TACTics Journal
A Publication for and by TOC for Education
Practitioners
August 2007
In this issue:
- A
Welcome Note by the Editor
- Update on TOCfE 10th International
Conference Events
-
TOCfE gathering in
- A note
of thanks
- After
the Odyssey experience Ana Maria Conde,
-
A Welcome Note by the Editor
Dear
Colleagues and Friends,
Well, the month of August is usually a quiet time
in
Here in this issue, we start with an update on the
conference in Florida, hear a little bit about the Odyssey for alumni in
Holland and a TOCfE gathering right after that, find out how Ana Maria’s
process of growing up and maturing unfolds and learn about the Malaysian AGOAL
team’s working on the ambitious target to attend the conference in Florida.
I would like to thank all of you who drop a note
with comments or feedback from time to time. I usually like to feel that what I
do is really meaningful, but sometimes things I do become just things I do and
I do them simply as chores. And then comes a note from one of you (particularly
if it is someone I don’t know) and I remember why I do this. It’s a selfish
reason, I admit, but I love the experience of the world being huge enough for
an endless exploration and discovery and yet small enough for people from
different parts of the globe to share, connect, touch one another’s lives…
All the best,
Zana Borisavljevic jana.b@talk21.com
Update on TOCfE 10th International
Conference Events
Conference registration and for more information
: www.tocforeducation.com
Dr. Eli Goldratt Keynote
Lunch: Friday, October 12
Other Keynote Speakers: Dr. Marta Bogdanowicz, Thursday, Oct 11.
Professor Bogdanowicz of the University of Gdansk, Poland is Vice President of the World Dyslexia Association and author of 15 books.
Julie Wright, Sunday, Oct 14.
Julie Wright, from
Upgrade Workshop: The
Strategic and Tactic Tree. Facilitated by Dr. Eli Goldratt.
Plenary Presentations Include:
“How
to SEE and UNLOCK Inherent Potential Within Each of Ourselves and Others.”
Alan
Barnard,
“Changing the Paradigms
of Inmates in
Christina Cheng,
“The 4 Characteristics
of Teaching Materials”
Dr.
“A Holistic
“Empowering
Disadvantaged Women to Make Sense of Their Lives”
Rafael and Francis Conde,
“Managing Change” Oded
“Research Results from a
Study to Assess TOC in an Application to Children’s Psychosocial Development”
“Thinking for
Change: Creating a Successful
Future” Dr.
“A Secretariat of
Education Project on the Use of TOC for Student Dropout Prevention”
“Why I Teach TOC to My
Medical Students” Dr. Antoine Gelder,
“A Rotary Club TOCfE Initiative”
TOCfE
gathering in Holland Petra Pouw-Legêne,
pouw.legene@planet.nl
From July 27th to 30th the
Odyssey for alumni took place in Noordwijkerhout, The
Netherlands. There,
It was a wonderful experience to
meet Eli and to learn from him while working on a topic that we hope to be able
to present at the conference and share with everybody.
Because we were already together
in
For Annemie
and me it has been overwhelming but also very stimulating to meet so many
wonderful people who were all so involved in TOCFE. Thank you, Kathy, for the
delightful seminar. As far as I am
concerned, I hope and dream that we can share what has been talked about and taught
with everybody else in TOCFE in the near future.
A note of thanks
TOCfE wishes to thank Hans van der Kooij and Caesar Groep,
NL for sponsoring venue and accommodation for a European TOCfE facilitator upgrade that was held in
After the
Odyssey experience Ana
Maria Conde, Colombia
Lately I have realized that even
though TOC is not “the whole” it helps me to search, open and understand other
possibilities. As I once said, TOC is not only a theory; it is a way of living.
And until last year I really didn’t know how to apply TOC in my whole life,
especially in my personal life.
When I went to Odyssey, thanks to
an awesome guidance and great friends, I started to realize that my emotions
and reactions had a meaning, and that I could achieve being “happy enough”. And
now, for the second time there in Odyssey, I had an opportunity to help others
in their learning, but I ended learning more from them. It is amazing how I
feel today, I feel happy and calm, each day I know
more that this is what I want to do in my life.
And more than doing projects and
having amazing ideas, it is learning from others through teaching, studying,
listening to people that care about you and learning from people you assume
that do not give things to your life, that is the way
to make your life meaningful and better. And now I get finally to open my eyes
and see how lucky I am for having the family I have, the TOC family, the
opportunity to learn, to travel, to study, to meet people from all over the
world and to create my own opinions and take my own decisions
Right after we were told that the
10th TOCFE conference would be held in
Obstacles are something everyone
tries to avoid. Typically, in an Ambitious Target, the ‘obstacle’ column will
never be absent. As usual, we ought to find actions to solve the obstacle faced
in order to define our Intermediate Objectives and fulfil the common goal. This
time we are bound to face more challenging ones!
All 6 of us,
young ambassadors of our country, pretty much share the same obstacles. One of
them is ‘time’. We are all 9th Grade students and the teachers aren’t
giving us any mercy to reduce the amount of homework! To top it all, the list
of many undone assignments and projects prevented us from proceeding in what we
are doing. The worst
thing in school are exams. And this year, it’s no ordinary exam –
it’s the Junior High Evaluation Test which is a public examination. We face a
tough dilemma whether or not to choose between our duties as a student or an
AGOAL member because both are important in our lives.
Another major obstacle we are
facing in order to head to
Thirdly, to make going to
Last but not
least, for the Muslim members of AGOAL Malaysia, their annual Hari Raya
celebration is coincidentally on the same day as the 10th TOCFE
conference. Hari Raya is a celebration in which a family will all reunite with
each other and pray in the mosque. Therefore the four Muslim members would most
likely not be able to attend the conference.
Nevertheless, these obstacles are
not going to make us give up hoping. They only bring us one step closer in
becoming wiser people with a tough personality. Thanks to the overwhelming
support by everybody, I am sure ain’t no mountain’s high enough for us to
reach! But regardless what the outcome is, we want all the TOCFE crew to know
that we are still devoted to TOCFE and AGOAL and will serve passionately to
make the vision of TOCFE and AGOAL come true. We love each and everyone of you
and let us all pray and keep our fingers crossed so that we could meet each
other this coming October.
Written by Matthew
AMBITIOUS TARGET: Attend the 10th TOCFE conference in
Obstacles |
Intermediate Objectives |
Actions/Solutions |
People in charge |
Verdict |
|
1. We don't know whether our parents allow us or not |
2. We know whether our parents allow us or not |
* Ask them for their approval |
Individual |
DONE |
|
2. We don’t know how to convince our
parents about the conference in |
1. We know how to convince our parents
about the conference in |
* We talk to our parents rationally and patiently. |
Individual |
DONE |
|
* Tell them about how TOCFE has changed our to the better |
Individual |
DONE |
|||
3. We are not sure about our visas. |
11. We get confirmation about our visas |
* Call up the American embassy. |
Matt |
DONE |
|
4. We don’t know what we will be doing there-learning/teaching/etc |
14. We know what we will be doing there. |
* Ask during the AGOAL chat meetings |
Wlian |
DONE |
|
5. We don’t know when
will the invitation letter will be ready. |
15. We know when the
invitation letter will be ready |
* Ask Kathy |
Francis |
|
|
6. We don’t know how to
persuade the school principal because it is his first year in our school. |
16. We know how to
persuade the school principal. |
* We talk to him
rationally * We tell him what have
we learnt and what activities have we done which has in directly bring good name to the school and nation. |
Alya |
|
|
7. We don’t know how to
get approval from the Ministry of Education, |
17. We know how to get
approval from the Ministry of Education, |
* Have a meeting with
Mrs. Zamani |
Wei Lian |
|
|
8. We don’t know when
the confirmation from the Ministry of Education, |
18. We know when the
confirmation from the Ministry of Education, |
* Have a meeting with
Mrs. Zamani * Enquire the staff of
the ministry once we send the approval letters. |
Matthew |
|
|
9. We don’t know which
teacher to accompany us to |
19. We know which
teacher to accompany us to |
* Talk to the school
organization. |
Hanisah |
|
|
10. We don’t know
whether we need to get sponsor for the teacher. |
20. We know whether we
need to get sponsor for the teacher. |
* Ask him/her |
Wei Lian |
|
|
11. We don’t know what flight there is to
|
3. We know what flight there is available. |
* Check on the internet. |
Alya & Han |
|
|
* Enquire the travel agency. |
Matt & Wlian |
|
|||
12. We don’t know how much the air tickets costs |
4. We know how much the air tickets costs. |
* Survey on which flight there is available and most reasonable. |
Alya, Han, Matt & Wlian |
|
|
* Check on the internet. |
Alya & Han |
|
|||
* Enquire the travel agency |
Matt & Wlian |
|
|||
13. We
don't know whether we can afford to pay for the air tickets |
5. We know whether we can afford to pay for the air tickets |
* Ask how much is the flight ticket. |
Alya, Han, Matt & Wlian |
|
|
* Ask for sponsors |
Francis |
|
|||
14. We
don't know who to ask for sponsors |
6. We know who to ask for sponsors |
* Search in the website for the companies
who contributed in TOCFE
|
Han & Francis |
|
|
* Call Mrs. Ean |
Matt |
|
|||
15. We don’t know how to ask for sponsors. |
7. We know how to ask for sponsors. |
* Ask advice from parents. |
Individual |
|
|
16. We
don't know whether we have time to complete our A.T before heading to |
8. We know whether we have enough time to
complete our A.T before heading to |
* Settle down everything as soon as possible. |
Individual |
|
|
* Plan our time systematically |
Nad |
|
|||
17. We don't know if the preparation may affect our exam grades |
9. We know whether the preparation will affect our exam grades |
* Create a systematic timetable. |
Nad |
|
|
* Prepare our studies few months ahead. |
Individual |
|
|||
18. We don’t know if “Hari Raya” befalls on the same day as the TOCFE event |
10. We know when is Hari Raya |
* Check the calendar. |
Alya |
|
|
19. We don't know who really wants to go to |
12. We know who really wants to go to |
* Ask our parents |
Individual |
|
|
20. We don't have an adult to supervise and accompany us |
13. We know whether there’s an adult to accompany us |
* Wait till we know who is going to |
Wlian |
|
|
|
|
||||