Learning Task #1

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Clark B. Montgomery Researching Relevant Professional Development Learning Task #1 April 23, 1999

INVESTIGATING A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

Creating Community in the Face of Difference was an intensive, weeklong cultural diversity conference I had the opportunity of attending last November in Boston. So effective were the results of this conference, regarding the attitudinal changes of those attending, the Minnesota Extension Service arranged for delivery of the same program for some of their staff in February, 1999. Contrary to my Boston experience, I was not a full contributor in the Minnesota offering. However, I was involved to the degree that allowed observation, discussion with participants, comparison of the two events, and reflection on the two events and outcomes.

Unlike most professional conferences, each Creating Community experience was attended by a limited, but highly diverse number of participants that lived and reacted to, rather than attended, "sessions". Although the scope of the experience might incorrectly be described as "role playing" (a currently popular socio-educational technique) this exercise involved little acting and fewer theatrics. Participants were thrust into a very real situation that required individual/group response in terms of emotion, cooperation and reflection to insure mental, if not physical, survival. What seemed to be an almost helter-skelter - "let the chips fall where they may" design was actually a carefully crafted experience developed by the programs creators to elicit predictable response and reaction from participants. The second half of the conference was spent in interactive debriefing, not to intellectualize the experience, but to help one another understand and accept new emotions, feelings, and changes in attitude. Out of this considerable interaction and discussion, the end product for members of the Boston group was overwhelming internal change. It would be too simple to try and describe those changes in secular terms of attitude, perception or behavior. For those involved, the change experienced would be better described as spiritual.

I left Boston asking myself, "what in the world just happened? Are these event's conclusions a result of a unique blend of participant personalities or are they the result of an educational process I don't fully understand?" Luckily for me, I had the unique opportunity to become involved with, observe and interact with a second group (Minnesota) as they worked their way through the process. Observation afforded me the opportunity to make comparisons between this groups reactions/responses and my own. In-depth discussions with participants, both during and after, provided more information for comparison.

My conclusion is that a very similar internal change occurred in the members of both groups, regardless of their diverse status. Perhaps not statistically provable, it seems likely that this result stems from an "educational" process as opposed to coincidence. What seems ironic is that most individuals, like myself, aren't exactly sure just what the education process entailed or why things occurred as they did - only that it worked. It's obvious the entire process was carefully crafted to move individuals into situations of deep self-reflection, thus achieving a predictable end. The mechanics of the process are not hard to understand. Grasping why they work still evades me. That's an issue requiring further contemplation.

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-- Anonymous, April 23, 1999

Answers

I love these reports! You get right TO it! Mechanics of processes can be figured out, but the WHY often evades us--probably because that's a big part of the complexity of being human.

And I think this is okay. If we acknowledge that we can't give a formula reason for everything that happens in education because we are dealing with humans rather than machines, then I think we can be responsible and rigorous about documenting the contexts, the reflective processes, and some of the outcomes. When we can do this articulately and with enthusiasm, then others who may benefit from trying something similar will be encouraged to do so.

Question for you to think about: Does any of the "diversity" information you came away with relate to that research question of what "science" people have learned and use in their every day lives?

-- Anonymous, May 14, 1999


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