Two Exceptional Development Opportunities for Chicago-Area Learning Professionals (plus a bonus!)

If you are interested in expanding your professional knowledge base, I recently attended two programs you might want to consider: “Learning in a Competence-Based World” and “Learning Agility and the Brain: Fostering Learner Success in a Changing World.”  The programs, described below, are offered through DePaul University’s Center to Advance Education for Adults (CAEA) as part of its Adult Learning Innovation Institute. Early Bird Registration is now open for the fall session: Learning in a Competence-Based World: Mindsets, Models and Methods. For more details and to register, visit: https://cblinstitute2016.eventbrite.com

"Learning in a Competence-Based World: Mindsets, Models and Methods"

This interactive, two-day workshop, facilitated by Catherine Marienau, Ph.D. and other leaders in competence-based learning (CBL), clearly defined the term and reinforced the theories and concepts that underpin the concept: how people learn from experience, whether the setting is informal or formal. The program is especially geared to higher education faculty, training and development professionals, human resources administrators, coaches and mentors, and members of associations and agencies that promote adult learning. Topics included developing learning objectives, constructing competence statements, and assessing learning.

“Why should you care about competence-based learning?  That question served as the focus as the program leaders guided the participants through the steps that move learners to identify and demonstrate a competence. By explaining how to construct competence statements and define assessment criteria, the leaders linked CBL to all aspects of development.

Catherine Marienau, whose name is practically synonymous with adult education, and her colleague Kathleen Taylor recently published a book titled, Facilitating Learning with the Adult Brain in Mind: A Conceptual and Practical Guide .  The authors effectively tie neuroscience with the concepts of adult learning.

“Learning Agility and the Brain: Fostering Learner Success in a Changing World”

The VUCA Model (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) served as the springboard for this interactive, two-day workshop.  Recognizing, understanding, leveraging and developing agile approaches to successfully navigating our VUCA world was the program’s focus. 

Pamela Meyer, the program’s leader, addressed many important topics, including “Agility Awareness,” “Behaviors and Dispositions,” “Learning-Agile People,” “Personal Learning Agility Reflection,” and “Lessons from Agile Teams: Learning in Action.”

Before attending the program I had already read Pamela’s book, The Agility Shift: Creating Agile and Effective Leaders, Teams, and Organizations (you can download the first chapter here: http://pamela-meyer.com/the-agility-shift/), and came to the session with high expectations. I was not disappointed. By the end of the second day, I had achieved a deeper understanding of learning agility and the components of the “Relational Web” that supports the concept in action: Relevance, Responsiveness, Resilience, Resourcefulness, and Reflection.  

Bonus for my students (and my LinkedIn connections)!

Both Catherine Marienau and Pamela Meyer have graciously agreed to be interviewed this fall for the classroom and online leadership teaching/learning series, “Conversations with 21^st Century Leaders.”  The interviews will be announced through LinkedIn. It will be a privilege to talk with these leaders and gain their insights on current thinking in adult education.  Stay tuned for more information.

 Announced through LinkedIn 8/8/16