5. Integrating different purposes into one process

The IFF Academy model allows different targets to be met in one process. The Academy has overcome traditional ways of allocating tasks related to certain levels (global, national, regional, local etc). The Academy favours synergetic global & local combinations (=glocal allocation).

Examples

§       Recruiting future volunteers, doing continuing education, generating research results and presenting to the public happen within the same IFF Academy activities – as demonstrated by Competency Profile and PRISMA projects’ workshops.

§       The Academy creates a pool of successful practitioners and active members of Feldenkrais organisations, capable to contribute to all kinds of tasks that organisations depend on. Academy participants take responsibility in organising National Annual Feldenkrais conferences; some became National or IFF Board members. IFF Academy staff members switched into Academy contributors (Research List) and Local Academy members became staff members (Academy Coordinator).

§       Evaluation and documentation of Academy processes provide unique material of best reflective practise and sophisticated concepts applicable for diverse purposes: A short version of IFF Assembly 2004 Modes of Attention Process was applied at Austrian Annual Assembly 2006. A five Minute IFF and Academy Co-Presentation at a German Annual Meeting, video taped and transcribed into a manual, turned into a bilingual publicity tool for practitioners and was included into an IFF Info CD.

Personal experiences

• Integrating different functions and levels into one action has proved a very efficient strategy, well acknowledged by those who experienced and benefited from this outcome.
• For several years we were IFF Board and Academy Committee members at the same time. Conceptualising and presenting Academy Projects and Workshops in addition to Board functions was quite a job but a unique opportunity. Certainly we achieved a full picture from leadership to local practice and therefore could adjust policy and concepts quite smoothly.