Summer 2008 Reflection by Lyla Berg

It has taken me a very long time to be able to write my reflection on the principals’ professional development sessions that I facilitated in South Africa this past summer because of the cacophony of emotions, impressions, and thoughts that have been with me since I left Johannesburg on July 7. My hesitation to write has, in part, been due to the fact that I didn’t quite know how to graciously express my feelings of selfishness at having received so many blessings from my time spent with administrators and teachers of the rural schools.

While I have worked with educators and administrative colleagues around the world, I have never felt so much a part of something truly ‘BIG,’ as I had experienced this past summer. There was a sense of mission, personal purpose, and collective expectancy that I felt from every single group of participants in the school leadership seminars. For some, it took a little bit longer to accept the reality that I was really there with them only to share ideas, ignite their curiosity and interest in exploring ‘the possibilities’ of empowered leadership, and to engender discussions for their own problem-solving development. For others, I felt that they understood immediately about their role – and mine – in offering opportunities to develop skills in personal efficacy and professional responsibilities of leadership in an emerging democracy.

I believe that I am the one who benefited the most from our time together – from the songs of gratitude, to the laughter of shared professional experiences and blunders, to the ‘coaching’ scenarios, and the personal sharings. The school level administrators, in particular, were a rowdy, hospitable, generous, and respectful group of colleagues! I left South Africa as a far more open and willing participant in my own journey of educational transformation and political reform.

My style of facilitation for professional development centers around basic concepts of situational leadership, utilizing fundamental values and interpersonal communication skills to motivate empowered action. A goal of the workshops was to actuate collaborative experiences so that each individual administrator could implement the civic mission of schools in the most effectgive way for their community. The primary methodology of the sessions was to offer participants a safe environment in which to practice individual awareness and “situation analysis,” practice alternative approaches to ‘problem solving’ and strengthen the collective mission of the educational profession.

I left SA feeling professionally validated, personally challenged to ‘do more,’ and humbled by the willingness of so many individuals, without formal preparation, to answer the call of educational leadership. One of the challenges I personally felt, however, was to enable them to see that we are all on our own paths to developing competencies and a sense of efficacy with regards to our responsibilities as school leaders, community activists, and child advocates. That is, we are all “a work in progress!”

I particularly enjoyed the individual “coaching” sessions with the participants who asked me to listen and enable them to talk through their specific goals and circumstances. I hope that the message I left with them (on behalf of TWB-SA) is that we are ALL facing similar ‘issues” in our personal and professional lives, albeit MUCH more dramatic – and in different ways – in South Africa. The opportunities for planetary change, world impact, community engagement, and individual growth lies with each one of them – and in every single child in their country. We are all obligated to hold each other accountable for actions that engender more peace, lessen poverty and social injustice, and build competencies in life. My own learning continues with each friendship I am blessed to have made during this experience, and I remain deeply grateful to the vision and tenacity of the TWB-SA director to fulfill HIS mission of service to his country