At a recent visit to have dinner with my mentor and friend Dr. Jane Vella I said, “Dialogue Education has come to academia.” In my experience, Adult Learning Theory which includes Dialogue Education, has become the premier pedagogy in Higher Education. I asked, “Why else would UMass, Amherst recently build a new academic teaching building […]
We know from biology that fear incites the amygdala in the brain to pour adrenalin into the bloodstream, to give us the sudden energy that gets us out of a burning building. We know that while the amygdala is working, synapses in the brain are inhibited so we can focus on the danger at hand. […]
There were too many tables and chairs in the room. We started the meeting, a circle of people around a broad expanse of table with banks of tables pushed against the walls at our backs. We had to negotiate carefully to find our way to the tea. There were too many questions on the first […]
What if you wrote a letter with paper and pen instead of sending an email? How would it change the "conversation" if you picked up the phone instead of emailing or texting? I recently interviewed a woman for a radio program I host once a month. She is a poet and lifelong activist in […]
Through our work with World Vision’s domestic programs in Canada, my colleague Clayton Rowe and I have designed (and re-designed, and re-designed) over 45 days’ worth of workshops that are resonant with a Dialogue Education approach. With our intrepid ‘Canadian Programs’ team, we facilitate these learning events, on topics such as ‘Introduction to Community Assessment’ […]
What happens when we experience significant learning? At least three things: The delight and enchantment of discovery. This is an important dimension of what it means to be human: life beyond simple and predictable existence. It’s what makes life worthwhile at all its stages. A life of fulfillment that doesn’t narrowly focus on one's own […]
“In the end, Dialogue Education is all about love”. This statement deeply resonated in me when I heard it during the Global Learning Partners course Advanced Learning Design in Toronto with Jeanette Romkema this past November. A few days after the training, I realized that I had experienced the reality behind the above statement and […]
The following post is adapted from one of the lessons in IMPROVE YOUR WRITING: Ten Essential Tools for Streamlining Your Sentences, a self-paced online course facilitated by writer, teacher and former GLP Director Joan Dempsey. Joan employed the 8-Steps of Design in the creation of this course. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain […]
Managing time is a challenge for even the most seasoned facilitators. Here are a few tips to help you ensure you facilitate the planned learning design in the designated time: Start on time. When learners don’t arrive on time, it can be challenging to know when to start. It’s okay to wait a few minutes, […]
Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa a health emergency, many groups and individuals have volunteered to assist in the response, highlighting the importance of volunteers in combating the response. In Liberia the volunteers, both national and international, are a critical component of efforts to stop the outbreak from […]