime of dividends.

Keeping an Eye on Higher Education in Troubling Times

By Denna Hintze

What is happening around us is not only impacting institutions of learning but the human beings who gather there to teach and learn. Below are various sources of information and resources that may prove helpful. Do what you can to inform and protect yourselves and those around you. Please also remember the words of Timothy Snyder, historian of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust:


“Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”

Information


 

Resources