Vision exploration

Overview

An informal exercise that helps to explore a group's aspirations and opinions of current educational activities, share understanding, and agree focused ways to make changes now and for the future.

Benefits

By 'sorting' different vision cards, judgements and understandings can be explored and shared. This is the basis for discussion about how spaces can support educational transformation.

Preparation

• Prepare for facilitating the discussion, familiarising yourself with the key stages and prompt questions for each stage.
• Print out the worksheets.
• Use the cards to help stimulate new ways of thinking around the design and use of learning spaces. Either print the Space workshop cards (one set per group needed) or order a pack in advance.

Materials (per group)

• Space workshop cards.
• Pens/markers.

What you do

• Form groups of 3-4, or leave people in the same groups if these are already formed.
• Give each group a set of cards, a worksheet and pen.
• For 30 minutes, each group goes through the yellow vision cards, discussing each one to decide if it should go in the Could happen now column, the Possible with major change column, or the Not relevant to us column.
• Use the questions: Which can be done now? Which are aspirations? Which are not relevant to us?
• Some cards will be harder to agree on than others! Don't worry, the discussion will be valuable.
• Once the groups have done this, they each share their results with other groups and summarise the key agreements and disagreements.
• Each group also identifies what they found not relevant, to see if anyone disagreed with their conclusion - a good opportunity to discuss different understandings.
• Next, ask each group which cards from the Could happen now pile are not currently being done in their school, explaining reasons why they think this.
• Explore ways they could be enabled to happen now. Agree an action list to take out of the session. Then ask What needs to change? to make the Not relevant to us cards more relevant. Turn agreements into actions where possible and add to the action list.
• Ask each group to make an action plan listing five things they are going to make happen - which they all agree is a good idea.
• Write up the actions and distribute to the group.
• This is a good precursor to developing a shared educational vision.

Top tips for your group activities

• Be well prepared
• Consider changing your usual meeting environment
• Know what you want to come away with before you start
• Break the ice with a warm up
• Give people enough time to get into and do the activities
• Keep people engaged and motivated
• Encourage and proactively get input from everyone
• Think about how your going to capture the notes
• Use flip charts, coloured post its, coloured pens, paper, stickers
• If possible use a flexible and effective facilitator