The training institute is the engine of human resources development. When individuals participate in training institute courses—whether in a “study circle” format or an “intensive” format—they develop skills that enable them to carry out acts of service to share the Message, start core activities, build community life, etc. How can we ensure that the training institute courses can prepare the friends as effectively as possible to arise to serve and participate in teaching activities? This very detailed report from the Northeast region provides many, many, many answers to this question! Based on year-long experience from Philadelphia Southwest, PA (B), Vermont (B) and Upper Maine (B), the report outlines a particular approach to planning and conducting institute courses in parallel with teaching activities.
This story is about experiments in three priority B-stage clusters in the Northeast with intensive institute courses to help clusters prepare to advance to the A stage and establish an intensive program of growth. It describes what we learned giving intensive institute courses in the Northeast region during the last twelve months. The effort is characterized as a training-teaching initiative. This was done to convey the importance of institute training and teaching projects being done in parallel, and that each one supports the other. . . .
It seems natural that both training and teaching would be conducted in the same cluster at the same time, and often by the same people. This supports the vision expressed in the Ridvan 2008 message about the “coherence that characterizes the pattern of growth presently under way.”
Steps for an intensive training-teaching initiative:
The following steps to organizing and conducting intensive training-teaching sessions emerged from experience over the past year in Philadelphia, Upper Maine and Vermont. These steps can help increase the number of people completing the sequence of Ruhi institute courses in a short period of time, while engaging in direct teaching during the process.
Step 1 – plan
The Cluster Institute Coordinator should consult with the Regional Institute Coordinator, Auxiliary Board member and Area Teaching Committee secretary (or Cluster Development Facilitator in clusters without an ATC). They should determine what is to be accomplished, dates for the intensive training-teaching, and who will be asked to coordinate the effort.
Step 2 – list
The coordinator(s) of the effort should develop a list of individuals who need one, two or three books to complete the sequence of Ruhi institute courses.
Step 3 – commitment
The coordinator(s) of the effort then talk to each person on the list to see if they will commit to completing the sequence of courses in a specific period of time. They can ask if they would prefer to complete the books through an intensive or regular process, and which dates and times they will be available.
Step 4 – schedule
The coordinator(s) then secure tutors and match them with study circle dates, times and participants. The coordinator(s) then communicate with prospective participants for each study circle and confirm that the final plan works for them. They secure Ruhi books for the courses. Once the courses are confirmed, they can then invite other people (i.e., those who need to complete a larger number of books) to join in the study circles as well.
Step 5 – study circles
The study circles can then be conducted in the regular manner, or an intensive manner. For the regular format, the process is as follows for all participants:
All sections, paragraphs and quotes should be read, and all exercises should be completed.
Any reading or exercises assigned by the tutor to be done outside of class time should be reported to the tutor by each participant to confirm that they were completed. Normally, there are not many out-of-class assignments in a regular format study circle.
If a class or a portion of a class is missed, make-up material should be done with the tutor between class times.
All practices are to be done during or outside of class time before a participant can be considered to have finished that course. If practices are done after the book is completed, participants should call the tutor to report it.
Tutors should accompany people in doing the practice if they need help to follow through.
After a participant has done the practice, tutors should invite them to continue this activity as a path of service on a regular basis, and provide accompaniment to do it.
If a specific act of service associated with a particular book this isn’t right for an individual participant, the tutor should work with them to define another act of service stemming from the other Ruhi books, and provide accompaniment if necessary.
When the practice for a book is completed, tutors should confirm and record that the participant has done the practices for all previous books completed as well. If they haven’t, the tutor should work with them and accompany them as necessary to complete all practices.
For an intensive format, the process is as follows:
All sections, paragraphs and quotes should be read, and all exercises should be completed.
Any reading or exercises assigned by the tutor to be done outside of class time should be reported to the tutor by each participant to confirm that they were completed. There is a larger amount of out-of-class work in an intensive format institute course.
If a class or a portion of a class is missed, make-up material should be done with the tutor between class times, or after the course is completed.
All practices are to be done during or outside of class time before a participant can be considered to have finished that course. If practices are done after the book is completed, participants should call the tutor to report it.
Tutors should accompany people in doing the practice if they need help to follow through.
After a participant has done the practice, tutors should invite them to continue this activity as a path of service on a regular basis, and provide accompaniment to do it.
If a specific act of service associated with a particular book this isn’t right for an individual participant, the tutor should work with them to define another act of service stemming from the other Ruhi books, and provide accompaniment if necessary.
Lessons learned—during the intensive training-teaching period:
Organize make-up sessions for anyone who missed sections of a book.
Offer rides to anyone needing transportation. Provide meals to anyone who misses meals to attend a study circle during this intensive period.
Establish a collective teaching project concurrently with the intensive training for individuals who have already completed the relevant courses.
Those studying Book 6 during the intensive session should have an active refresher practice for Anna’s presentation. This can be done at the beginning of Book 6 rather than at the end so that they are better prepared to take part in the concurrent collective teaching project. Each Book 6 participant will ideally do all three of the following:
Share Anna’s presentation in full with an individual seeker;
Form a personal teaching plan;
Participate in collective teaching activity in a neighborhood for at least an hour while they are still studying Book 6.
All study circle participants should commit to finishing the practice components within two weeks of completing the course.
Identify the locations within the cluster where institute courses should be held. Reducing the need to travel long distances helps increase participation in courses, particularly in large clusters and during the Winter months.
It is for everyone to take a Book 6 refresher course, regardless of which specifc books they are studying. In some cases it can even be “Book 0” and done before they study Book 1.
Many people who were invited to participate in intensive-format courses agreed to complete the sequence of institute courses in the regular study circle format. Thus, organizing the intensive courses motivated people to rise up and participate in the institute process, regardless of the delivery format they chose.
Lessons learned—after the intensive training is completed:
For those who wanted to participate in either the intensive institute courses or teaching project and were unavailable, connect them with people to accompany them so that they can complete the sequence of courses, gain experience in a direct teaching effort, or both.
Set up a tracking system to follow up with each individual who participated in a study circle for any of the books. Record who has 1) completed the practices and 2) arose to carry out the acts of service that are the intended outcomes of the book they took.
The tutors can follow up with each person and offer to accompany them in doing the practices they may have missed of any book they completed—even if they studied that book years ago. If they completed the practices but did not continue with the act of service associated with that book, offer to accompany them to engage in it during the next quarter.
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