Wednesday, 31 January 2018
The Outward Mindset
I've been reading about the Growth mindset and independently my sons have been told about the growth mindset at school; but last week I heard about the Outward mindset. The speaker started by talking about people are not the organisations biggest asset, but the relationships they build are the biggest asset. So an outward mindset helps individuals see how they might be creating obstacles in the work of others, and helps them change the way they are working and relating to other team members to create real sustainable results. Strikes me there is a lot that is relevant to Girl Guiding here. The outward mindset is promoted by the Arbinger Institute.
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Safe Space Pictures
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Output from Barriers to Disclosure Exercise at Glos
Room Layout at Hampshire North 4 tables of 5
NB Risk Assessment table on the Left of the picture
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Monday, 22 January 2018
WAGGGS Policy & Guidelines: Adult Training, Learning & Development, 2012
I read this report a few years ago and its been bugging me where I picked the up the idea of the difference between Trainers and Facilitators in a guiding setting from. Today I finally figured it out. It strikes me our new safe space modules require a lot more of the facilitation skill rather than the traditional training skill. See page 28 of the WAGGGS report:
In.addition,.trainers/facilitator.should.have.competences.that:
•. empower the learner to take responsibility for learning
•. enable a high degree of flexibility in session management
•. engage.and.empower.people.through.excellent.communication.skills
•. achieve high levels of creativity and innovation
•. enable.and.support.the.learner.to.be.part.of.self-motivated.learning.processes.
I think our current Training Qualification falls short on some of these criteria.
The full report is available from the WAGGGS -> Resource Centre -> Adult Training
In.addition,.trainers/facilitator.should.have.competences.that:
•. empower the learner to take responsibility for learning
•. enable a high degree of flexibility in session management
•. engage.and.empower.people.through.excellent.communication.skills
•. achieve high levels of creativity and innovation
•. enable.and.support.the.learner.to.be.part.of.self-motivated.learning.processes.
I think our current Training Qualification falls short on some of these criteria.
The full report is available from the WAGGGS -> Resource Centre -> Adult Training
Sunday, 21 January 2018
More Reflections on new Safe Space
Down in Hampshire North and we were really well looked after. This time thoughts include:
Logistics - there was no register for each room, I gather because the list from Region was sent as alphabetical order not by class room, the instructions for evacuation was to leave through the fire door and gather in alphabetical order on the field! This meant the trainers had to sign all of the certificates and just see which ones were left after the session. Felt wrong not having a list of everyone present. Some Leaders thought they finished at 4pm so were surprised when I sent them on a coffee break which meant lots of frantic texts for them to sort out arrangements. The cake sale Q caused some late returners for the morning session.
Furniture - even though it had been arranged in a horseshoe I re-arranged back to 4 groups of 5 around tables it really gets discussion going, the mints are really handy and gives them somewhere to write. I also think it's handy to show this is a special training unique to a programme one.
IT - drove me crazy. The 1st classroom the projector didn't display the whole page so after I had re-arranged the furniture I had to move to a new classroom. I would rather use my own laptop as I had to put my USB stick into the schools computer which every 15 minutes of no activity shut down with my USB still in the drive. Hope the USB is not damaged and I'm going to have to check it again for viruses - its a real pain.
Temperature - the heating came alive for the afternoon session and morning wasn't as cold as last time.
Level 2 Worksheets - there was some confusion over the worksheets and in the end they were all collected in and the trainers didn't signed them. I was amazed at lunch time between the trainers the different interpretation of the refresher exercise on risk assessments we had all been asked to do!
Activities - I exchanged one activity "What next" for "Helpful or not" and by omitting the similar scenarios from "What would you do?" got a handle on the duplication. I will stick with that arrangement going forward.
Flowchart - got questioned as the top row of boxes are not linked to the rest of the flow chart! Even the social worker present didn't know what the mysterious line in the box means!
FAQ's - there is a need for some FAQ's to answer the teacher and social worker questions with a consistent answer. Especially why do teachers need to do this now and from the leader who was a school Safe Guarding Lead can I tell the school head if it concerns a child at my school?
Furniture - even though it had been arranged in a horseshoe I re-arranged back to 4 groups of 5 around tables it really gets discussion going, the mints are really handy and gives them somewhere to write. I also think it's handy to show this is a special training unique to a programme one.
IT - drove me crazy. The 1st classroom the projector didn't display the whole page so after I had re-arranged the furniture I had to move to a new classroom. I would rather use my own laptop as I had to put my USB stick into the schools computer which every 15 minutes of no activity shut down with my USB still in the drive. Hope the USB is not damaged and I'm going to have to check it again for viruses - its a real pain.
Temperature - the heating came alive for the afternoon session and morning wasn't as cold as last time.
Level 2 Worksheets - there was some confusion over the worksheets and in the end they were all collected in and the trainers didn't signed them. I was amazed at lunch time between the trainers the different interpretation of the refresher exercise on risk assessments we had all been asked to do!
Activities - I exchanged one activity "What next" for "Helpful or not" and by omitting the similar scenarios from "What would you do?" got a handle on the duplication. I will stick with that arrangement going forward.
Flowchart - got questioned as the top row of boxes are not linked to the rest of the flow chart! Even the social worker present didn't know what the mysterious line in the box means!
FAQ's - there is a need for some FAQ's to answer the teacher and social worker questions with a consistent answer. Especially why do teachers need to do this now and from the leader who was a school Safe Guarding Lead can I tell the school head if it concerns a child at my school?
Sunday, 7 January 2018
Reflection on new Safe Space Training
Overall it went very well yesterday. I'm sure participant feedback will focus on the temperature, I think the venue had forgotten we were coming and even the receptionist was sat in her coat it was so cold.
My biggest stress factor was the IT unbelievably my lap top was too new for attaching to the school ceiling mounted projector! I Had a HDMI cable (as I have been caught once before) but it was too short and would have meant sitting under the desk to use my lap top. In the end a passing teacher let me plug my USB stick into the school network and I ran the powerpoint that way. I believe nearly every other trainer had the same problem so my presentation got copied around into another classroom. The teacher tried for a long time to get my machine going; and all this whilst I was wearing a badge saying "Ask me about being a trainer". So I have ordered a VGA Adaptor from Amazon today for £5.79 for the next training.
Risk Assessment I've added 3 new risks one to carry a VGA Adaptor, two for tops that fall off the desk when you move them, and the third for leaders that stand on chairs when they are the "team lead" in the signs & indicators game!
Timings it needs longer than 3 hours - the first time was rushed because of the IT issues - I filled the gap with the risk assessment refresher to use the time usefully. The second time we were only a few minutes late starting, but the group wanted a lot more discussion on the "What would you do?" activity and didn't always agree with the suggested responses. There was a longer discussion as 2 leaders thought they had been told in Level 1/2 training that they don't need to tell the DC they are going out if they leave from their usual meeting place. I have since checked with the trainers who did the training and in fact it was home contact they were told they didn't need to do and they DO need to let the DC know where they will be!
Powerpoint I'm going to cut a lot more of the slides out they are just duplication as the key messages come out of the group work naturally.
Mints they were especially required after lunch when their concentration was lower and it also helped with the coughers this time of year. Hilary Scarlett's neurodiversity advice to use a glucose shot to keep concentration going worked well.
Resources I swopped flip chart paper for A3 paper for the barriers exercise, as it makes it easier for leaders to draw the representation of a person on a page that is not quite so big. Hobbycraft do a 25 x A3 page for £3.50. The training is very heavy on post-its I need to find a cheaper source than Sainsburys.
Groupwork works really well but I think 25 is the absolute maximum you can work with (certainly for Level 4 the groups need to be smaller to facilitate the conversation properly). I think the boundary needs to be clearer between the 2nd and 3rd activity as some of the feedback the groups were returning was very similar in nature.
Quiet Room I did use it but not because somebody was upset, but because there was a question of a confidential nature.
Action Planning we need a template we can use to capture the 3 requirements on Slide 70 (Creating Safe Spaces). This will allow for a reminder for the leaders to take way with them for completing the survey monkey evaluation, and to ensure when time is tight at the end there is some action planning carried out as a result of the training.
Evaluation for the 2 sessions I did where I asked for feedback at the end it seemed positive but I'm interested to see what comes back on survey monkey.
Effort it was pretty tiring doing 2 trainings in one day with only a short break between them especially with the stressful IT start. There definitely wasn't enough to drink and my coffee break was spent signing the certificates. Not sure how it will feel next month doing 4 sessions in 2 consecutive days! I was very conscious I was saying talk to your commissioner a lot when the commissioners in the room hadn't had their Level 4 training yet.
I did over 5k steps in the first training and only 3.5k steps in the second one just goes to show the impact of the IT stress at the beginning of the day. This is a very information heavy training and the group work (where usually you get a tiny amount of respite to re-group and think what next requires a lot of facilitation in this instance) so there is no let up in the pace for trainers.
My biggest stress factor was the IT unbelievably my lap top was too new for attaching to the school ceiling mounted projector! I Had a HDMI cable (as I have been caught once before) but it was too short and would have meant sitting under the desk to use my lap top. In the end a passing teacher let me plug my USB stick into the school network and I ran the powerpoint that way. I believe nearly every other trainer had the same problem so my presentation got copied around into another classroom. The teacher tried for a long time to get my machine going; and all this whilst I was wearing a badge saying "Ask me about being a trainer". So I have ordered a VGA Adaptor from Amazon today for £5.79 for the next training.
Risk Assessment I've added 3 new risks one to carry a VGA Adaptor, two for tops that fall off the desk when you move them, and the third for leaders that stand on chairs when they are the "team lead" in the signs & indicators game!
Timings it needs longer than 3 hours - the first time was rushed because of the IT issues - I filled the gap with the risk assessment refresher to use the time usefully. The second time we were only a few minutes late starting, but the group wanted a lot more discussion on the "What would you do?" activity and didn't always agree with the suggested responses. There was a longer discussion as 2 leaders thought they had been told in Level 1/2 training that they don't need to tell the DC they are going out if they leave from their usual meeting place. I have since checked with the trainers who did the training and in fact it was home contact they were told they didn't need to do and they DO need to let the DC know where they will be!
Powerpoint I'm going to cut a lot more of the slides out they are just duplication as the key messages come out of the group work naturally.
Mints they were especially required after lunch when their concentration was lower and it also helped with the coughers this time of year. Hilary Scarlett's neurodiversity advice to use a glucose shot to keep concentration going worked well.
Resources I swopped flip chart paper for A3 paper for the barriers exercise, as it makes it easier for leaders to draw the representation of a person on a page that is not quite so big. Hobbycraft do a 25 x A3 page for £3.50. The training is very heavy on post-its I need to find a cheaper source than Sainsburys.
Groupwork works really well but I think 25 is the absolute maximum you can work with (certainly for Level 4 the groups need to be smaller to facilitate the conversation properly). I think the boundary needs to be clearer between the 2nd and 3rd activity as some of the feedback the groups were returning was very similar in nature.
Quiet Room I did use it but not because somebody was upset, but because there was a question of a confidential nature.
Action Planning we need a template we can use to capture the 3 requirements on Slide 70 (Creating Safe Spaces). This will allow for a reminder for the leaders to take way with them for completing the survey monkey evaluation, and to ensure when time is tight at the end there is some action planning carried out as a result of the training.
Evaluation for the 2 sessions I did where I asked for feedback at the end it seemed positive but I'm interested to see what comes back on survey monkey.
Effort it was pretty tiring doing 2 trainings in one day with only a short break between them especially with the stressful IT start. There definitely wasn't enough to drink and my coffee break was spent signing the certificates. Not sure how it will feel next month doing 4 sessions in 2 consecutive days! I was very conscious I was saying talk to your commissioner a lot when the commissioners in the room hadn't had their Level 4 training yet.
I did over 5k steps in the first training and only 3.5k steps in the second one just goes to show the impact of the IT stress at the beginning of the day. This is a very information heavy training and the group work (where usually you get a tiny amount of respite to re-group and think what next requires a lot of facilitation in this instance) so there is no let up in the pace for trainers.
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| VGA Adaptor ordered on Amazon £5.97 |
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