  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contribute to the newsletter
If you have
an article, book review, something of interest to facilitators
in your region or an upcoming training programme that
you would like to include in the newsletter please contact
Stephen Thorpe
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Regional
Update Comments
from Tom Schwarz
Continuing my Regional/Global
updates...
The prime 'event' in the Region was the great 2007 AFN IAF affiliated
conference held in Adelaide at the end of Nov '07.
Some 130 people (it was a sell-out to the design capacity..) attended -
networking, experiencing and learning - generally having a highly connecting
and boundary-provoking event.
|
 |
Hallmarks of this conference were an organic 'self-help' aspect - with
the highly interactive opening and closing entertainment of a 'chalkboard concert'
co-hosted by AFN'ers - by participants for participants - with much use of
Viv McWaters in her mime capacity dashing across 'the stage' appropriately
with a sign that said 'Celebrate failure'!
|
The conference was a fabulous blend of local 'organic' structuring and IAF
'conference pillars' - a highly interactive multistream event with unique
touches. One such touch was the gracious donation by Simon Kneebone of his cartoon
captures of the conference to an auction in the closing ceremony, with proceeds
going to aid the 'Movember' fund (to support research into men's health)
that Andrew Huffer (WA) sponsored at the conference.
The IAF was able to provide tangible support to the conference - from
co-facilitation of the opening Visioning plenary through to 'bouncing board
for ideas' and conference practicals...
To quote Joan Firkins (AFN 2007 co-convener) - "I believe that the
conversations which were held early on with IAF representatives [in the
first instance with Carla, Tom and Ann] and at later points with Stephen,
Keith and Dale enabled and supported the Adelaide AFN/IAF Conference 2007 to
be a successful and professional event.
We were pleased to attract international folks to the event - and were
delighted that IAF VP International Theresa Ratnam Thong - introduced by
Dale Hunter, Immediate Past Vice Chair International - was able to contribute to the
opening ceremonies."
I believe that the conference and dialogues that took place in Adelaide have
re-enforced that our ANZ AFN and IAF facilitation communities have the
same core values, with the percieved AFN-IAF 'divide' really being about organizational
settings along a continuum within one spectrum that is facilitation, and
the common aspiration to bring about change for the positive with
people/organizations/society/ourselves. |
 |
Some local and international IAF members were also privileged to attend the
ICA's (Institute of Cultural Affairs - the 'parent' of the IAF) annual
retreat held in New Zealand in Jan'08. This retreat combined the ICA's business of
planning support for social change locally and Internationally with an
immersion experience into the Maori culture (see the reflections on this meeting
by Stephen Thorpe below).
Please do also take the time to plan and plot your extra-ANZ Facilitation
explorations in 2008. The line-up of conferences is especially exciting and
this promises to be a great year for the IAF globally, with global IAF
conferences in Bangkok, South Africa, Netherlands and the USA, as well as the
IAF affiliated AFN 2008 conference in Bathurst, Australia.
And remember - both the Global Flipchart and the IAF Journal are always
looking for contributions .If you would like to make a contribution, contact
the IAF at www.iaf-world.org.
Go well
Tom
|
IAF Leaders: Terence Ratnam Thong, Tom Schwarz, Theresa Ratnam Thong,
Andrew Rixon & Keith Ryall
(standing behind)
Dale Hunter and Stephen Thorpe |
|
|
| |
| Facilitator Conferences Around the world
|
Get Certified!
CPF Accreditation at Bathurst 24-25 November
The IAF Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) Certification program will be held in Bathurst on 24-25 November 2008, just before the upcoming Australasian Facilitators Network conference.
The CPF process and designation provides a facilitator competence assessment and the designation offers an international recognition of facilitation competence. The assessment process is based on peer review of knowledge, experience and demonstration of facilitation skills.
It is an objective review on where the facilitator is on their facilitation journey. It highlights areas for development as well as affirming strengths in a strongly peer-oriented collaborative process.
Click here for more details. |
|
| |
| Facilitating Social Change Conference
Commonground Conference Centre, Seymour, Victoria - 8-10 May 2008
Like never before, the world needs good facilitation to help collaborate around just and sustainable outcomes on SOOOO many fronts.
This is a little conference that takes place between the big Australasian Facilitation Network (AFN) conferences held annually in November. The conference in May seeks to extend the reach of facilitation further into the realm of social change, and being social change agents.
For just and sustainable outcomes to have greater impact, we need to gather together people who think differently. At this Facilitating Social Change Conference, we would like to extend the invitation to facilitators from the 'top end of town' through to activists working from 'the bottom up' - and everyone in between.
For more details see: www.fscc.net.au
|
| |
| Comments
From Our Members What
is important to Ron Kemp & John Hanley
"For me – the importance of membership with the IAF is a sense of community and in turn – a sense of identity and belonging." - Ron Kemp
"I have found the methods database useful, and the
Global Flipchart. I have not as yet attended a national or international
conference, but it is useful knowing when these events are on - and program
content - I also attend a bi-monthly meeting in Brisbane of facilitators - I
enjoy the opportunity to connect face to face with other practitioners with
a passion for facilitation. I still consider myself a novice facilitator,
though my chronological age (53) at least gives me plenty of live experience
to draw upon!"- John Hanley
|
|
| |
Institute Of Cultural Affairs (ICA) Facilitation Hui Held In Auckland
Reflections from IAF Secretary Stephen Thorpe
I was honoured to be invited to participate in a Facilitation
Hui (meeting) being held in mid-January with Institute
of Cultural Affairs (ICA) facilitators at Te Piringatahi
o te Maungarongo Marae in Auckland. The ICA-Australia facilitators
were meeting in New Zealand to explore the theme of ‘ culture
and facilitation’. Organisers Michelle Rush and Helen
Ritchie had decided that immersing the facilitators in the
cultural experience of staying on a Māori marae would be a
great way to start the ICA-Australia's annual meeting. Many
of the ICA facilitators had come from Australia; others had
come from as far away as Taiwan and Bangladesh. The hui was
a great opportunity to share collective experience around
the spiritual and cultural aspects of facilitation.
|
 |
Together we were welcomed on to the marae with a traditional pōwhiri (welcome). This followed with whakawhanaunga (establishing relationships through introductions and story). There were engaging stories shared about early ICA experiences in Chicago in the 60's, as well as stories from community development in India, in Africa and in Asia, to the formation of the IAF in 1994. That evening, as we drifted off to sleep, we experienced the deep spiritual connection through Pūrākau, Taonga Pūoro - an experience of indigenous musical instruments.
The next day, after a morning meditation, we began exploring and sharing experiences around tikanga - cultural practices and protocols. We then explored some deeper questions around working with ‘spirit’ – What does it mean? How do we bring ‘spirit’ to what we do? We then reflected on our own practice as facilitators and the ICA purpose of ‘Catalysing New Thinking and Practice in Individuals and Organisations toward an Authentic Sustainable Society’.
The hui was a transformative experience for many through being
a part of the marae community, immersing ourselves in the bi-cultural
experience, and the sharing of knowledge. Larry Philbrook from
Taiwan said, “The experience of introducing
ourselves to the community starting from the ancestors to the
land to our present community and work was very profound”.
The hui experience was a great way to make connections with
members of the ICA facilitator community. The immersive marae
experience provided a wonderful forum for the ICA-Australia
facilitators to reflect on ‘culture and facilitation’
and their role in building a sustainable society. It was an
honour to have been invited along and to be able to contribute
to the ICA journey as it unfolds into the future.
Stephen Thorpe -
IAF Secretary
|
| |
Facilitation Training
Upcoming opportunities in the Australasian region
ToP (ICA’s network) in Sydney: Modules 1 to
3 of the ToP Facilitative Leadership Program 6-8 February. For details contact
.
Action Research workshops with Bob Dick, in
Brisbane: Conflict management 1- 2 March, Foundations
of Facilitation 24-25 May, Advanced Facilitation 2-3
August, Action learning 23-24 October. For details contact
.
Zenergy The Art of Facilitation: 10-14 March - Auckland;
14-18 April - Wellington;
5-9 May Nelson. Online Facilitation Skills: 19 May - 27 July - Global (Online programme).
For details contact
.
The Groupwork Institute of Australia in Melbourne: Introduction to Facilitation 13-14 May,
Advanced Group Facilitation starts 15 April. For details
contact
.
For facilitation training opportunities see
the IAF Regional calendar
>>> or the training
directory >>>.
|
|
| |
| Global Initiative On Facilitation Training
Task-force on accrediting facilitation trainers
A global initiative on accrediting facilitation training is currently being initiated by the IAF. Its intent is to certify facilitation training
providers who map their program outcomes to the IAF's facilitator
competence matrix. A task-force is currently looking at a
recommendation from an in-depth global working party review of the Global CPF
program (ANZ was represented by Tom Schwarz).
|
Conduct Facilitator Training?
Add a boost your training programme
You can arrange to have your training programme participants become IAF
members at the discounted rate of US$50 each. It's a good way to boost the offering of your facilitation training programme and begin your participants on their professional journey.
Contact Stephen Thorpe for details
.
|
| |
| IAF Endorses The Institute of Group Leaders
First regional endorsement
We are pleased to be able to report our first regional organisation endorsement
by the IAF - the Institute of Group Leaders (IGL), who were seeking
endorsement by a recognised global professional body to help their outreach
efforts.
The organisation was evaluated and deemed to have values, objectives, ethos,
and quality processes congruent with the IAF's. The endorsement was
seen to align with the social impact aspect of the IAF's work.
Below is an extract that describes the organisation and its objectives, as well as a plug for their conference coming up in Sydney in March 2008.
The Institute of Group Leaders IGL) has just launched a national
endorsement process for community based group work programs.
This process enables organizations and individuals who have developed group
work programs to obtain national endorsement and a website register of those
programs. The endorsement process is focused on the program's development
rather than the recognition of competency for the facilitator.
For the purpose of accreditation a group program is defined as a structured
group process designed to change patterns of behaviour or thinking in such a
way that they have the maximum positive impact on the participants' lives.
This manual is based on the endorsement process used by the NSW Department
of Corrective Services (Offender Programs Units 2005). It incorporates
principles for program accreditation established by international research
and other group work practice in Australia. Appreciation is given to the NSW
Department of Corrective Services who provided the template for this manual.
This process meets the program development requirements for other
organisations:
1. Family Relationship Services Australia
2. Alzheimer's Australia
3. Accreditation Strategic Framework, NSW Department of Corrective
Services
4. New South Wales Family Services
5. lnterrelate Family Centres, NSW
6. Uniting Care, Burnside, NSW
7. Unifam Counselling and Mediation, NSW
8. Centacare Broken Bay, NSN
IGL 2008 conference highlights -
Forging new territory: Putting group work on the map!
Friday 7th & Saturday 8th March 2008 in Sydney.
Wesley Conference Centre, 220 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW.
Contact and details: www.igl.org.au or email
.
Program themes:
- The dream of 'the new tribal community': how the
under-30s are making it come true
- Group work in difficult places - creating the
possibility of change in Corrective Services
- Forging new boundaries in creative group work
- Group work in non-residential therapeutic communities
- Launch of the National Endorsed Group Work Program
Awards
- New edge in group work: therapeutic- educational groups
|
|
| |
IAF-ANZ.org Events Calendar
A new addition to the regional website
There has been a change to the events that can be listed on the IAF-World events calendar. Shortly it will no longer accept and list facilitation training events. Due to this change we are in the process of developing an events calendar for the Australasian regional website - www.iaf-anz.org.
Contact Stephen Thorpe to list details of your facilitation training programme or facilitation event.
|
Join
The IAF-ANZ Leadership Team
Promote
facilitation in your area
We meet monthly (via
Skype) and together tackle many ideas and initiatives
to promote the art and practice of facilitation in our
region. To share your ideas or to find out what is going
on, please contact:
Tom Schwarz:
Keith Ryall:
Stephen Thorpe:
|
|
| |
|
