In Nepal, the government MINIMUM student teacher ratio is 55:1. While touring the country side I spoke with many teachers that had class sizes less than this but also a few that had many more than 55, up to a 105 students. With few resources, how is a teacher suppose to manage the classroom behaviour of so many students and still achieve learning [...]
We all live busy lives but how much time does it take to ask a simple question that may change the life of another FOREVER. While volunteering on behalf of Health Reach Canada, I met Vani Thangpuii, in Pokhara (a city of 1 million people), Nepal. Vani has many projects underway including, literacy, health education in the schools, water storage [...]
Core Values in Nepali Core Values in English Last week, Mr. Krishna Bahadur K.C., the Chairman of the School Management Committee, of Shree Shanti Niketan Primary School was looking for ways to mobilize his community towards common goals. He was looking for a common denominator to bind the stakeholders that were impacted by future change initiatives. Key Question [...]
Foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal After taking in Doug Silsbee's work on Mindful Leadership and Coaching in Banff, hosted by Larry Huslmans with Reframe Leadership, I have been practising being more present in both my coaching practise and in my life. When you become attuned to taking in all that is there in the moment you learn to both [...]
We are all the same. This statement came to life this past week while working with community leaders in Sundarbazaar, a semi-developed village of Lamjung, Nepal. The group of 15 was comprised of Head School Masters (principals), and the chairperson s from the School Management Committees, who together with the government, are responsible for providing and funding public education in 10 [...]
Today I co-facilitated an industry lunch for the Calgary Change Management Think Tank using a unique work method called Anecdote Circles. What are Anecdote Circles? Anecdote circles are a process and a work method that can be used for a wide range of purposes. It can be used to gather data about what's really going on in your business, solve sensitive [...]
This is a continuation of a previous blog series on the 5 Ways to Use a Change Initiative as a Leadership Development Opportunity. As a refresher the 5 targeted activities are listed below with this week’s focus on number 2, Action Learning. 5 Targeted Activities to Facilitate Leadership Development are: Developmental Assignments (within and outside of your current job) Action [...]
During tough economic times, when hiring freezes are prevalent and staff capacity is low, many organizations staff their new initiatives (programs and or projects) with consultants, contractors, or staff with performance challenges. If you get what you invest in these initiatives, then it's no wonder many are disappointed at the lack of sustainable success. Dust off that succession plan and put [...]
At a conference in Calgary this past week, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, expressed dichotomous needs for border security for our respective countries. He chose to use abundance thinking versus scarcity thinking when he said “We don’t have to choose between security on the one hand and efficiency on the other hand, we can achieve both.” Either or [...]
