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| Path: Home > Research > Literacy, Language & Numeracy > Projects > NIACE/NATFHE Conference |
NIACE/NATFHE Annual Conference 2004
| Date: | Monday 24 May 2004 |
| Venue: | 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP |
| Ref: | C11-18/05/04 |
| Fee: | £120 for delegates who work full-time; £80 for delegates who work part-time; The conference fee includes lunch, tea/coffee |
[Background & Aims] [Audience] [Programme] [What is "Open Space"?]
Background & Aims
The NIACE / NATFHE annual conference has become a lively arena for basic skills practitioners to exchange views on adult learning and teaching. This has in previous years proved to be a great success! This year we will be introducing an exciting and innovative format. The day will be very different as we are adopting an ‘Open Space’ approach. The ‘Open Space’ approach enables maximum participation, self-management, energy and focus. It is used around the world by corporate, public and voluntary organisations for both organisational development and consultation purposes. At the conference, the facilitator will describe the principles of Open Space and the “Law of 2 feet”.
There will be no speakers during the morning, but the morning will instead have a ‘market place’ format. All delegates will have the opportunity to join workshops and discuss issues that are important to them.
Key participants who have confirmed their attendance are:
 | Susan Pember, Director of ABSSU at Department for Education and Skills |
| Dr Ursula Howard, Director of NRDC |
| Madeline Held, Director of LLU+ |
| Jon Gamble, Policy and Development Manager at National LSC |
| Alan Tuckett, Director of NIACE |
| Dr Peter Lavender, Director of Research, Development and Information at NIACE |
| Dan Taubman, National Official, Education FE at NATFHE |
After lunch, Susan Pember, Director of ABSSU, will answer some of the key questions arising from the workshops which will address the theme of the day:
How do we want to change and improve the World of Adult
Basic Skills?
Are we as bad as they say we are or as good as we think we are?
And how do we get better?
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Audience
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Programme
Registration and Arrival is at 9.30am for a 10am start. The conference ends at 4.00pm.
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What is Open Space?
Open Space is a way of organising a meeting or a conference so that there is maximum participation, self-management, energy and focus. It is used around the world by corporate, public and voluntary organisations for both organisation development and consultation purposes.
An Open Space meeting must have a clear theme and focus that will make people want to attend. Although distinguished experts may be present there are no platform speeches or presentations. The meeting starts with all participants sitting in a circle, or concentric circles if space is limited. The sponsor introduces the theme of the meeting and the facilitator then explains how the process works.
Participants are invited to think about the theme of the meeting and any topic that matters to them that they would like to work on with other people. The facilitator describes the principles of Open Space and the “Law of 2 feet” that encourages people to move groups if they find they are in one to which they cannot contribute. Participants are then invited to come to the centre of the circle and write down their topic on a piece of paper, read it out and post it on the “agenda wall” to create the programme of workshops for the event. By the end of the first hour the agenda wall is covered with workshop topics arranged in spaces that everyone can find at different times over a three or four session day/s.
Participants then decide which groups to take part in, according to their interests. Workshops are led by the people who identified the topic, or someone else in the group, and notes are taken by a volunteer reporter.
At the end of each workshop recommendations from each group are posted on the walls and participants prioritise the issues so that everyone can see what matters most to most people
