TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

April 9, 2004

In this week’s issue:

Connections

(1) TOCFE Arrives in Korea: Land of the Morning Calm, Khaw Choon Ean

(2) Announcing a New Location for TOCFE Resources, Cal Haliburton

Editors’ Notes

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

CONNECTIONS

(1) TOCFE Arrives in Korea: Land of the Morning Calm

By Khaw Choon Ean, TOCFE Director for Asia

Anyong Haseyo! (Greetings in Korean)

As the plane taxied on the runway of Incheon International Airport, Korea, I

had this sense of disbelief that it was really happening. It was 7:10 in the

morning, and the area looked misty and calm just like its nickname, “Land of

the Morning Calm.” Ah, but that is before you are greeted by the concrete

jungle in the city, the traffic and the men in business suits!

I had been to Seoul roughly 10 years ago and had landed in a different

airport; but memories were vague except that I had enjoyed the national

favourite vegetable dish, Kim Chi! Here I was, waiting at the airport for

people I had never met and clutching on to phone numbers and my mobile

phone that I found couldn’t work in Korea! Even though I read and speak

enough Korean, at some point I was struck by a wave of panic when my pickup

contact did not arrive until almost 2 hours later. Traffic Jam!

Negotiations with Korea had spread over a period of time starting with

KTOC Consulting, a company that had e-mailed me to extend an invitation.

Korea has been immersed in business TOC for years and when they found out

that we had TOC For Education, they wanted to know more. Setting an

Ambitious Target, e-mails and phone calls later, I received an invitation that

came with a return air ticket, accommodations, and a slot to speak at their

annual TOC Conference for business which featured Dr. Eli Goldratt as the

keynote speaker this year.

There were about 150 all-male CEOs, businessmen and university academia

who came from different cities in Korea. They had initially said there would

be Ministry of Education (MOE) people at the conference and I had

requested for the MOE to be invited but there were some governmental

upheavals at that time that prevented their attendance. I had asked KTOC

what they wanted to achieve out of my presentation. They wanted all these

businessmen and academia to have information on what TOC tools and

thinking processes were like and how they have been used in education and

implemented in other countries. It was a lot to put in half an hour!

The Korean audience is culturally very polite and do not interrupt the

speaker. It was hard to read the faces and I only knew that the

presentation had gone down well when I was mobbed immediately after by

these solemn-faced gentlemen who were now complimenting me with beaming

smiles and pushing call-cards into my hand while asking questions.

The university academia was especially interested. They asked so many

questions. Luckily we had our friend Vivien Lee, from Singapore who was in

Seoul teaching English to children on a year-long contract. She could offer

them the assistance anytime should they require her to in future.

Mr. Kang Seung Deok, the CEO of KTOC Consulting arranged for a meeting

on education the day after the conference. We discussed for almost 4

hours on how to start TOCFE in Korea. They were interested how the tools

could be used in the learning of curriculum content. They plan to have the

first Teachers’ TOCFE Workshop by summer 2004 and have plans to start

with a few schools then. They were also very interested in the package with

YANI. Mr. Kang said that although they were in business, they were not

here to make money from education, but to contribute to education and to

the children for the future. I believe this year we can proudly fly Korea’s

flag with the rest of the country flags for TOCFE.

I wish to thank Mr. Kang, Mr. Jae, Ms. Chan, Ms. Park and the rest of the

KTOC staff for looking after me so well in spite of their other hectic duties

at the conference.

Next: Thailand— TOCFE for the Land of Smiles!

(2) Announcing a New Location for TOCFE Resources

From Cal Haliburton, USA

Thinking Skills for Children also known as Yani's Goal can now be purchased

on-line at www.halliburtonassociates.com/catalog.

Other resources free for download are available at

www.halliburtonassociates.com/resources

If you would like to link, advertise, or sell your TOC resources at this site,

please contact info@halliburtonassociates.com

EDITORS’ NOTES

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

Feel free to share with us. 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 kayseal@comcast.net.

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