Awards
2011 Lifelong Learning Award in Innovation and Design for Lifelong Learning
It took us about 15 years to develop the Leadership Through Learning (LTL) Program. We started in September, 1996, after our first trip to England, when we met the father of action learning Reg Revans and others in the field of action learning, including Mike Pedler. We were so inspired by what we had learned, we knew we had to do something with this. So in 1997, we started developing and testing action learning in learning circles and then with clients specifically. In the summer of 2000, we wrote the first editions of three books, one on action learning, one on systems thinking, and one on learning styles and course design. We were finally on our way. We couldn’t have done this without the amazing and generous experts in their field providing their ideas and work, as well as their support and mentoring, people such as Chris Oliver, Tom Boydell, Kath Aspinwall, Mike Pedler, Richard Teare, and Tovie Van Ness. There were others whose work made our books so useful, beautiful, and enjoyable to read, including Joan Heys Hawkins, Ralph Hagen, Tim Eckert, and Eleanor Bell. Of course there were 100s of others who tested the ideas, the courses, the whole program, and each of the 17 books we have written since without whose help this would not have been possible.
There is a special mention for a group of people who really made this program and its mentoring support structure a reality: Betty Jo Monk, Ann Hoover, and Bobbie Eddins from Texas. It was at a systems thinking course that Julie Arnold ran in Arlington, Virginia that Betty Jo and Bobbie first saw our work. Thank you Julie for believing in us. But it really came into its present form of excellence when the wonderful people in the Texas school system piloted the program several times to make it really effective in a working environment. Today, many of these people still continue to use and teach the program. It is now taught as part of a Master’s program at four Texas universities. It is also being run for leaders in the Texas school system through the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA) thanks to the support of Sandi Borden, the Executive Director and the work of Betty Jo Monk and Ann Hoover. There are practitioners in Texas who now run the entire program on their own in their own school districts, with us supporting and mentoring them.
But, in the end, it was the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension, Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) program, that really gave the LTL program its legs to run and ultimately to win this award. We started delivering the LTL program in the CACE program, one course at a time. There were a number of people who supported us, including Dianne Conrad, Suzanne Roy, Cathy Olsen, most recently Carrie Sawatsky, Jennifer Cassidy, and Walter Archer, and the students in the CACE program itself. Thank you to everyone who supported us. It has been a privilege to travel this road with you.
Marilyn Herasymowych & Henry Senko
March 2011
About the Award
Part of the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension’s commitment to delivering excellence in continued education is recognizing the outstanding examples of lifelong learning that inspire our work. At the annual Lifelong Learning Awards Gala, the Faculty celebrates the achievements and contributions of the individuals, groups, and projects that best exemplify the first-class reputation of Extension and of the University of Alberta at large. The Faculty presents awards for:
- Outstanding Contributions to the Learning Environment
- Lifelong Learning
- Research and Scholarship
- Innovation and Design for Lifelong Learning
- Leadership in Lifelong Learning
See more about the Lifelong Learning Awards
2011 Lifelong Learning Award Winner
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