New York, New York: Play At The Core has been selected to lead a workshop at the 2021 Annual PASE Conference on July 29, 2021. The team proposed a workshop focused on the potential impact of applying best practices in youth development programs to the organizational systems and work environments of youth-serving professionals. Workshop participants will reflect on what makes their youth program uniquely powerful in its engagement with youth, explore the value of expanding those strengths to organization’s internal professional.environments, and experience a dynamic meaning-making exercise to uncover opportunities for professional growth. In short, the workshop will lead attendees through PATC’s concept of Parallel Practice.
Parallel Process, and the Power of Not “Going-Back-To-The-Way-Things-Were”
The COVID-19 pandemic created incredible challenges for educators, youth development professionals, and the communities we work with. The adversities and inequities experienced, particularly in communities of color, only intensified as the pandemic wore on. As we prepare to reopen programs for in-person participation in the coming months, we are faced with a unique opportunity to begin to heal together by asking ourselves: What have we learned? Despite a push to “return to normal”, we must seize this opportunity to make meaning of our experiences over the last 16 months, and advocate for parallel processes that can support us to more fully realize our vision for our work. When we align what we know about great programming with how we engage together as professionals, we simultaneously strengthen and sustain both our impact and our workforce. Parallel processes that prioritize relationships, equity, playful engagement, and lifelong learning, keep us grounded in the reasons we chose this work (or this work chose us), and give us important clues about the ways we need to keep growing.
The 2021 Annual PASE Conference
About PASE: The Partnership for Afterschool Education, holds a free, all-day, online conference for afterschool leaders and educators to support afterschool initiatives and ongoing professional development. This year the conference will be held virtually and registration is open until July 29, 2021. Visit https://pasesetter.org/professional-development/afterschool-meeting-the-moment to register for the conference and the workshop, “Parallel Process, and the Power of Not “Going-Back-To-The-Way-Things-Were”.