TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

October 25, 2002

In this issue:

Connections

(1) Spanish TOCFE Webpage!, Francis Mejia Conde

(2) TOCFE Latin America, Kathy Suerken

Quote

(3) From Tony J. Ranada, SVD

Editors’ Notes

(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

CONNECTIONS

(1) Spanish TOCFE Webpage!

Dear Cheryl,

I would like to share with you and all of the TOCFE family about our new

Spanish TOCFE Webpage, http://www.tocfe.com. Our webmaster is

Hernán Sedano, from Colombia. He has been working on this for a few weeks

and we invite you and all to visit the page and see the great results.

We will surely appreciate any and all contributions and/or comments that will

help us enhance and develop our new webpage so that we may share them

with the entire TOCFE family in Latin America.

Thank you,

Francis Mejia

(2) TOCFE LATIN AMERICA

From Kathy Suerken

“All things are possible… pass the word.”

(Title of a book by Barbara Ohrbach).Following my participation in a national Mexican TOCFE Conference in

Monterrey Sept 27-29 that was attended by 250 educators, I traveled to

Bogota, Colombia for the first Regional Latin American TOCFE Conference,

Oct 2. This inaugural event was attended by over 60 delegates from five

countries: Venezuela, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile and Colombia. I have some

empathy on what it takes to organize a multi-national event from a distance.

Rafael and Francis Conde, along with Javier Arevalo also of Venezuela, did an

exemplary job in collaborating with their TOCFE Colombian colleagues.

In addition to background on TOCFE, testimonials and a preview of the new

TOCFE e-learning site, participants of the conference were given a special

treat—a visit and speech from Eli!

Of significant global importance was the announcement that Hernan Cadona,

a TOC Colombian businessman, has created a Latin American TOCFE web

page. Not only has he translated much of the International home page, he

has as well created new ones tailored to the Latin American culture. Hernan

has even offered to translate TACTics into Spanish every week. WOW! He

so represents this all-volunteer TOCFE Latin American team who combine an

unstoppable synergy of vision and expertise from both education and

business.

The conference was followed by a two day facilitator training attended by

over 30 people. Team Latin America is primarily using the training material

developed by Khaw Choon Ean of Malaysia. Their reason is because her

material enables an excellent introductory class that gets good immediate

results with teachers and which can also be taught in accelerated learning

sessions totally about 18 hours—an action that removes the obstacle of the

time required to properly teach the more generic TACT seminar.

In TOC we know that successful events are defined by outcomes.

Conferences and trainings in and of themselves are not always enough to

generate intended effects. Therefore, these events in Bogota are being

combined with RIGOROUS follow-up by this fervent group of visionary

people who are just determined to bring positive change to their countries.

And thus, so far and in just 3 weeks:

1. Ecuador: Sandra Fierro is already working with 40 teachers from 3

schools. As you may recall from a previous TACTics edition, Sandra is a

teacher who was inspired to use TOC in her classroom after a seminar

taught to her two years ago by Alejandrina de Gaza of Mexico. In

Sandra’s quest for more TOC knowledge, she took the initiative to create

the means to get to this conference.

2. Costa Rica: A workshop will be conducted Nov 2nd and Nov 9th with 30

participants. Yamileth Garita and Nelson Barrientos, who attended the

facilitator training will start their teaching with Rocio Gomez´s support.

Another workshop for 40 teachers will be taught by them in December.

3. Colombia: In Rafael Conde’s words: “A training workshop for teachers will

be held on the week from Nov 17th to Nov 23rd with 45 schools from the

Secretary of Education in Bogota, involving 800 teachers. This week is

planned by Alma Guevara who had the support from Luz Marina

Schotborg and Alejandro Fernández to persuade the 45 principals. We

are going to conduct multi workshops with our new facilitators on board.

Alejandro, Luz Marina, Francis, Maria Elena Ortiz, Andres Hurtado, and

myself along with the collaboration of new facilitators Olga Lucía,

Hernán, Marino Cabrera, Alma Guevara and some other teachers who

participated in our training workshop. Rafael adds, “Alma wants to have

some kids from Colombia in the next TOCFE International Conference

next May in Florida.”

As you know, this year we began AGOAL Academy (Avraham Goldratt

Opportunities As Leaders) for children 12-20. The inaugural class was held

in conjunction with our annual International Conference. One of the

members of this Academy is Ana Maria Conde who has written an essay

about it on the Spanish web page: www.tocfe.com

Bernie, my Administrative Assistant, and I were excitedly viewing this essay

a few days ago. Neither of us speak Spanish but somehow we were able to

deduce the essence of it. At one point, Bernie noted: “un mundo mejor.“

That means a better world!

Which just goes to show that some things transcend the obstacles of

cultures and even seemingly unknown words. In Latin America a group of

people empowered by a vision are transcending all kinds of obstacles in their

quest for a better world and, while they show us that the journey alone is

worth the trip, they also are revealing, “that all things are possible. Pass the

word.”

QUOTE

(3) From Tony J. Ranada, SVD

Here’s a quote from Thomas Huxley that illustrates the Process of Ongoing

Improvement (POOGI).

“The rung of the ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a

man’s foot long enough to put the other somewhat higher.”

EDITORS’ NOTES

(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

Thanks to all for sharing with us this week. Send your responses,

applications of the thinking processes, lessons, announcements, and etc. by

mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards, 2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, Michigan

49719, USA. Or send hyperlink to cedwards@cedarville.net or

bucknek@earthlink.net.

To view TACTics in its intended formatting, visit our web site at

www.tocforeducation.com and click on “What’s New.”