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Journaling as reflective practice

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Journaling as reflective practice Journals and diaries have been used ever since people could find ways of capturing their thoughts and ideas. Many people have used it as a deeply personal process, others to capture important moments and events in their lives. Journals can also be used as part of a conscious practice of reflecting and learning. As organisational development practitioners, often we are very action oriented and may not always make time to capture or document through writing. Our work may already be consumed with many other writing tasks like field reports, developing materials and donor reports and the thought of starting a journal may seem like an indulgence. If we can begin to see journaling as part of a reflective practice and not an indulgence we can begin an exciting self-directed learning process. Journals can become an important reflective tool for practitioners who want to become more conscious of how they practice. The advantage of a journal is t...
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The transformative power of story telling as a methodology for teambuilding and building a healthy organisational culture

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  Last week I facilitated a teambuilding session in Harare, Zimbabwe with an international capacity building organisation with country offices in several countries. This session brought the team together in person - over 40 people gathering in a large tent which was set up in the beautiful gardens of their office premises. This was the ideal setting for several rounds of storytelling and sharing in small intimate groups. Coupled with an active listening exercise the group found that the qualitative listening helped to change the dynamic between them and those who shared their stories felt a deep respect from their colleagues as they were each given their space to be heard fully. Some were also surprised how much they learnt from each other - especially for those who were working in different departments of the organisation - the lesson being that we all have wisdom which can be revealed when the conditions are conducive. This set the tone and was a strong foundation to build the re...
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Transformation: Resilience, Tenacity and the Art of never giving up

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Facilitating Race and Transformation Processes Vision board done in 2018 I have been doing race and transformation work most of my life, but professionally as a facilitator now for about 10 years and as an organisational development practitioner for 17 years. I became an activist at the age of 10 after the 1976 riots and the area around our school was under siege from apartheid police forces –  At the same time my primary school teacher provided most of my formative political education in essence providing our young minds with much needed decolonized education - my first act of activism was to distribute pamphlets for boycotting Fattis and Monis, a food company that was treating its workers unfairly.  My grandfather Dr Norman Murison, a community doctor and banned activist in the 1960’s was the other person beside my parents Norma Tobin and Ernest Tobin who were conscientising me and showing me what the apartheid government was doing to our people and our cou...
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