No longer alone: Journeying together in adult education
Today, I asked our members, In what ways are you honoring yourself & your practice this week, as an educator of adults? I think this is often a question we don't really stop to ask ourselves. Instead of taking the time to breath, we might already find ourselves out of breath...and it's just Monday!
Do you regularly carve out time, just for you? Do you have a space you can do this? When was the last time you actually took time to take stock of where you are personally and professionally? It's so easy to get caught in a race with ourselves, especially this past year where we have needed to quickly scramble together resources to facilitate online.
Perhaps you been just one small step ahead of the adults you were instructing during Covid. As they have been navigating technology, so have you. As they have been juggling working from home, so have you. I think there have been many hidden lessons we've learned, as we have all navigated these strange times, and yet, many of us continue this journey on our own or in isolation.
One of the best resources for our members, in coming together as practitioners, has been our Water Cooler Catch-ups - perhaps just in time for summer, with the hot weather we are experiencing! These live events, happen twice a month (across 3 different time zones). They are like a live, digital sounding board where we meet together to share best practice & discuss an aspect of our monthly theme in more depth.
This week in this session, we are discussing: Getting from A to B: Where do you want to be a year from now, and how do you want to get there? I've asked our members to consider these questions ahead of time:
- What lessons/strategies have you learned from lockdown this past year, as an adult learning professional? Do you have a memorable experience that you've taken with you?
- What can you carry forward with you as a professional, but also as a person?
- What resources do you have to get there? And how can we support you as a community?
What is amazing about Wednesday Watercoolers is that what was once happening in isolation is now a shared experience, where our members have other practitioners they can call upon; other insight they can hone in on; and a safe and exclusive platform to share their stories and experiences. The best part? They can also get the results they are after in enhancing their practice and increasing their impact for the learners they serve.