TACTics Journal, December 2005
A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners
 

In this issue:

(1)  New Dates for  2006 Conference!  Kathy Suerken and Rolando Di Silvio

(2) News from around the globe:   Christina RossKamp da Silva Junior (Brazil); Eleanor May-Brenneker (Netherlands); Vicky Fuentes and Jeni Corpuz, (Philippines) Mike Round (USA)

(3) New TOCFE web page.   John and Kathy Suerken

(4) TACTics Changes.  Kathy Suerken

 

(1) New dates for 9th TOCFE International Conference!   Kathy Suerken and Rolando Di Silvio

 

During our recent meeting with the Director of Public Education for Leon, Mexico (a city of over 1 million) she commented that summer vacation was not good timing for local teacher participation.  She recommended a date during teacher's professional calendar year and IF we would be willing to change our conference date from August to September, THEN likely 2,000 teachers would participate!   Therefore….

 

New conference dates:  Sept 7-10, 2006

 

Obviously, there is no one optimum time for everyone in the network.  And, the participation of each national network is essential for upgrade and momentum in order to achieve our goal.  Therefore, we will work TOGETHER to ensure that the needs of each TOCFE country are met.  We have all the necessary ingredients:  a passionate commitment to our idealistic vision of a better world through the practical means of the TOC tools.  suerken@cox.net; rolandodisilvio@prodigy.net.mx

 

(2) NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

 

  • Brazil, from Cristina Rosskamp da Silva Junior

The project in Joinville schools is keeping us very busy (this is good), we have another school implementing the project this year (already on course) and about 30 more to plan to start in 2006. And in other cities we are finding people very excited with this kind of project. Hope we soon can expand it to other cities here in Brazil. cristina_rosskamp@brturbo.com.br

 

  • Netherlands, from Eleanor May-Brenneker

TOCFE.NL goes SKY(PE) high!"

 

Ever since its 'conception' TOCFE.NL has worked relentlessly on its very Ambitious Target. As soon as one IO was reached another was worked on and as soon as an intermittent AT was achieved the next goal was set. Then came the great moment of synchronisation:

During the Seattle International TOCFE Directors' conference a massive AT was set by the participants, i.e. delegates from countries/regions who apply TOCFE. That's when I found that our Dutch AT nearly fully overlapped with the International AT and this formed the basis for co-operation and synchronisation of both AT's. On my return from USA, inspired and fired by the conference, we immediately organised a Sept. and Oct. meeting in Holland, for which I flew over from Britain. The meetings were different from the ones in the past, for we had now some new board members, active with TOC in the business world viz. Hans van der Kooy, (known by all who attended the conference in Seattle, no doubt) Frans Jan Buters (who works closely with Rami) and Henk van de Burg.  These members are giving us educators a new perspective and a better insight in how to integrate TOCFE in schools. There is a strong drive and buzz going around to identify the education UDE's on which an IO map is being structured. Another new board member from the education world, Annemie van Dijck (related to the famous Anthony???), and Petra Pouw have been able to identify many of these UDE's by checking Inspectors' reports nationwide and talking to School Boards and Heads of school. It appears that the nr. 1 generic problem in schools is differences in the classroom!!!  And how well does TOCFE fit in here, I wonder.

 

These latest findings were revealed when we had our monthly meeting, 22 ND nOV.'05, this time via SKYPE. Did I hear 'What is SKYPE'? An electronic virtual conference tool, via email, cost free, for up to 5 board members. It can be downloaded from the internet and it runs like a train. NO more flights to attend meetings in Holland this winter, no longer being stranded for an extra 2 days because of fog either! Our latest meeting lasted 2 hours and we managed to cover all our agenda points and check our progress on IO's.

 

TOCFE.NL is indeed SKYPE high! For further information on our AT or SKYPE contact; eleanormay@onetel.com

 

  • Philippines,  from Vicky Fuentes and Jeni Corpuz

Greetings from the Philippines!

 

We are having a TOCFE Basic Training for 150 Elementary and Secondary School Teachers Dec 2-4 sponsored by the City Government and the Division of City Schools, Quezon City.  Our licensed facilitators include, of course, Dr. Cora Santiago. TOCFE is very much alive in Quezon City and the Philippines! victoriaqfuentes@yahoo.com; jeni_corpuz@yahoo.com

 

  • USA  from Mike Round

 

TOCFE-USA announces its first annual conference, July 21-July 23, 2006, in Kansas City, Missouri.  Conference details can be found at www.rationalsys.com. A tentative schedule and conference rationale are here in addition to information regarding Group Discussion details.  Please e-mail Mike Round at round@rationalsys.com with questions.


(3) New Web Page  at www.tocforeducation.com  >> from Kathy Suerken

 

Our volunteer webmaster, John Suerken, and I have launched a new web page to reflect TOCFE's evolving needs.  It is a mammoth work in progress so we ask for your understanding as we add additional pages as we are able.  We have posted the marketing presentations I am currently using for teachers, counselors, parents and administrators and are making the 'what's new' page more robust through monthly updates of our events--almost 100 posted there now--and through a planned  interactive TACTics board.

 

Of course we are building from our 'global bank' of your body of work, your suggestions for improvement and Rami Goldratt's incredibly talented efforts from the previous page.  

 

(4) TACTics Changes  from Kathy Suerken

 

I regret to announce that Cheryl Edwards and Kay Buckner-Seal are retiring as TACTics editors in order to meet family and other obligations.  As we know, producing a monthly professional journal requires not only a lot of time but also time that is governed by a personally restrictive deadline every month.   Cheryl and Kay's volunteer service to TOCFE is immeasurable and appreciated more than I can convey personally, let alone on behalf of our network… and beyond. 

 

At this time, in addition to a planned interactive TACTics bulletin board online, we are also planning to convert TACTics into a quarterly journal that will be edited by Beverly Brown.  We need a volunteer to email the journal to our existing- and ever growing- list serve.   Please contact me at suerken@cox.net if you are willing to help.