| Based on World Café, the plenary
focused on providing a hospitable place for participants that was safe
and inviting. The premise is that when people feel comfortable, they
do their most creative thinking. Another element involved exploring
questions or topics that matter. Participants were asked to:
- Share a success story that involved change and innovation
- Identify the factors that contributed to success
- Discuss what to do to ensure change and innovation
B: Learn New Concepts and Strategies
The choice and number of workshops were also influenced by the theme
of the Conference. The number of workshops for What’s Gnu?, for
example, was increased threefold from the previous year – from
four to twelve. There were three reasons for this:
- Conference participation was extended to administrative support
staff. This decision partly contributed to the 73% jump in the number
of conference participants from last year.
- The rate of success of the 2004 Conference workshops had been high.
Nearly 90% of participants agreed that the workshops they attended
met most of their needs and expectations.
- Large-scale initiatives like workforce development demand new thinking
about preparing students for employment, and new approaches to teaching.
Workforce development figured prominently in the workshop line-up.
Three workshops and a panel discussion focused on Essential Skills,
Job Connect, Apprenticeship and TOWES (Test of Workplace Essential
Skills).
The additional number of workshops meant that participants could attend
more workshops than last year and could choose from a wider selection.
Some of the topics, such as learning disabilities, were based on participants’
suggestions from last year’s conference. Others were inspired
by participants’ comments in the overall evaluation. Too much
“sitting” was a particular concern for the more active participants.
To respond to this concern and to focus on personal as well as professional
development, sessions on pilates were added to the workshop line-up.
A brief description of each workshop is provided in the next section.
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