NEPAL workshop proposal

Title

Creating and maintaining conditions for effective experiential learning in groups

This professional development workshop for educators will explore the conditions that are necessary for establishing and running effective experiential learning groups in educational settings. Theory will be integrated with practical exercises to give participants an outline of the core elements of safe, purposeful and well bounded groups. The workshop process will be based on the assumption that competence in this area grows in an organic way from within the practitioner rather than being gained by simply learning and applying tools of facilitation.

Content will include:

• The essential elements of experiential learning groups including boundaries, linking and affiliative attachment
• The development and management of a “group reflective space” that enhances learning from experience
• Elements of psychological and emotional safety relating to experiential learning groups
• An outline of practitioner competencies related to the above.

About the presenters:

Martin Ringer is a socio-analyst with a Masters Degree in Education and has taught in the field of experiential learning at many different colleges and universities around the world. He has published widely in this area and is the author of the recent book “Group Action: The dynamics of Groups in Therapeutic, Educational and Corporate Settings. Martin has had extensive involvement in developing international conferences and networks relating to adventure therapy.

Dr Françoise Ringer (PhD) is a trainer, clinical psychologist and psychotherapist whose experience includes teaching psychology to teachers. Her professional experience of 25 years has been varied and has often combined teaching and training with treatment and research. Françoise is originally from Belgium where she was trained in the psychoanalytic field for individual and group work, and in 1990 she moved to Australia and then in 2000 to New Zealand where she now runs a private practice, teaches Attachment theory, and leads a group seminar on Infant Observation. She is currently the president of the NZ Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.