Peter Norman
Challenge Education Associates

For booking or further information on how Peter Norman can make your event be most effective, please contact Christopher Bowers

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I work with public and private sector agencies on staff development, self-directed learning, leadership and change. I present at conferences and design workshops and retreats. A former secondary school teacher, I
currently consult with a number of school districts on secondary school renewal and leadership development

I have been involved with major secondary school renewal projects, including:

Walkabout, The Navigator Program, and the BC Secondary School Renewal Project.

I consult on district level secondary school initiatives like the Vancouver Secondary School Futures project, Victoria Future Designs project, and I am currently engaged in a department head leadership review for Burnaby School District. I also continue to work with school staffs and have an on-going interest in helping schools and organizations change from the inside out.


Keynote Presentation
Surviving and Thriving: The paradox of self-directed schools.
   

The keynote will explore self-directed learning as a fundamental life skill for children and adults. As noted long ago, “we learn to do the things we need to do by doing them” (Aristotle), and schools have a vital role to play in helping learners of all ages make meaning, connect with others in purposeful work, and form identities as competent, confident learners. Indeed, it can, and will, be argued that these are the primary purposes of our craft as teachers.

Homo Faber: the tool using critter

Tools and learning are co-evolutionary. This session will highlight some of the promising tools and strategies that help students and adults take charge of their own learning, and provide some online resources for teachers and leaders.

Peter Norman works with schools, government, healthcare and public sector agencies on staff development, self-directed learning, leadership and change. He has an extensive background in teaching and instructional design and is also a keynote speaker and workshop facilitator. Peter is retired from the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University where he founded the innovative Project Development Office. Now resident in Victoria, he is Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University and divides his time among teaching, consulting and program development.
Program.

 He  recently co-developed and launched LDR (Leadership Development for Renewal), a network of BC and Alberta school districts devoted to building leadership capacity.

Co-founder of Challenge Education Associates in 1980, his company is currently involved in the design and delivery of three self-directed integrated programs for senior executive healthcare professionals, government managers, and  Vancouver Island educators. He is the co-author of the JED Toolkit and is currently partnering with OneSmartWorld, a Canadian leader in professional development, to introduce SmartSkills tools and methods to students and educators in BC and across Canada.

Peter was a wonderful presenter and consistent throughout his evaluations was....."we would have liked to have the second half of his presentation!" Some of the comments on the brief evaluation forms distributed to participants are as follows:
- entertaining and pertinent
- provided grfeat ideas
- appreciate dreference to historial/writings
- shorten the agenda.....it's disappointing to not have the prestner get to topics you are curious about. In other words, more Peter Norman!
- great encapsulatino of ideas and feelings
- this was like "Robin Williams meets CE"!
- helped me understand many things are are presently going on in CE
- So much food for thought and many of Peter's insights planted seeds that I will follow through with.
- neder longer session for discussion and personal planning
- easily should have been a full day!
- excellent presentation, engaging and motivating
- Peter is fabulous - personable, insightful with great analogies to explain himself and stories that we could all easily relate to.
- I would definitely come to another session and highly recommend others do the same
- relevan
- Bulls-Eye!
- funnyand current and up to speed on personal and professional challenges we face
- made me realize different approaches to handling change
- extremely enlightening
- great presenter
- understood present climate in CE
- lively presentation
- ideas simple enough to be real and big enough to help
- combined humor, practicality, spirituality for a great inspiring keynote
- challenged my think, my practice, my assumptions




"That guy made us all feel like we are worth something" - custodian .

Teachers, particularly humanities types found his wit and knowledge base
admirable and science types were able to follow his logic which allowed them
to agree with everyone else.
"I loved how he used both Shakespeare and Dylan to get his points out there"
- teacher
"Peter was fascinating, I don't feel like this was another of those touchy
feely kinds of things, this one worked for me" - teacher

Finally, I would recommend Peter to any school, board office or ministry.



Graham Dickson: Royal Roads University (Graham can comment on my teaching and facilitation with a variety of public sector groups) -
Graham.Dickson@RoyalRoads.ca

From 1997 to 2000, I was seconded to the
Ministry of Education, as the Regional Coordinator for Vancouver Island. I am the former the Director of Project Development in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University

As you know Peter took on the role of a facilitator at a staff meeting we held at the end of June this year at our school.

Our staff for a number of reasons were very fractured due to administrative changes, ministry changes and staff discontent. It would be fair to say our situation at school was explosive. There was conflict amongst teaching
and support staff and resentment toward and lack of trust for the current administration.

As the representative of the teaching staff I asked Peter if he would help our staff refocus and prepare for a new administration. I invited the administration to participate in this get-together.

Peter was familiar with our school, and staff were aware of his reputation as an authority on educational philosophy, along with his insight into educational reform.

Administration were also aware of his abilities.

Peter agreed and immediately set up a meeting with the new incoming principal and myself which he chaired. He helped us view the big picture which included making sure that all of the stakeholders were invited and convinced us that for this meeting to have any value all staff must be
recognized as participants in the organization. He worked with us on an agreeable agenda along with some some ideas for participant input for feed back.

Peter guided us through the agenda, creating an atmosphere that ensured everyone felt comfortable and had an opportunity to contribute.
Furthermore, he was flexible enough to deviate from the agenda when the desire of the group dictated it.

At the staff meeting, Peter began his magic, and along with his presentation, recognizing all of the participants as he had staff work through their frustrations and disappointments but at the same time he also
steered them through the difficult job of reestablishing trust amongst the various participants.

During his presentation Peter used humour and quoted educational studies, poets, writers and songwriters. He demonstrated an empathy and understanding regarding the current plight of teachers and the educational system.

Peter took the time to try to meet with each and every staff member through our dinner time. He established trust which allowed for communication channels to open which had been closed for a long time.

As he guided us through small and large group discussions he continuously linked our concerns with our strengths and our goals such that at the conclusion of the meeting everyone felt positive and hopeful. Our staff was very impressed with Peter's expertise, his sense of humour and his easy manner.

Here are some examples of the staff's comments:

"That guy made us all feel like we are worth something" - custodian .

Teachers, particularly humanities types found his wit and knowledge base admirable and science types were able to follow his logic which allowed them to agree with everyone else.
"I loved how he used both Shakespeare and Dylan to get his points out there"
- teacher
"Peter was fascinating, I don't feel like this was another of those touchy feely kinds of things, this one worked for me" - teacher

Finally, I would recommend Peter to any school, board office or ministry.