Speaker 1: Go ahead and accept. Get that recording, and I'd like to introduce you to Emma Diaz and Becky Foreman, our presenters for the day. And there we go. We're on the first slide.

Emma Diaz: So good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here on a Friday morning. My name is Emma Diaz, and you know me currently as the director for the San Bernardino area in Inland adult Education Consortium. But my second hat that I wear, is I work with Becky Foreman, who I'll let introduce herself right now. And we're going to talk about the Technology of Participation. Becky is a certified trainer and has worked with me over the last eight years. So Becky, if you could introduce yourself.

Becky Foreman: Well, really, it's just what Emma said. I'm facilitator, a trainer. I specialize in the Technology of Participation methods. So that's what we're going to talk about today. And it's been my pleasure to work with Emma over the last eight years, so she can tell you a little bit more about those experiences.

Emma Diaz: And so here I wanted to start by telling you the story of how we've used facilitation and what it has done for our region. Again, I've been in the position of being a director for the last eight years. So I was tasked very early on when I came in to start the AB86 process of creating a regional plan. Mind you, that was extremely overwhelming at the time because we didn't have a lot of guidance.

So it all began with AB86 and the task of creating this regional plan with multiple school system deliveries. I mean, we had County Office of Ed, we had community based partners, we had community college, we had K-12. So it was a little overwhelming, to say the least. And so I reached out to somebody who was in the region that was already working with several of the members through the Alliance for Education in San Bernardino. They were working already with multiple systems.

And I approached their director one day and said, you know, I really need some help trying to just figure out what we need to do in the room. And I asked her-- her name is Debra Mustain, who's still in the region. And I asked her, and I said, could you come in and could you facilitate, because she had already told me she was a facilitator.

Mind you, she was extremely busy and said, I'm really busy. And she says, but I'm going to give you my top facilitator. And to me, I thought, wow top is the best, and so it's our ongoing joke with Becky because TOP is the Technology of Participation, which is what we will talk about, the actual system that is used for facilitation. But in my mind, I was getting the top facilitator, and I feel very blessed because it was.

Becky really did a phenomenal job. And I want to walk you through the process of how we use this to be able to write an annual plan, a three year plan, a regional plan. The skill set that you learn is something that can be applied in multiple places. It could be applied in a classroom, in a board meeting, anywhere where you have people that represent different constituents, different stakeholders, and you want all voices to be heard in the room. That's really what technology of participation is about.

So over here, again, it started with AB86, the task of writing a regional plan. And one of the very first things Becky did with me, we sat in a room because it was, like I said, it was quite overwhelming. I'm very blessed to have said I have Becky to thank for a lot of what we did very early on. And she said, well we're going to come up with your rationale aim and your experiential aim.

And the rational aim is what do you want them to get done? And I said, well, we need to do a regional plan. But she says, what do you want them to experience as they're writing this plan? And I remember thinking, you know what, I know we don't know how much money we're going to get, but I don't want the money to be the focus. I want the experience for our students to be the focus. So I said, I want to focus on the abundance of money and the abundance of students. That's what I want them to experience in the room.

And I set that vision with Becky very early on. And when one of our superintendents actually retired, about five years into all of the restructuring of adult Ed, on her way out after her retirement party, we walked out and she said to me, I need to tell you that when I walked in, I thought we were all competitors. And she says, today, I'm leaving after five years, she's like, and I know all along now that there was always enough for all of us.

And I think that was the confirmation of the vision I had set with Becky very early on. So it does work. The process does work. Now, why did we use this, is because we wanted that inclusivity and inclusiveness for all of our participants, whether they were teachers, whether they were faculty at the college, whether they were staff, meaning they could have been classified staff and administrators. We had everybody in the room, and then it became a, how are all voices going to be heard?

So the participation came from all. And that really is what broke the silos. And the picture that you see here is one of the many hubs that we had, as we call them, or work groups. And we have their community college Dean, community partners, we had K-12 in the room, we had some actually, County services as well. And the little animals were just kind of to give people-- when you're thinking there's a lot of creative energy that just gave them an opportunity to be able to hold something while they were thinking.

And Becky, you unmuted, so obviously, either I said something wrong or forgot something.

Becky Foreman: You didn't forget a thing. You said nothing wrong. I just didn't want to forget to unmute when it was my turn.

Emma Diaz: Oh I thought-- there is some chat, but I can't see that as I'm presenting. So I don't know if there's anything that-- there's any questions, Becky, or anything I need to pause for.

Becky Foreman: No, people are typing in their names and their role.

Emma Diaz: Introducing themselves, great. Well, thank you for that everyone. And so, yes. So we use different methods to put together this entire regional plan. And it was done over several months. It wasn't something that happened overnight. I'm going to say it was about five to six months of these meetings. We designed it in a way where we were able pull in the individuals that had the information that we needed. So that's just kind of an overview of how we began to use it and why we use it.

This is another image of what it looks like. And as Becky will go through the different kinds and steps, I wanted you to have a visual of what it looks like. As you can see up on the left hand corner, there is just one question. We only answer one question at a time. If not, it becomes extremely overwhelming. So part of the design is that question.

And as you notice, those little white cards they have all kinds of different writing on them. That's because those are the ideas of all the participants in the room. This is what it looks like towards the end through the process of what TOP is. Again, you see all the different writing because those are all the different ideas and representation from everyone in the room. All ideas get placed, and then we put them together in themes to be able to come up with the consensus of what the room is trying to do with that one question.

This was just an image from one of my Consortium annual planning meetings, and you'll recognize some of the familiar faces in the room because they're all representing our eight different members for our consortium that we bring together. So now, Becky, now it's on you.

Becky Foreman: Yes it is. So I wanted to talk, first, a little bit about facilitation as a form of leadership because people don't often think about facilitators as leaders. But there is an element of leadership within that role. But there are also different hats, different roles and different styles that people tend to use throughout their careers or even from day to day that you assume, kind of different hats.

So I'm going to talk about those different roles just to make sure that we're clear on the difference between them. They often kind of get mixed up when people talk about a facilitator as opposed to a consultant or trainer or even a hierarchical leader. So I'm going to contrast each of these roles by talking about what each of them assumes, knows, seeks, relies on, and what the results are that they expect.

So beginning with the consultant. When a consultant comes in, they assume that the group needs their expertise. Otherwise, why did you call them? They need to content. They have a special expertise, usually, or a sectoral strategy that they can share. And what they're seeking is compliance to their recommendations because again, you called them to come in with their expertise. Hopefully, you're going to take their suggestions.

So they're going to rely on their own experience and their training. And what they expect is there will be change that will be approved by leadership. So that's the consultant role. The trainer is different. What the trainer assumes is that the group is seeking wisdom. What they know is content, whatever it is they are training. They really seek learner clarity.

They are going to rely on their research, their learning, their training. What they expect is that there will be understanding, that the group will understand what they have learned. So that's the trainer's role, very different from the consultant or the facilitator.

The hierarchical leader is probably the oldest form of leadership that we have, probably dating back to the days of the cave dwellers, but that's assuming that there is a leader who is the authority, top of the pyramid. So what that leader needs to know is what to do always, what to do because it will always fall back on them. So therefore, they always need to make the right decisions. That's what they're seeking.

And what they rely on to do that is their individual abilities. And what they expect is there will be decisions and plans that they are going to have created and passed along down the pyramid for others to carry out. And that's a very typical leadership style. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's quite different from the facilitators role.

So the facilitator comes in assuming that the group already has wisdom and experience. And what they know is how to proceed to draw that wisdom and experience from the group. So they have methods to do that. They're seeking decisions that everybody owns. They're owned by everyone, and they're relying on the ability of the group to come together and provide that information.

What they really expect to happen, what does happen, is there's a commitment to action at the end of it because everybody has formed these decisions and these plans together. So those are the different leadership roles. You don't need to answer this, but you just can consider, go ahead. And that's fine. They can see these little stick figures. Think about how often you see yourselves in these different roles, as a consultant, a trainer, hierarchical leader, facilitator.

And like I said, most of us shift from role to role even maybe within the same day. We can do that. But each of these are important, but the facilitator is quite a bit different. So let's talk about the dynamics of facilitation. Facilitators need to-- you can continue, Emma, process-- they focus on process more than content. So let's just stop for a minute to think about that. If you come in as a trainer, you're focused on content. A consultant is going to be focused on content, and so it's a hierarchical leader most of the time.

But a facilitator is not bought into the final product at all. What they are bought into is the process they use that's going to be facilitative, that's going to be inclusive, that's going to bring people to consensus. So they focus on process. They are not bought into the content. They have no stake in that, and they're flexible. We have to be flexible because you have to respond to the needs of the group, which can change frequently. So there has to be flexibility built in, even as you're following specific methods.

You have to understand group dynamics because you're working with groups. You need to understand how groups work together and how sometimes, they don't work together. And then there are methods that will help groups to work through any issues they may have within their dynamics. And so I think finally, one of the most important things to me is that facilitators don't know the right answers. They're not there to answer a question. They're there to ask the right questions of the group, and then trust in the wisdom of the group to come up with the best possible plan or answer for them.

And they get things done. I like to say facilitators get things done. So there are methods that we use, and each facilitator will have their own methods. But the ones I use are from Technology of Participation. And within Technology of Participation or TOP, as Emma said, there are four kind of core methods. One is the focused conversation. And we're going to demonstrate that in just a minute, so I won't talk too much about that right now.

The second is the consensus workshop, and Emma kind of showed you some images of that. That's where we bring people together to share their ideas and come to consensus over any kind of a question or issue. Action planning, a way to get groups together to plan an event or activity within just a few hours and reaching full consensus. And then all of those are combined when we go into strategic planning, which sort of wraps all of those together to help a group come up with a fully formed strategic plan.

So let's talk, then, first, about the focused conversation. And as I said, that is something we're going to demonstrate. So I think we're going to do that now. So what we're going to do in just a moment is we're going to share this little Ted Talk video together, and then we'll have a focused conversation about it. And the reason we're showing this video is because we thought maybe this is something that everybody could relate to in some way.

This Ted Talk is by the late Rita Pierson. She was a teacher. And she's going to share her experiences in this talk, and the name of it is, Every Kid Needs a Champion. And I'm going to be quiet now so we can watch the video.

[video playback]

[logo music]

- I have spent my entire life either at the schoolhouse, on the way to the schoolhouse, or talking about what happens in the schoolhouse. Both my parents were educators. My maternal grandparents were educators, and for the past 40 years, I've done the same thing.

And so needless to say, over those years, I've had a chance to look at education reform from a lot of perspectives. Some of those reforms have been good. Some of them have been not so good. And we know why kids drop out. We know why kids don't learn. It's either poverty, low attendance, negative peer influences, we know why. But one of the things that we never discuss or we rarely discuss is the value and importance of human connection, relationships.

James Comer says that no significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. George Washington Carver says all learning is understanding relationships. Everyone in this room has been affected by a teacher or an adult. For years, I have watched people teach, I have looked at the best, and I've looked at some of the worst.

A colleague said to me one time, they don't pay me to like the kids. They pay me to teach a lesson. The kids should learn it. I should teach it. They should learn it, case closed. Well, I said to her, you know, kids don't learn from people they don't like.

[applause]

She said, that's just a bunch of hooey. And I said to her, well your year is going to be long and arduous, dear. Needless to say, it was. Some people think that you can either have it in you to build a relationship or you don't. I think Stephen Covey had the right idea. He said you ought to just throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand as opposed to being understood, simple things like apologizing. You ever thought about that? Tell a kid you're sorry, they're in shock.

I taught a lesson once on ratios. I'm not real good with math, but I was working on it. And I got back and looked at that teacher edition, I taught the whole lesson wrong. So I came back to class the next day and I said, look guys, I need you apologize. I taught the whole lesson wrong. I'm so sorry. They said, that's OK, Mr Pierson. You were so excited, we just let you go.

[applause]

I have had classes that were so low, so academically deficient that I cried. I wondered how am I going to take this group in nine months from where they are to where they need to be. And it was difficult. It was awfully hard. How do I raise the self-esteem of a child and his academic achievement at the same time?

One year, I came up with a bright idea. I told all my students, you were chosen to be in my class because I am the best teacher and you are the best students. They put us all together So we could show everybody else how to do it. One of the students said, really? I said, really, we have to show the other classes how to do it. So when we walk down the hall, people will notice us. So you can't make noise. You just have to strut.

And I gave them a saying to say, I am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful, and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress and places to go. And they said, yeah. You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you. And so--

[applause]

I gave a quiz, 20 questions, student missed 18. I put a plus two on his paper and a big smiley face. He said Miss Pierson, is this an F? I said yes. He said, then, why'd you put a smiley face? I said, because you're on a roll. You got two right. You didn't miss them all. I said, and when we review this, won't you do better? He said, yes ma'am, I can do better. You see, minus 18 sucks all the life out of you. Plus two said, I ain't all bad.

[applause]

For years, I watched my mother take the time at recess to review, go on home visits in the afternoon, buy combs and brushes and peanut butter and crackers to put in her desk drawer for kids that needed to eat and a washcloth and some soap for the kids who didn't smell so good. See, it's hard to teach kids who stink. And kids can be cruel. And so she kept those things in her desk.

And years later after she retired, I watched some of those same kids come through and say to her, you know, Miss Walker, you made a difference in my life. You made it work for me. You made me feel like I was somebody when I knew at the bottom I wasn't. And I want you to just see what I've become.

And when my mama died two years ago at 92, there were so many former students at her funeral, it brought tears to my eyes. Not because she was gone, but because she left a legacy of relationships that could never disappear. Can we stand to have more relationships? Absolutely. Will you like all your children? Of course not. And you know your toughest kids are never absent.

[audience laughing]

Never. You won't like them all, and the tough ones show up for a reason. It's the connection. It's the relationships. And while you won't like them all, the key is they can never ever know it. So teachers become great actors and great actresses, and we come to work when we don't feel like it. And we listen to policy that doesn't make sense, and we teach anyway. We teach anyway because that's what we do. Teaching and learning should bring joy.

How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who are not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. Is this job tough? You betcha. Oh God, you betcha. But it is not impossible.

We can do this. We're educators. We're born to make a difference. Thank you so much.

[end playback]

Becky Foreman: All right. Well, now that we've had a chance to watch the video together, I'd like to have a conversation about it. And to do this, I am going to ask you to-- if you have a response to a question, you don't have to answer if you don't. But if you do, please just unmute and speak because it's easier than watching for hands raised, which can sometimes get lost. And Emma's going to help me watch the chat as well.

Now, my first question, without explaining why, you don't have to explain why, what's just one word or phrase that you remember hearing in this video, one word or phrase you remember Hearing

Speaker 2: Relationships.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. OK. Anybody else? Word or phrase you heard?

Emma Diaz: You could type it in the chat as well, and I'll read it.

Becky Foreman: And Emma will read it, yeah.

Emma Diaz: Plus two, on your roll. You're on a roll, and also a plus two.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. OK. All right. So what other words or phrases come to mind? Anything else come to mind?

Emma Diaz: They also typed in, not easy, although we listen to politics that don't make sense, we teach anyway, seek to understand, and then the word, deserve.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. So how about emotions? What emotions did you see? What emotions did you see, either from Rita or from people in the audience?

Emma Diaz:

Passion.

Speaker 3: Understanding.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Enthusiasm, empathy, love, agreement.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Humility, sorry one more. Had to sneak that one in, Becky.

Becky Foreman: Please. That's great, thank you. So what emotions did you experience? What did you feel during the presentation?

Speaker 3: I'm crying. [chuckling]

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Dana says excitement.

Becky Foreman: OK.

Emma Diaz: Ilsa says inspiration, inspired. I felt empowered, and that was from Darlene.

Becky Foreman: OK, thank you.

Emma Diaz: Moved. Edith says, I wish all teachers would have the same excitement. Joey says refreshed.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Dana says, memories of when I taught.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. So what did she say or do that made you smile at any point? What did she say or do that made you smile?

Will Nedersen: Her Stories.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Dana also says her humorous stories. Janae says her honesty, and Joy says smiled and laughed. Darlene says, but miss Peterson, I got 18 wrong. Alejandro says, people don't learn from people that they don't like.

Becky Foreman: So for anyone who would care to share, what memories from your own life did this bring back? You can unmute and speak if you're comfortable doing that, or you could put it in the chat. But sometimes when you're sharing a memory, it's easier to articulate.

Emma Diaz: Linda says, enthusiasm and love, positive outlook.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Darlene Dwyer: May I speak?

Becky Foreman: Please.

Darlene Dwyer: Yes. I remember a teacher I had for social studies, Mr Choice. I had a test the next day, and my father had gone into the hospital. And I came in the next day, and I told him. I said, my father went in the hospital, and I didn't have time to study. He said, I understand. I'm so sorry. Here's your test. I said, I'm sorry.

[dog barking]

You didn't hear me. Sorry, my dog's barking. I said, I can't take the test. Yes, you can. No, I can't. So I was very stubborn, and I sat there. And I finally took it, and I got an A. And he said, I told you you could take the test. So I thought that was really inspiring.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. Thank you, Darlene, for sharing that. Anyone else have a memory it brought back from their life that they'd like to share.

Audrey Dierdorff: Yeah. I had a student in my English class. And I noticed that he wouldn't read, he wouldn't really participate, and I tried to like him, as she said. But of course, you, know it's hard to like a student if you feel like they're not really trying. And what I realized was, every time that I was speaking or we were talking, he would draw, he would doodle.

And so I made a decision that we would do a group project on a book. And that they would have to draw or create a poster or-- and I have never seen such a change in a kid, like 180 degrees because that was his thing. And from then on, it just reminded me that you just need to meet them where they're at. And so, like she does.

It was really inspiring. And I only have like one or two of those in my life, but I would like to have a lot more.

Becky Foreman: Thank you very much for sharing that, Audrey. So anyone, what do you think is her intended message? What was the intended message of this Ted Talk?

Will Nedersen: I believe it was to make the point that it's the relationship that you build with your students to inspire for success.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Corlei N Prieto: Also, my sense is she removed the higher-- the structure, that she sort of became one with them and elevated them. And then she also humbled herself or debunking that myth of boundaries and not being human or being human that we're all one. Sorry, I get a little emotional, I guess.

Becky Foreman: Perfectly OK.

Emma Diaz: And in the chat, Becky Edith did put, it's important to build relationships.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Dana Galloway: I was I was going add that-- can I just add that she sees the potential in all kids. There are no throwaway kids. It's like everybody has to start somewhere. Everybody has the right to learn and be successful.

Becky Foreman: Thank you I think we touched on this just a moment ago, but what myths about teaching does this video dispel? What are some myths about teaching it dispel?

Emma Diaz: Dana says that the teacher knows everything.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Audrey Dierdorff: That some children or some learners can't be helped.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. Well, just-- oh, I see something else in the chat. Good.

Emma Diaz: Well they just said that anything can be learned.

Becky Foreman: Oh, very nice, thank you. Thank you. Just a final question for anyone who would like to respond, what's something new or different might do in your own personal or work life as a result of seeing this video and having this conversation? Anything new or different you might try.

Emma Diaz: Will says, keep building relationships that encourage.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Dana says, try to be more patient and understanding with everyone.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Audrey Dierdorff: To look at my students and realize that every one of them has a strength.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Emma Diaz: Janae says, find ways to be more supportive.

Becky Foreman: Thank you. Well, I thank you all for participating in this conversation with me. I've watched this video a lot of times. But every time I share it with another group, I get more insight into it from your own comments. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

So that is the end of our demonstration. That was a focused conversation. And so we'll go back to our slides and talk a little bit about why it was structured the way it was. The focused conversation can be used to reflect on anything, to lead a group through a conversation about a change that's going to occur or something that has happened, something they've seen or experienced. And the point of a focused conversation is not to get everybody to agree. People don't have to agree.

The point of it is to let everybody have a chance to reflect and to contribute what they got from it and to get multiple perspectives. So it sort of deepens the experience when you're able to have a conversation about it. And it's structured to go through four different levels, and I'll show those to you.

So the first three questions there at the top were the first three I asked. What's one word or phrase you remember hearing? Other words or phrases that come to mind? What emotions did you see? And all of that is what we call the objective level. So the objective level, which, you can advance the slide, Emma. It's what you see, hear, taste, touch, smell. It's all data. Sensory data is objective.

Thank you, Emma. So the second level of questions are about emotions. What emotions did you experience? What did you say or do that made you smile? And what memories from your own life did this bring back? And I should mention that of course, these questions are crafted to be appropriate to whatever the conversation is going to be. You wouldn't always ask the same questions.

But in this case, this is what we call the reflective level, and it really is getting into more of an internal experience and perspective. It could be emotions, it could be memories, it could be reactions. So that's getting a little bit deeper into the conversation. Then on the third level, I just asked, what do you think was the intended message, and what myths about teaching does this video dispel? And that's-- as you're getting into an interpretive level, you're discerning meaning.

So you're taking your objective level data and how you responded to it. And then from it, you are drawing some kind of meaning. And then finally, the final question about something new or different that you'll do, it's not because you have to do anything new or different. You don't. But if you are thinking of something, that's the final level of the conversation, decisional, where you're making a choice or taking an action.

So every focused conversation is structured following these same four levels, with the objective level being meant to open it up to as many people as possible because they're not getting into really deeper personal questions, but helping you process it. And then just moving deeper and deeper, understanding that as we go through the conversation, we'll get probably fewer responses toward the end, where you're really getting deeply into it. But it doesn't mean people aren't thinking about it or processing it, but they may not-- everybody wants to respond to each of these questions.

So that is the focused conversation. Just really briefly, it helps all members participate. You can get clear ideas and conclusions, broaden perspectives by hearing other people's take on it, you can ensure a meaningful dialogue and move any discussion to a productive end. That is the purpose of the focused conversation. Just one of our methods.

I'm not going to read the whole slide, but the consensus workshop, as it sounds, it's a way to get people to come to consensus. You can do it in a very short time period. Within one to two hours, you can get everybody to come to agreement. So unlike the focused conversation where everyone can have their own opinions, in this people's opinions come together to form specific themes and ideas where they generate some creativity. You do get a sense of responsibility within the team. It does use both rational and intuitive thinking, and it really does build consensus.

So that is the consensus workshop. And here's an illustration of people doing just that, as Emma showed to you earlier.

Emma Diaz: Yeah, and I wanted to show images because I think that really paints the picture of how we use it within our consortium and having different constituents in a room. And when you do have different levels, different opinions, the consensus workshop really is how we all, I'm going to say, got on the same page as to what our priorities were in the region when we created our regional plan and when we create our annual plans.

Becky Foreman: So without taking a lot of time because I know we're going to run out of time, action planning. If you've ever been involved in trying to plan a project or activity, you know that sometimes those meetings can get kind of deadly, drag on for hours or just keep repeating the same thing over and over. So this is a process that within one meeting, you'll completely identify the project, all of the steps that need to be taken, who's going to do them and by when. So it gives you a fully formed action plan with a calendar that you can follow usually within two to three hours.

And here I am again back in the day. So strategic planning, this, like I said before, it just pulls everything together. It uses all of these methods. It's comprehensive, intentional and future oriented. So the plan is based on a vision and also on concrete steps that you can take to get to that vision. It's fully participatory throughout the whole process. So by the end of it, people do have a sense of ownership, which inspires them to act because it's their plan. They developed it, so they want it to work.

And that is strategic planning in a very tiny nutshell. Here I am again. This was a few years ago. My hair was much shorter then.

Emma Diaz: And I'll say, you could see that blue sticky wall, as we call it, in the background. That change is based on what we're trying to do. So in this case right here, I showed you pictures earlier where we had everybody's thoughts and ideas when we were working on more of the consensus workshop. But here with action planning, we actually create a grid. And I'll show you what that looks like on paper a little bit after this.

Well, that's actually it. So I wanted to talk about always taking the theory and putting it into practice. And so it's like, how are we using this? How can we embed this? So we use it for both our annual plan and our three year plan. So what we do is it's about how to incorporate facilitation in any of these that you're doing.

As Becky said, as a facilitator, it's about asking the right questions. So I want to show you an example of how we did it from beginning to end. Back when we had our AB86 regional planning, we had seven work groups or as we called them, hubs, that were tasked to develop each one of the sections of the plan. So I want to show you one of those seven sections.

And yesterday, if some of you were in our workshop, we did a jam session on transitions. And that was the result of all of this that happened eight years ago. So we started our very first meeting and asked a question of the group. It was, what barriers stand in the way of providing effective transition services throughout our region? That was what we began with.

That was meeting number one, and we brought in deans, teachers, faculty, staff, even community partners of saying you know there's many on ramps to adult education, and then there's many off ramps of where they want to go. So how, as a region, are we going to provide effective transition services?

Meeting number two, then the question we asked for the room was, what do we want to see in place in five years as a result of our action? We began this with before they rolled out AB104, which they then shortened it to a three year vision. But we had a five year vision of what does it look like over the five years.

Meeting number three was, what practical actions can we take to deal with the contradictions and move forward with our vision? So we talked about what stands in the way. Becky facilitated the room again. Different constituents, different stakeholders that were in the room. And then in our last meeting, we actually created it and said, what will our specific, measurable accomplishments be over the first 12 months? We wanted to have that action plan of how do we move forward.

So that was the process of just looking at transitions. We did the same thing with the ESL group, did the same thing with a basic skills group, so forth, because each one was going to have some differences in terms of the plan, as well as differences with the individuals that were in the room. So again, as Becky mentioned at the beginning, it is about the buy in. It is about that you're creating this with the individuals that are in the room.

So all of those little cards you saw, this is what the result looked like. And I actually included these tables that Becky gave me as documentation within our AB86 initial regional plan. I use this plan as well when I onboard somebody new because I say, as a region, we had this massive discussion. That little blue section you see on top is actually the consensus of each one of those sections when we ask the question. And we have that listed on the bottom was, what barriers stand in the way of providing effective transition services throughout our region?

So each one of those little white cards was a thought that somebody had, and those are the bullets you see on the bottom. And then as a group, we had the discussion of coming to a consensus of what does the room think those barriers are. And again, you can see the date. This was back in August of 2014. And it took us about five or six months of working on this. So that's how we began.

Then we set a practical vision for what we wanted to do moving forward. And again, the consensus is what's in the little blue squares. The bullet points are every thought that was in the room. So nobody's thought gets thrown out. Everybody's voice gets heard on that board. Then from there, we met again to come up with a strategic direction of what we wanted to do with transition services.

We broke this down over, again, our accomplishments. What does it look like over the first 12 months? And so on that big sticky wall, we actually had the quadrants to be able to visualize, what does this look like over 12 months? And then we took that and broke it down. So it's a refinement that happens, because again, getting to that decisional at the end, it incorporates the work that needs to be done, the discussions. Sometimes there are difficult discussions that need to be had.

If you see on the bottom, they have what we needed, the resources we needed to leverage. What resources do we need? Sometimes it incorporates funding and incorporates personnel, so we wanted to have those discussions upfront. And then we refined it even more with each one of these strategic directions, and what did it look like? When is our completion date? What are the steps? This holds people accountable.

And as well, like I said, I use it as an on boarding tool when-- there's always turnover within the consortium, both at the different levels. Whether it's our voting membership, whether it's our principals at our sites, whether it's a new dean, whether it's a new counselor, I use this as an on boarding tool to say, we're welcoming you to something the region has already created.

And so Becky, I will hand that back over to you. But I wanted to show people what it actually looks like in practice.

Becky Foreman: And I know that we have here on the screen, it says closing ORID. And I didn't explain that ORID is a shorthand for a focused conversation. It reflects the different levels, objective, reflective, interpretive and decisional. And I know we have 12 minutes left. So very quickly, we could have a couple of questions if anyone has questions before we do any other closing. So a couple of minutes, if anyone has any questions for me or for Emma. If you do, just speak up or chat.

Dana Galloway: Hi. Becky it's Dana.

Becky Foreman: Hey there.

Dana Galloway: Is there, I don't know, a website or something that deals with Technology or Participation? I'll get the recording and the materials after the fact, but I wondered if there are any other places to get resources.

Becky Foreman: Yes. Actually, there is a website that has lists of all of the different training courses when they're available and all of that. And that is top-training.net. So it's top-training.net, and that will give you information about all the different courses offered all over the country. And with the virtual training now, it is possible to attend courses almost anywhere without leaving your office.

Dana Galloway: Great. Thanks so much. This is super useful.

Becky Foreman: Thank you.

Dana Galloway: It makes me--

Becky Foreman: I see there was a question-- oh, go ahead, please.

Dana Galloway: No, I was going to say just makes me think back to the interaction in our consortium and our meetings and what's effective and what's not, so.

Becky Foreman: Yes, definitely. Thank you. I see Audrey is asking, how do you address those in the group who are difficult? And that's such a good question, and it's really a loaded question. There are different methods that we can use. One of the things that has helped me is the fact that this is an opportunity for everyone to be heard, so even if somebody has got kind of a contrary position, they can still be heard.

So we don't cut them off. We don't say, well, we don't want to hear from you. You're too negative. But we have people work in small groups, often. And within a small group, of people tend to come together, and they're a little bit more respectful. It's a little bit easier for them to articulate their ideas, but they can even have ideas that are completely opposite to what a lot of other people have and still find some commonality, some common theme.

We've had those columns that Emma was showing you, where we've had two cards where one completely contradicted the other. But at the end of it, everybody came together with what the bigger picture was. So it's kind of addressing the bigger picture, being respectful, just profound respect, which is one of our values, and allowing them to be heard without judging or cutting them off.

That's just a real simple answer, but it's a complex question. Oh, and I see Jorge has dropped into the chat the link to the top training website, which, as I said, you can get a lot of information on there. All right.

Emma Diaz: And Audrey, many times, the conversations that are tough need to happen because you can't keep sweeping that under the rug. It's better to have it in a facilitated space, an environment where people feel safe to share their ideas and talk through them. And many times, they realize the idea they had of what was blocking them really doesn't exist. And at the end, they do reach consensus.

I think it's magic the way it works. I've seen it happen with multiple groups, small groups, large groups, medium groups. And even though the tables that we've been warned, these people might be a little tough. They're the first ones to really participate. And I think it is just that, they're looking for a space for their voice.

Becky Foreman: And Dana, I appreciate your comment too, that I don't mind the people who have contradictory ideas. It's the ones who won't respect the process, interrupt others, insist they are right, et cetera. And honestly, that hasn't really been happening too much. Because the process is engaging, there not a lot of people that kind of try to buck it. They just sort of go with the flow, I found, in general. But yeah, those people, if they don't respect the process, they create, I think, the most problem.

Emma Diaz: And because--

Becky Foreman: Well--

Emma Diaz: I'll say Becky--

Becky Foreman: Oh, go ahead.