Maria Arpa
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness Moments
In September 2016 we were invited to speak to the entire staff team at Wellington College to share the values of the Dialogue Road Map (DRM) As a result of our liaison and our subsequent working together, we commenced work in January and have since been invited to speak at their Festival of Education, Ed Fest on the 22nd and 23rd of June.
We are delighted to be working with such a forward-thinking organisation for many reasons. Wellington College has strived to provide an optimal learning and working environment for its people. They put down out-dated, authoritative and permissive approaches of communication and instead embraced the use of practices which promote an environment where each pupil is supported to succeed in every aspect of their education and self-development. As a school that is world renowned for its ethos on well-being, they committed to putting relationships first and they chose the Dialogue Road Map to effect the change
The DRM dovetails beautifully into the work that Wellington have already committed themselves to, and with our help, they will build on the foundation and take their initiative to the next level and beyond. The fundamental basis of our collaboration is to allow people to take ownership of, and responsibility for the way they choose to relate to others in their communities.
“I want to thank you for all of the time, energy and effort you put into the 6 days and for enlightening me and inspiring me – in so many ways. I have been on many courses and learnt many new skills over my teaching career but I don’t think I have ever done anything quite so transformative – both personally and for the wider community as well.”
Delivering the training.
In Jan 2017 we delivered DRM Facilitator Training to eight staff members. To follow, twelve Pupils will be trained in June. The training was so successful that we have been asked to train another cohort of teachers in July.
Reaching a wider audience.
In addition to the training, WTV (the in House TV production company) are making a series of short films scripted by Maria. The films will focus on developing positive relationships and will demonstrate productive communication styles between staff to staff; staff to student; student to staff; student to student. The videos will be published by September 2017
“I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for everything you have given to us in this. I really loved the course, being with a wonderful bunch of people, and learning so much from you about all of this.”
Why this approach matters.
There is an abundance of research available that support our work.
The Sutton Trust report into effective teaching (2014) confirms the importance of:
” ..the quality of interactions between teachers and students, and teacher expectations” and highlights “the need to create a classroom that is constantly demanding more, but still recognising students’ self-worth”. teachers do better in schools which are “focused on becoming responsive to students.”
How DRM works on a day to day basis.
With the inclusion of DRM, Wellington College will improve the quality of the conversations between all members of its community.
“Maria, I want to thank you for the amazing hospitality and sense of being cared for by you all. We now have the ingredients to begin chipping away at making every conversation matter.”
The DRM model highlights the difference between authentic dialogue and adversarial positions. Participants quickly develop their empathy and listening skills which are a key principle of building meaningful relationships.
Wellington College is in the 10th year of its Educational Festival, Ed Fest and this year I’m honoured to be part of it.
With love, light and gratitude. Maria Arpa -x-
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