Seminar Day November 1, 2022

Moving forward with the new IB

Introduction

Since introducing the new IB programme we have experienced many changes. Not only in the programme itself, but also in the way we are organized, and not forgetting the impact of Covid-19. This has led to different ways of working, for us as individuals, and also in our collaboration with others.

The theme of the next Seminar Day will be “Collaboration”. In past Seminar Days we have already focused on the themes “Sense of Belonging” and “Shared Leadership”, both relating to the way we collaborate. During this Seminar Day, we would like to reflect on the way we work together. What is going well, what would we like to improve, and what is needed to accomplish this?

Topics we will be discussing are:

Working together after Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has influenced our ways of working, but it has also raised issues that need to be investigated. For example: How do we communicate and collaborate well if half of the staff is working from home and the other half is on location?

Working together in the new-IB

What do teachers expect from their Content Representatives and Track owners, and vice versa. What is working well in the communication between support staff and TOs/CRs and what can be improved?

Working together in general

How do we improve the collaboration among teachers, TOs and CRs and create a work environment based on Shared Leadership, feedback, and co-creation?

In the keynote lecture, change management researcher and teacher Rene Brohm will introduce the metaphor of the ‘swarm’ as a vision for the ideal collaboration. His keynote will serve as the introduction to the workshop sessions in the afternoon. In the workshop sessions ideas and proposals will be developed to improve different aspects of collaboration at RBS. We would like to invite you to sign up for one of the six workshop topics (see titles and content descriptions below).

Workshop 1: The IB DNA
Workshop 2: How do we collaborate?
Workshop 3: Growth mindset
Workshop 4: Coordinating effective teams in the new IB*
Workshop 5: Visualizing the ideal colleague in a teaching team
Workshop 6: Towards a feedback culture in the workplace

*Support staff is asked to join workshop 4

Keynote Lecture: René Brohm - Welcome in the swarm

The image of the swarm appeals to the imagination of many. There seems to be a number of principles at play in an almost magical way that together regulate a mobile collective behavior, which leads to the most beautiful appearances. Who doesn't get hypnotized by a dancing swarm? And who doesn't sometimes quietly wonder: how come it doesn't lead to collisions? And even more quietly: could we also start working together like this in the department? The swarm is thus a metaphor for the smooth collaboration, the fluid and smooth collective effort that leads us to believe that 1 and 1 can be 3 and that 'synergy' can also come within our reach.

The seminar day is an opportunity to develop or enhance our own swarm. We will collectively inquire into the sink holes and sources for energy in our daily working lives, inspired by themes such as identity, collaboration and feedback mechanisms. For this we will collectively use research methods such as phenomenological interviews and focus groups. From this we will start designing improvements.

Swarm research is a new development in research, inspired on participatory action research and narrative inquiry (Basten, 2014; Kilker, 2007).

Dr. René Brohm (1971), founder of De Nieuwe Kleren van de Wolf, is a specialist in action learning and action research. Since 2001 he has focused on organizational science, systems thinking, social psychology and ethnography. After studying Computer Science (1995, cum laude), he obtained his doctorate in 2005 for a dissertation that described the interaction between knowledge and organization as a dynamic between different constellations of knowledge and power. As an assistant professor Veranderkunde & Handelingsonderzoek at the Master Programme Begeleidingskunde at Hogeschool Rotterdam, he has taught a wide range of theory, returning time and again to examining social processes and organizational dynamics.