A colleague from Kansas recently told me that she had received some pressure to “cover more material” in order to “make the most” of the professional development investment. “Yikes!” I said, “That is so contrary to all we know about how humans learn.” “Don’t give into the pressure,” I added, “You have to leave room […]
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 (Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, USA, and Zambia) representing […]
Cultivating a culture of healthy feedback – receiving and offering it – takes time and intentional work in multiple areas. It can begin during onboarding and run through to the exit interview. Leaders can model healthy feedback processes and ensure commitment at all levels of an organization. It can take place in one-on-one settings as […]
I work in a closed society*. My colleagues do as well. In fact, we are all from the country in which we work and are passionate about what we do. We facilitate learning sessions with individuals in small and large communities, from grassroot organizations and concerned civil servants, victims as well as perpetrators of violence, […]
“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 restorative justice. I witnessed mentors help groups identify their core values in […]
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 90th birthday party, or a virtual […]
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 questions, so key to dialogue and learning, are designed with these same core principles in mind. RESPECT: […]
During the first day of the Foundations of Dialogue Education course and many other Global Learning Partners learning events, we ask participants to identify guidelines that will support each other’s learning. The generated lists usually include expectations about cellphone use, side conversations, handling disagreements, and listening to each other. In addition, the core concepts of […]
Safety and respect are key to ensuring community engagement. This is as true in rural Ghana where I work, as it is in most places in the world. Here are some tips that I have found helpful for the African context: Understand the cultural dynamics. It is important that while entering a community the facilitator […]
Every teaching or meeting situation is unique and offers its own challenges. I work in rural Africa and have found the follow seven tools especially helpful for engaging community members. Use appreciative inquiry. In every community some things have worked well. It is therefore important for facilitators to appreciate and build on what is already […]