TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

December 12, 2003

In this week’s issue:

Connections

(1) How Lucky Can You Get, Kathy Suerken

Editors’ Notes

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

CONNECTIONS

(1) How Lucky Can You Get?

By Kathy Suerken <suerken@cox.net>

I am such a lucky person! One reason is that, every once in a while, I am

privileged to travel into your world. My recent such journey began with a

mere twenty-four hours in Tokyo where I met with a group of TOC

champions who so much want to bring TOCFE to Japan. My trip was hosted

by Haruyuki Uchiyama, who along with Sasaki Toshio, will be our business

TOCFE liaisons. Saggio drove five hours to attend our meetings and

provided a Japanese hard copy of my overview presentation to about twelve

TOC businessmen.

One of the attendees, Satoru Murakami, has since written:

"I strongly hope your step will become very beautiful fruits. As you know we are a consulting firm

in industry. But I can help and would like to do my first step. If I may use your materials, I will try to

give presentation to real school teachers."

TOCFE champions have a lot of commitment, determination and stamina, all

of which is so well modeled by Christina Cheng, TOCFE Director, Singapore,

who has brought TOCFE to life there in a very short time. Her highly

successful meeting in the Ministry of Education last July led within a month

to the first MOE sponsored seminar that was facilitated by Rami Goldratt.

Rami also gave a presentation to the MOE Sports Council that was so well

received they want to train one thousand sports coaches within the next

year!

While in Singapore, I taught (with Khaw Choon Ean, Chris and Vivien Lee) a

three-day intro course to forty teachers from eight schools along with

several leaders of the Girl's Brigade Organizationtwo of whom are from

Thailand!

This seminar would not have been possible without the servant leadership of

Ms. Hee Piang Chin, Assistant Director of Staff Training in the MOE and

International Director of Girl's Brigade. It is most inspiring to listen to her

vision of spreading the TOC tools throughout Southeast Asia through the

Girl's Brigade Organization.

In the meantime, she is a practical-visionary educational leader who enabled

me to leave with forty-three letters documenting our attendees'

enthusiastic endorsement of TOC. To ensure honest assessment, she gave

participants the option to submit it anonymously. What a gift! Keep

watching the web page for the publication of these wonderful testimonials.

As we know, putting commitments into writing encourages follow-through but

it is actions that are the true measurement. Such as the actions reported

within a week by Choy Wai Fann, who is already spreading TOCFE like wild

fire both through school counseling and to other brigade leaders. She wrote

also of a school principal who attended our seminar (along with 10 of his

teachers) and who told her, "I've been using TOC on all the students sent to

me."

Speaking of TOC wildfires and spark plugs J, my next stop was Malaysia

where Ean had planned my agenda for a short two-day visit. Ean retired

from government service last June, which means she had more time to

squash a week's worth of multi-tasks into a mere forty-eight hours.

Therefore, first day alone consisted of: meeting with the Director of

Curriculum Development Center, MOE, followed by an interview with a

national newspaper, followed by extensive meetings and dinner with a

Malaysian software company (who is mega-interested in acquiring

distribution rights to Yani along with potential future development of our

materials.)

The newspaper article will be published later this month as a feature story

and, to do justice to the way TOCFE began in Malaysia, the interview

included Ean as well as the person initially responsible for my introductory

presentation to the CDC—Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea, who uses TOC

extensively in her work as Department Chair at University Putra.

Speaking of founding TOCFE champs, in Philippines they are known as

Rotarians Father Tony Ranada and Mar Gatus, who, along with his Rotary

Club, hosted this visit into the world of our Philippines TOCFE family. Due

to communication technicalities, TOCFE Philippine Director, Dr. Cora

Santiago only had two weeks notice of my pending visit.

The obstacle? As we know, Philippines is text capital of the world, which is

their primary techno-medium of communication, not e-mail. However, Kathy

doesn't have a cell phone and, as we all know, is technologically challenged

(with oak leaf clusters.) A potential IO? Well, we all know that Ean is the

TOCFE gadget-techno lady extraordinaire. What should be the "tactical"

connection?

Apparently, Ean had already connected her scheduling strategies to Mar who

presented an agenda upon my arrival that would put even Ean on a stamina

POOGI. Implementation merely required tactics of: take shorter breaths,

walk faster…and, well, who needs sleep anyway?

The agenda referenced a get-together next day for TOCFE leadership,

organized by Cora and Dr. Vicky Fuentes and originally was intended for a

small group of around ten people. When Mar arrived to provide escort

service the next day, he announced, "The event is bigger than we thought

and has been moved to a larger venue. They're expecting about ninety

people!" Turns out it was a BREATH-TAKING audience of one hundred and

sixty-five educators for a day long "mini-conference." Is there a message

here? YES!

Despite so many seeming communication/geographical obstacles in providing

support to TOCFE Philippines, the message is a stand-out IO and it is: A

visionary passion to MAKE A DIFFERENCE combined with the substantive,

realistic tools of TOC to ensure it.

This IO not only has provided the foundation of a sustainable Philippines

TOCFE training program, but also needed supportive documentation such as

that being created by Dr. Nora Uy and her team of researchers. They have

written a comprehensive action research paper for the DECS on "THE USE

OF TACT/TOCFE IN IMPROVING THE BEHAVIOR AND ACADEMIC

PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS-AT-RISK IN THE DIVISION OF MAKATI

SCHOOL DISTRICT." Up and coming is a doctoral dissertation by principal

Jenelyn Corpuz based on the effects of TOCFE as intervention strategies in

Technology and Livelihood Education.

Cora is retiring next June and will remain active with TOCFE but, like all

great leaders, is ensuring the TOCFE, DECS, (Dept. of Ed.) baton is

effectively passed to a great, practical visionary, Dr. Vicky Fuentes,

Superintendent of Schools in Quezon City (over 100 schools, about 700,000

children).

Vicky attended our meeting with the Undersecretary of Education,

Philippines, Dr. Theordoro Cantindig, and strategy meetings to bring the Yani

package into the Philippines. As a first step, I was able to formally present

a gift of two school site licenses from my Florida Rotary Club to the

Philippines via Mar's Rotary Club.

WHEW! What a wonderful chain of events!!!! As I began a 30-hour journey

home, I knew I was leaving TOCFE in many exceptional hands. Now more

than ever as Ean is now working full time for TOCFE as director of Asia!

Therefore, I can very contently reflect on some of the memorable souvenirs

of this journey into your world. Whoever said, "The best things in life are

not things," understands as well my souvenirs:

· The awesome sight of the Japanese translation of TOCFE Overview.

Don't you just love seeing the TOC language of civility translated to

so many native tongues: Spanish, Hebrew, Tagalong, Malay, Dutch,

Russian, Chinese, English and …er, yes, according to our UK colleagues,

also "American," J

· Listening to Ariff Salahi Amiruddin of AGOAL Academy, who made a

five hour journey to tell me of his experiences in bringing TOC Peer

Mediation to his school,

· The knowledge that the Undersecretary of Education, Philippines, the

Director of the CDC, MOE, Malaysia and the Assistant Director for

Staff Training and Director of Girl's Brigade will all be sharing their

stories with you in Serbia next May.

· The possibility of two new TOCFE locations in the makings, and

· A farewell serenadeled by Ding Vasaya from the Philippine

leadership team in whose eyes you can see the FIRE so envisioned by

our founder, Eli Goldratt.

WOW…how lucky can you get?

EDITORS’ NOTES

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

Kathy, thank you so much for sharing! We always love hearing from you;

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.

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