Adults learn best when respect, safety, inclusion, relevance, immediacy and engagement are all present within the learning experience. A distillation of years of educational research, these six core principles are the building blocks of Dialogue Education™. Effective...
Celebrating a Life
In her recent book The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker impels us to prepare well for our gatherings. She reminds us to probe with questions such as: Who is this event for? What do they most want to get from it? Whether preparing for an executive leadership retreat, a...
Breakout Rooms to Connect
Breakout groups – where small groups talk within the larger group – can help all learners participate more fully, engage with each other, and connect to the content in a deeper way.
Where Restorative Practice and Dialogue Education Meet
“Remember that your authority over other human beings is an artificial construct.” [1] I’ve been asking people about their core values and characteristics when they are at their best for over 20 years. I was introduced to this practice through the field of...
Zoom Breakouts: Love ’em or Leave ’em?
As we reviewed the assessments coming in after the pilot of a newly developed training course, two words stood out: breakout rooms. Half of our team expected the feedback on these virtual discussion groups to be negative, the other wondered why almost every...
Bringing a Visual to Life
How do you turn a concept into a useful visual to teach and reinforce that concept over time?How do you take that visual off the page so that people can interact and learn from it? Here's a story to illustrate how you might do just that. We hope it inspires you with...
Talking Circles: More than a Technique
Talking circles, also known as sharing circles, have long been used by Indigenous peoples in Canada, the US, and around the world. They are used to ensure each individual who has gathered in a place has a voice and is fully heard.
Communities of Practice: Knowing We Are Not Alone
Do you sometimes feel alone in your work? Do you wish you could share your big achievements and your tough challenges with someone else? Do you wish you had someone who could give you the right tool for a specific problem? Do you wonder how you can have regular professional development with like-minded individuals?
It’s Time to Come Back Together, In-Person
We call each other ‘family’. So, you can imagine how happy we were to reconnect after three long years of the Covid pandemic! We are staff and partners of Episcopal Relief & Development. On February 7-11, 35 of us gathered in Accra, Ghana from seven countries...
I Like, I Wish, I Wonder – A Technique
For many of us, wondering aloud can take tremendous courage. This is especially true if it is not invited. The technique “I like, I wish, I wonder” offers a multi-layered process for hearing and collecting input or reflections that are nuanced, fresh, and exciting.
Speed Dating – A Technique
A well-selected technique can deepen dialogue, increase engagement, generate meaningful ideas, and make work easier. Speed dating is one I love using.
A Learning-Centered Conference: Lessons Learned
Large industry conferences can be a challenging venue to craft a learner-centered design. They are, in nature, structured agendas with a commonly accepted approach and style – keynote addresses, panel discussions, and large passive audiences. With a desire to advance...