(2) Think Win/Win:
Detroit 300! Kay
Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards
Connections
(3) 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference/First Annual TOCFE
International Student’s Conference, Cheryl A.
Edwards
By Kathy Suerken
"By
learning you will teach; by teaching you will learn."
—Seneca,
paraphrased
Imagine sitting in the
conference room of the National Capital Region (educates 2 million children) of
the Philippines Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS) and
learning from top management how a strategic plan to develop a self sustaining
TOCFE Philippine infrastructure within 5 years is effectively becoming
reality! Thirty-six of thirty-seven
superintendents in this region recently joined over 700 other Philippine
educators as graduates of those trained in the full TACT program.
Written in November
1998, by Marcia Hutchinson and her team of practical visionaries, the original
strategic plan (PrT/Ambitious Target) is now being upgraded and implemented by
Philippines TOCFE Director, Cora Santiago, and her core team of Nora, Josie,
Ding, Nimfa and Alice. Helping to
ensure this success are 50 facilitators, a group of highly supportive Rotarians
and YOU!
You are very much in the
synergy which allows us to understand what doesn't work (what to change!) and
why, as well as what does work (to what to change) and why. That TOC knowledge enables us to much more
effectively create what is needed to systematically (how to) cause the change.
With that in mind,
here's a “synergistic” TOC lesson I taught during the February Philippine
National Conference (attended by 231 TACT graduates and 42 TACT
facilitators!). First the “whys.” In TACT, we develop our cause and effect
skills by practicing first on something about which we have intuition— the
negative consequences of an event we've experienced. That way we can use existing knowledge to learn and develop the
new skill until we are able to transfer it to other applications.
Can we build this skill
as easily in academic content and, in a way that allows the TOC processes to
actually improve content comprehension?
I have been developing such a lesson in my local volunteer work as I
teach and learn with a large class of students considered to be "at
risk." They represent ages 11-16
and very disparate academic backgrounds and level of skills.
My lesson begins with a
story, which to my Philippine audience, I only share verbally as a chain of
events in which the main character unthinkingly makes a series of unwise
decisions. Do you agree that the
concept of "acting without thinking" is generally relevant to
everyone but less threatening personally through a story about someone
else? (Very helpful when working with
those highly sensitive to blame). Have
you noticed how much easier it is to be objective and frank about other
people's mistakes?
The next step with my
Philippine class of educators was to share the very simple negative branch I
had written with the children— a basic chain of events easy to construct
because it was based on existing information.
Next I shared the discussion with the children on when the story line
began to turn negative and how the children had added the “whys” to the
tree. My class of “at- risk” students
(some of whom who have been to jail) could easily identify many intervention
points along the path to the unhappy ending.
(In other words, one mistake was not fatal) The kids were very attentive as well as willing and able to
suggest alternative actions which could have “rewritten” the story's end.
The discussion of the
children's ideas triggered an unsolicited, spontaneous testimonial, which I
asked for in writing for many reasons— not the least of which is to be able to
credit the source. Therefore:
"I just realized today that TOC, especially the
trimming of the negative branch is a very interesting and relevant strategy
especially in Literature. Instead of
just arranging the events according to how they are presented for memory sake
and which does not create impact for the students, we need to use TOC for more
lasting creative thinking. The ‘whys’
and assumptions will be taken in the other parts of the lesson as the analysis
portion." —Linda Usabal, Makati City, Philippines
The next step in our
lesson is to practice the skill as a group on a class exercise. The stories I am using are simple for skill
building and generally in the public domain so that I don't have to worry about
copyrights. This is a version of an
Aesop fable:
The
Boy and the Candy.
A
little boy once found a jar of candy on the table. "I would like some of this candy," he thought. "I'm sure Mother would give them to me
if she were here. I'll take a big
handful." So he reached into the
jar and grabbed as many as he could hold.
But when he tried to pull his hand out, he found the neck of the jar too
small. His hand was held fast, but he
did not want to drop any of the candy.
He tried again and again, but he couldn't get the whole handful
out. At last he began to cry.
At this point in the
story, we stop reading and map the plot.
The very simple negative branch on this story generally reads something
like: if (1) the boy sees the candy, then (2) he wants some and if wants some,
then (3) he grabs a bunch and if that (4) his hand gets stuck leading to (5) he
cries.
The next step for me in
the Philippines was to meet two needs with one action. The Philippine network had asked for more
practice on trimming negative branches and, at the same time, I wanted to show
how to use the assumptions to guide the discussion to the lesson objective.
The teachers and some
children focus on "grabbing the candy" as negative in and of itself
and when they looked for the cause of grabbing and why, they gave me,
"because he was greedy."
However, some of my students provide an additional answer. Some students suggest the situation turns
negative at the next box when his hand gets stuck and, in the discussion on the
reason and why, they began to suggest alternatives like: he could pour the
candy out, he could take a few at a time, etc.
What I have LEARNED from
this teaching experience is how effective our TOC processes are not only to
engage interest but also to unleash thinking and meaningful discussion
REGARDLESS OF THE STUDENT'S PREVIOUS LEVEL OF SKILLS.
It was only after all
this nice discussion that I allow my class to see the rest of the story as
written:
"Well, don't be so
greedy," his mother replied.
"Just take two or three and you'll have no trouble getting your
hand out."
"How easy that was,
said the boy as he left the table.
"I MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT MYSELF."
Indeed and how easy it
is for us to use TOC to let students derive for themselves our lesson
objectives. I learned so much from
teaching this really simple lesson and even more from the next step, which—for
distance teachers/ learners— will be next week!
(2) Think Win/Win: Detroit 300!
Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl
A. Edwards
Here is another reason to think win/win and bring your family to The
5th Annual TOC for Education International Conference, June
25-28, 2001! This year, Detroit is 300
years old! “Detroit 300,” a bi-national
celebration (United States and Canada) salutes a great city that is three
centuries rich in culture, ethnic diversity, natural resources, commerce and
industry. Detroit’s tricentennial
celebration extends throughout the metro Detroit-Windsor calendar through New
Year’s Eve 2001. On June 27, 2001,
“Detroit 300” will host the Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival. This festival will be recognized and
respected as the best festival that represents the peace, unity, freedom, and
friendship shared between Canada and the United States. To learn more about Detroit’s tricentennial
celebration, visit the website at www.detroit300.org.
If you would like to
contribute to TACTics, send your ideas via snail-mail to Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, MI
49719, USA. Or, send hyperlink to
<redwards@sault.com> or <bucknek@earthlink.net>.
(3) 5th Annual TOCFE
International Conference/First Annual
TOCFE International Student’s Conference
From Cheryl A. Edwards
“The best way to predict the future is to create it through
TOC."
TOC
for Education, Inc. presents the 5th Annual TOCFE International Conference and
the First Annual TOCFE International Student’s Conference!
Date: June 25-28, 2001
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA
Hotel: Northfield Hilton
5500 Crooks Road
Troy, Michigan 48098
248. 879. 2100
The
Northfield Hilton is adjacent to Interstate 75 at Crooks Road, Exit 72
Reservations: 1. 800. HILTONS
Ask for TOC for
Education’s special room rates.
Single
or Double Occupancy
Per night $139.00 U.S. + Tax (6% Michigan Sales Tax and 7%
Occupancy Tax). This rate includes
breakfast for two.
Transportation: Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
To
view TACTics in the formatting that is intended, please visit our
website at www.tocforeducation.com.