The Forum was structured as a series of focused discussions interspersed with "infomercials" which allowed participants to highlight particularly successful or interesting initiatives from their regions. Discussions took place in small and large group sessions, with facilitators using a wide variety of facilitation techniques including flipcharts, brainstorming activities, drawings and creative objects to activate the discussions and capture the information.

The following overview shows how the discussions were organized, and provides an indication of the kinds of information that were being gathered at each point. Where possible, results from handouts, flipchart sheets and brainstorming sessions have been included on the corresponding Charts in the Appendix.

Agenda

A. WELCOME AND OVERVIEW OF FORUM
B. SETTING THE CONTEXT

The purpose of this first section was to highlight common ground, identify potential differences, and illustrate the diversity of the field. It was hoped that some common terminology would be identified for use throughout the Forum. The information gathered was not new, but the creation of common understanding (and identification of points of disagreement) was fundamental to further discussions. Debate around the term "practitioner" was particularly important, as there were significant differences in how the term was used by various participants.

• Chart B1: Identifying Stakeholders, Funders and Potential Program Goals
• Chart B2: Defining the Profession
• Chart B3: Terminology
• Chart B4: Defining Roles of Practitioners

C. CONSIDERING COMPETENCIES

In this section, facilitators hoped to draw out a discussion of the various skills required for different practitioner roles and contexts, with the assumption that there would be common elements as well as significant differences. By drawing on the discussions and on information from the broader training field, it was thought that participants would be able to more easily make connections between performance, training and recognition models later in the Forum.

Workplace Education Practitioners' Forum
Summary Report