IFF Academy PRISMA Workshop

Six perspectives proceeding your quality enhancement in giving FK – lessons

Dear Colleagues,

As you are interested in presenting our workshop, now called PRISMA workshop, we would like to give you some introductory thoughts. These thoughts should explain the background of and the essentials around this workshop. The details and all the elements you can take from the instruction file and from the set of materials that is sent separately.
 
1)     How this workshop has developed

a)     The idea for this workshop came from the IFF’s quality & competency project. The first workshop we facilitated at the Annual General Assembly in Kassel May 2001 was called “Quality Workshop”. We focused on the workshop’s function to aim at quality enhancement for the practitioner.

b)     Having evaluated and redesigned this Kassel Q-Workshop, we presented and run the FI-part of the workshop in December 2001 in Vitznau/Switzerland with a group of Feldenkrais Trainers and Assistant Trainers. The workshop was part of a presentation of the IFF’s Quality and Competency project.

c)     In April 2002 we did the third Workshop of this format in Munich, Germany. We just called it “First IFF Academy Workshop” to emphasise the fact that at that moment this Workshop was the first and only example out of many others we expect to be furthered within the IFF Academy project.

d)     The large interest during the General Annual Assembly 2002 in Norway in establishing Local Academy Feet and to use this workshop format to enter the process, made us look for a name serving to identify this workshop concept and design from others to come out of different Local Academy Feet. We now call our workshops: “IFF Academy PRISMA Workshops”

2)     What does PRISMA stand for?

A prisma (English: prism) is a crystal body which breaks up white light into the band of colours (spectrum). In metaphorical terms a prism symbols reflection by shifting perspectives. Attaching words to the letters we want to describe our intention of designing and facilitating this type of workshops:
 
The “IFF Academy PRISMA Workshops” stand for:

Perceptions’ perspectives

reflect and

initiate

Self-discovery of

my

abilities to apply the Feldenkrais – Method

 
Proceeding the workshop you will play, shift and vary perspectives on how you do and observe ATM/FI in a rather non-habitual way. The workshop design of dealing with your perception of your process, will facilitate step by step the self-discovery of your abilities, resources and competencies as a Feldenkrais practitioner while you experience an improving level of quality of doing the job. That is why we characterise and specify this particular workshop format: “IFF Academy PRISMA workshop. Six perspectives proceeding your quality enhancement in giving FK – lessons” (To discern this particular workshop design from future ones we label the PRISMA workshops in different colours – this one in blue. As it is the fourth version experienced, the workshop’s complete name is “IFF Academy PRISMA Workshops (blue, version 4, August 2002)”.

3)     How to characterize this example of an IFF Academy workshop

a)     It is an open source project
This workshop concept and design is offered for free to those who want to present the workshop within the frame of the IFF Academy. We expect:

•       to quote the source;

•         to inform the IFF Academy committee about the presentation of the workshop;

•         to evaluate the workshop and report back this evaluation to the peers.

b)     The workshop is designed and meant to be an ongoing process of presenting, evaluating, sharing, redesigning, presenting etc.

c)     Preparing, presenting and evaluating the workshop is much fun and takes time, for instance:

•         to understand the idea (function) of the workshop

•         to check its structuring (how to run it)

•         to prepare it technically (different sheets, pencils, etc)

•        to safeguard the material during and after the workshop

•         to evaluate it

•        to share the results with other groups having run the workshop

d)     Be creative with mistakes! Do not be afraid of missing something or overestimating the participant’s mixing up parts of the play. Some will mix up things anyhow  - just like in your ATM class. Take care as much as possible, but do not get stressed. The design is not to have participants take notes properly. The written observation are meant to be “constrains” helping to become more aware of what is going on and enriching the process.

4)     How to use the instruction file and facilitate the Workshop
You will find all the relevant information in the instruction file that is sent separately together with the set of needed materials. The instruction file guides you step by step through the process and informs you at the same time about the needed materials. Remember that presenting this workshop means facilitating a process. It does not include judgement during or after the presentation towards the participants, like in giving a Feldenkrais Lesson.

5)     What do we intend with this IFF Academy Workshop (Function of the workshop)

a)     Offer a frame and material to play for experiencing and retracing quality enhancement processes

b)     Tool to offer reflection while doing ATM/FI

c)     Encourage and experience teamwork

d)     Discovery of the objective within the subjective

e)     Bring the work to language

f)       Discovery of resources and needed skills/abilities/knowledge: Find out what I am able of and what I could be interested to achieve

6)     Why do we want you to evaluate the workshop?

A major function of this kind of workshop is it’s possibility to be processed in different places and several times. To feed back the diverse experiences into the design of this workshop and similar ones, it is essential to have some relevant feedback from its applications. To give you an idea of our understanding of evaluation, we give you a short hint of how we have used this: What we did was rather a sort of "organic approach": Our intention was to look at whatever we could find to use for improving the workshop no matter if it was subjective or at the first view even judgmental. Our intention was not to mirror reality or to match "validity" in a scientific way. We also found it a very interesting experience after having facilitated the workshop to look at how it went and what is shown in the outcomes.
The IFF Academy will provide you with a brief guidance of ideas how to evaluate IFF Academy workshops like this one.

7)     IFF Local Academy Foot as frame for this PRISMA workshop

a)     This workshop is developed within the IFF Academy project and part of it. The option to run this workshop is combined with the responsibility of being a Local Academy Foot (LAF) and using all the advantages, the IFF Academy can offer to you. The first step though will be to form such a foot, the second to run and evaluate the workshop. You will get all relevant information how to be a LAF in a separate mail.

b)     You may charge money for the service to organize and facilitate the PRISMA workshop (see LAF role description). We even encourage you to do so, as evaluating the workshop will include voluntary work anyhow. In terms of professional behavior take at least money for the service.

c)   You have been sent the latest version of this PRISMA workshop. We will continue, developing the PRISMA formats. As the IFF Academy is an open source project, go to the source and ask for the latest material available. That’s the one that includes the feed back and evaluations of the previous ones. You could miss these valuable inputs if you use former versions.

We hope, that this letter together with the set of material will enable you and your Local IFF Academy Foot colleagues to run this PRISMA workshop and to create a valuable experience for yourself as well as for your peers. Please share your plans with us and the interest group and let us know when you will facilitate the workshop. Don't hesitate to contact one of us if something is not clear enough or you need further information.
We wish you a successful experience and look forward to your evaluating report.
With best regards

Barbara Pieper and Daniel Clénin

Members of the IFF Academy Committee

Barbara Pieper by e-mail (BarbPieper@gmx.de) or by phone +49-89-854 35 80

Daniel Clénin at danielclenin@access.ch or +41-31-351 26 33.

To discern this particular workshop design from future ones we label the PRISMA workshops in different colours – this one in blue. As it is the fourth version experienced, the workshop’s complete name is “IFF Academy PRISMA Workshops (blue, version 4, August 2002)”.