A Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop in ‘big ideas’

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^{“It was inspiring and fruitful [for me as participant of the workshop]. I realised a course has baseline building blocks versus the trends and hypes that come and go. I realised where to invest in most. I am taking this further for my own field for sure.”

dr. Roberto Rocco}^{Senior Associate Professor of Spatial Planning and Strategy at TU/Delft Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment, Governance specialist focusing on Spatial Justice and Governance for Just Transitions.}

^{“It was unexpected. We prepared thoroughly in our conversations beforehand, and even so you were able to surprise me. Instead of themes we would have grouped in a very concrete manner, it was all much more layered and strategic. Much more academic than I expected - for the good. We identified undercurrents, hypes and baselines and all in all created much more depth. It was really useful to look at our program like this - the graphical output we received, shows rising and declining lines that require attention - which words/concepts are we going to use, and which aspects do we need to adjust in the background?
Merely producing some themes with the team would have been irrelevant to me - what we did now, truly gets us further in the coming year as we reimagine the program. I got what i needed.”}

Dr. Stefan van der Spek
Associate Professor of Urban Design at TU/Delft Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment, Program Director of MSc MADE at AMS Institute and co-director of VR-BK at BK-LABS

Photo: The AmsterdamInstitute for Metropolitan Studies (AMS), and the workshop in the afternoon. Curious? Read more below or directly on our events page.

Are you looking for a way to kick-off the academic year, or a new semester? For a playful workshop that inspires, motivates and ignites your academic team of a degree or course?

We can co-create with you a wonderful and impactful session, covering the morning and/or afternoon [with lunchbreak]. We take time and energy out of your hands, and align with your program that day.

The workshop: big ideas and paradigm shift
Are you in the middle of (re)packaging your course or degree? Do you feel a strong financial urge to (re)design the program in times of budget cuts? Do you wonder how to still align the subjects in your course or degree with less time available? Do you wonder about the contours of the subjects in your course or degree within 5 years, or perhaps even a decade? Then this is a workshop for you.

We flip the classroom, and offer you a hands-on session with your team. We source within your team, their insider knowledge as researchers of the hype cycle of concepts in their fields: both big ideas that are going down, and emergent and future new big ideas. Together in co-creation we strategize them by placing them into a time frame of paradigm shifts.

Where now can we best strategize the content of your course or degree? How could it become decade proof?

Meanwhile, suprisingly perhaps, we deeply speak to the financal health of your course or degree, and we equally look at the human resilience of your team. We exchange on teacher generations, and where each of our working life timespan is placed, and with that, what we deeply believe in, and find meaningful and fulfilling to work on.

What makes our workshop unique? We don’t focus on instruction or didactics. There are already plenty of teacher training courses such as the Basis Kwalificatie Onderwijs (BKO) out there, that focus on didactics. The point to us is, not to tell your teacherteam what you should do, but to provide you with resources that may inform their educational artistry (after Stenhouse 1988 and Eisner 2001).

With you we go back to the drawing table, and take a structural angle and the long view, and focus on pedagogically innovative and resilient education that stands the test of time - by design (see also our Manifesto).

It is very refreshing to have an external, independent senior advisor lead a teaching team to explore new horizons and lead the dialogue and discussions within your teaching team.
The independent senior advisor that leads the workshop - Tikvah Breimer (MSc MEd MSc) - truly comes in as an equal partner, to each of your academic team members, and to the group. Through visualisation, hands on work, provocations, dialogue and stimulation, gradually a new picture emerges for your course or degree.

We turn theory, into something actionable for you as course or degree director. The outcomes and outputs of this workshop - a graphic design of the paradigm shifts in your course/degree - offer plenty of input for further conversations with your team. Importantly therefore, afterwards, we dialogue with you and align how you can make this practical in your actual course or degree, and can take it further and forward.

This blended TOT workshop includes

Intake to listen to you, and dialogue on the main problem, prior knowledge, and the challenge and angle we want to take for your team. What does success look like?
Advising you, and partnering with you on effective communication surrounding invitations and show-up.
A blended approach to the delivery of the training. Alternatively we can do the workshop remotely.
Pre-delivery communication/onboarding, and personal invitation (remotely, whenever possible tangible such as via post).
(When relevant) An audio podcast (20 min.) recording pre-delivery (made available publically via all our channels) or other relevant material to raise curiosity, activate prior knowledge, and flip the classroom.
A hands-on 2.5 hour exclusive and bespoke hands-on session for your target group (if needed, this can be extended to two sessions for a full day program).
Afterwards, a 1-on-1 session with dialogue with you as teamlead/academic director, to discuss the outcomes and implications: what does this mean for your course/degree? Also exposure to possibilities for follow up.
Afterwards, a representative visualisation that capitalises on the ideas sourced, or a useful handout, which can be shared with the entire team. This is done by our graphic designer.
A reflection session remotely with you as coordinator, evaluating impact and spin-off. This session takes place after 3 months.

Impact

Our clients’ testimonials show how impactful a day with us can be. Even so -

Honestly, the impact of one single workshop, risks to be almost neglectable. Reality proves that such a workshop for a teaching team, is more about orientation, ‘tasting’ something new - and then going back home inspired, but already consumed by the day to day responsibilities.

A real change in behavior through teacher professionalisation, takes time. At least 15-40 hours (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009 & Van Veen et al., 2010 [Dutch]).

This is why, first of all, our workshop typically has a strong training of trainers (TOT) component, because we believe that this is the most sustainable way to introduce a design angle to your team, maximising its impact over time.

Secondly, we would also always stimulate you to integrate a ToT workshop in an even more profound trajectory with you and your team. Have a look for example at our Design Studio.

Price

The full package for impact workshop, including the after meeting with you as a director/team leader, costs 1250,- euro excl VAT (21%), excl travel costs and excl material costs (vary per assignment, range between 6 euro up to 50 or above if we involve a graphic designer).

Price is an indication, and also dependent on how many sessions you want on a day. Please inquire about a tailor-made price based on your requirements and choices.

We usually take up a team of around 10 teachers/trainers/coordinators.

We expect our clients on location to provide for:
- A suitable room
- Flipchards and flipchart paper (number depending on group size)
- Markers, notes that can be attached to paper
- A projector and a screen
- Water, coffee/tea and - where applicable - lunch

We take care of the other materials.

We expect all our clients to provide for:
- Access to the individual participants via Email, directly or via a secretariate, throughout the blended experience.

Contact

Feel free to email or call our lead and independent senior advisor, directly. tikvah@studioblended.com
+31 6 42 47 29 69

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Key projects

StudioBlended is currently partnering with an institute for capacity building within a European University, to co-create an impactful MOOC for this client (2025 - June 2026). As part of the Design Studio, a workshop ‘big ideas’ was given, which proved pivotal for the subsequent curriculum design.

European funded program.

More information follows soon.

On Friday August 30, 2024 Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc) had joined the academic teaching team of MSc Metropolitan Analysis Design and Engineering (MADE) at the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Studies (AMS) to kick-off the new academic year, and deliver a keynote coupled by a group excercise around strategizing and envisioning 'big ideas' in the Master's curriculum - in order to be equipped to simplify and innovate. Find out more under events.

Related publications

Erasmus+
We can also reimagine the TOT workshop, as a week to build networks, exchange experiences, share good practices and train on a curriculum design angle.

References

Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M. E., Gardner, M. 2017. Effective Teacher Professional Development. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.

Eisner, E.W. 2001. From episteme to phronesis to artistry in the study and improvement of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(4), 375-385.

Stenhouse, L. 1988 Artistry and teaching: The teacher as focus of research and development. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 4(1), 43-51.

Veen, Van Klaas, Zwart, Rosanne, Meirink Jacobiene & Nico Verloop 2010. Professionele ontwikkeling van leraren, een reviewstudie naar effectieve kenmerken van professionaliseringsinterventies van leraren. ICLON / Expertisecentrum Leren van Docenten. Reviewstudie in opdracht van en gesubsidieerd door NWO-PROO.

Innovative and deep pedagogy and resilient education that stands the test of time - by design.