THE ROLE OF THE REFLECTION AND DESIGN CONFERENCE IN THE PLANNING OF “CEJUS”, AN ALTERNATIVE LEARNING INSTITUTION

We wish to stress the importance of the Reflection and Design Conference (RDC) on the design and implementation of the future of CEJUS, an alternative learning institution. The Justo Sierra Studies Centre (Centro de Estudios Justo Sierra, CEJUS), reached its 35th anniversary last year (November, 2013). CEJUS is an alternative learning project ranging from pre- to high-school. In 2004 CEJUS incorporated professional and graduate studies geared to research in applied disciplines related to sustainable exploitation of natural resources. On the occasion of its 35th anniversary, the CEJUS Advisory Committee invited the subscriber and his team to carry out an evaluation exercise to assess the achievements of the project and plan for the future. We facilitated a two-day RDC involving 30 members of the CEJUS system. The RDC, in its full, systems-thinking approach, has been used in CEJUS in the past with excellent results. It is a powerful managerial tool to start a robust participative strategic plan, set up lines of action, and design specific projects along the lines of action. It encourages the participants to design a consensual, audacious desired future, free of self-imposed constraints, not conceived by conventional methods, otherwise. The process includes periodic feedback meetings with the stakeholders to assess the progress of the agreed upon projects, and make the necessary changes for the achievement of the goals and desired objectives. The 10-year plan produced by the RDC includes the creation of new centres spread both regionally and nationally, the formation of well-trained, mature educational advisers, the creation of a research centre for the study of alternative learning procedures, among other objectives. The RDC has shown in past applications its usefulness to facilitate educational systems stakeholders to reflect on the past and design a consensual audacious future, thus converting the event in an inflection point in the history of the system.