Finding a New Equilibrium

A lesson from our cause, Altruistic Odyssey.

Sometimes projects change over time due to a variety of positive or negative factors, and that change can be difficult to come to terms with. What if you realize your project is no longer delivering what you envisioned?

I just returned from a trip to our Computer Learning Environment Center (CLEC) project in Sotang, Nepal, which hopes to begin producing CLEC-trained primary school teachers every year to help bring education to the forefront in Nepal. After two days of Jeep rides and hiking over the Dudh Koshi river, we reached the CLEC project site; I was very impressed by the CLEC installation we had managed to build, especially given the difficulty in bringing all of the equipment to such a remote location.

Upon our arrival, I was invited to observe a 45 minutes class delivered by one of the information and technology teachers. The teacher sat behind their desk and clicked through the presentation, while students sat at their desks, attempting to understand the material, but with no real dynamic interaction between the two parties. While the classroom and program technically met the requirements we had set out, I realized we were a long way from implementing a truly different, more effective way for teachers and students to interact and learn.

I felt that somewhere in the midst of the project being developed and focusing on the day-to-day challenges that occurred, we lost sight of the long-term goals of the program, which lead to teachers and students using a brand new computer lab in a very traditional way. We had lost the equilibrium between introducing a more technology focused classroom and skillset, and maintaining the intimate teaching that was required by our pedagogical approach.

While, I cannot say I was totally surprised, as I knew this was new and needed to be coached along, I had no idea it would be so difficult to implement. By the end of that first day, I quickly realized this project was no longer going where it was intended to, and that an immediate course correction would be needed. On top of everything, our local partner NGO had diverted from the agenda we had set together and had begun setting their own agenda.

I thought back to numerous discussions with our US team about our new focus and strategy, about how in order to achieve our long-term goals, we needed a successful pilot that would get the attention of, and open up partnerships with, Nepali universities. Given this, I chose to focus on the CLEC issues as a priority, and to put the local NGO issue on the back-burner. The challenges this pilot faced (and will continue to face) were the first crucible that our program had to pass in order to become a sustainable and scalable effort, that would have real impact and drive real change.

After emailing our board members in the US to inform them of the situation, I began to meditate and go for a walk in nature with our project coordinator, Manisha Basnet. I find that separating myself from where the problem is can help a lot, as the change in scenery can help allow me to consider different perspectives. I spoke with Manisha and attempted to think of how we could collaboratively come up with a solution that helped benefit all parties, while accepting some of the changes the program had self-implemented, instead of simply pushing through with our original plan.

We realized that the program needed the remote college team of administrators, teachers, and ICT (computer) teacher to become more intimate stakeholders in the pedagogical process, so I met with them and made the following proposal: let’s use the third day of my visit to try out a new method, that I will prepare with not one, but two teachers. The college principal granted permission for us to use two teachers, and we prepared the new way of teaching with both of them in the morning.

The new method was based around pairing the ICT teacher with an English teacher, as I had noticed a few key difficulties: (1) both the teacher and students had difficulty in English, but the course examination had to be passed in English; (2) one teacher alone could not focus on delivering the material as well as answering the questions of all the students, so interaction was either too limited or information was not being delivered.

The ICT teacher delivered the material to the classroom while the English teacher walked amongst the students, translating when needed and facilitating the lesson. The English teacher would also keep track of common questions and relay them to the ICT teacher, becoming a conduit for the voice of the class as a whole. Another major change, this one proposed by the other stakeholders, was the inclusion of “table captains” in the system as intermediaries; these “table captains” were students who understood the material more than their peers and helped answer what they could as well as helping to streamline the questions a table would have for the English teacher as they walked around.

Afterwards we sat in on two classes that they co-lead in the evening. Between the two classes, I worked in between a couple of adjustments, and saw the potential in this new modified model of the program. Finally, with some last tweaks and additions, I went over the new co-incepted model with the college principal, and recommended that it be adopted in place of the original model, in order to help benefit all parties more effectively and sustainably.

This scenario was an interesting one for me, as while I typically try to return to the original equilibrium on a project, i.e. the original plan, this project had evolved on its own and would have put up significant resistance to that change. Instead, while still maintaining the long-term vision, I tried to find a new equilibrium that balanced intimate teaching and technology-enabled class environments. “No plan survives contact with the enemy” is a common military saying that puts it quite simply – that once an idea or plan comes into contact with the real world, it will always evolve, and what is important is that you can adapt to that change, and find a new equilibrium.

Once again, in closing, I wanted to pose a few questions: What are some key challenges that you have encountered when close to accomplishing a project that required collaboration and a shift in “equilibrium”?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this newsletter, and again thank you so much for your hard work this year!

Edmond Antoine
CEO Creative Collaborative Coaching
Founder, Altruistic Odyssey

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