Rejig was delighted to be invited to present at CPSI 2020, an annual international event hosted by the Creative Education Foundation in Buffalo, New York. CPSI (Creative Problem Solving Institute) is the worlds longest-running creativity conference, attracting more than 400 educators, top business leaders and practitioners each year. We were allocated a day long session during which time participants would be taught how to ‘Coddiwomple’. The opportunity to present to, connect with and get feedback from such a diverse and invested group of creative practitioners was incredibly exciting for Rejig!
To ‘Coddiwomple’ is to “walk purposefully towards a destination as yet unknown”. It is the mantra which underpins the educational process we have designed and developed to build empathy, strengthen ‘enquiry’ muscles, stretch imagination and develop confidence in young people. It is a process which enables individuals to explore the multitude of life’s possibilities with confidence, curiosity and fun. Much ideation, planning and prototyping was conducted as the team prepared for this full day experiential session.
The onset of Covid 19 however forced us to ‘Coddiwomple’ in a very different way. Our transatlantic travel plans and our much thought-out live session dissipated overnight. While disappointing we decided to focus positively on the challenges this situation now presented; How might we make the ‘Coddiwomple’ meaningful within the parameters of a shortened online session? ‘How might we translate the energy and dynamism of an experiential session into an online framework? In the following days and weeks through plenty of ideation, debate and discussion within the zoomiverse a new way forward was paved. The technical execution of our newly revised session was assisted greatly by the amazing, dedicated CPSI team who checked in with us regularly, provided comprehensive email updates and most importantly brought bucket-loads of positivity and insightful suggestion.
On June 16th Rejig took to the online CPSI stage before 50 eager and enthusiastic participants, ready to introduce the early stage of our Coddiwomple process ‘Enquire’. An interactive icebreaker generated much humour and created a connection and energy which fuelled the session. Participants were placed in groups and worked collaboratively in breakout rooms on tools which enabled them to gain an understanding of what this process looked and felt like and also the kinds of information and insight which can emerge from this mode of ‘Enquiry’.
Although CPSI 2020 looked very different to how we initially imagined, it was a privilege to have this platform to discuss the work we do in education. Participants willingness to ‘give it a go’, combined with their questions, comments and sharing of experiences throughout the session ensured that a sense of interactive connection and learning prevailed. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the conference team for this platform and for the much appreciated level of support in bringing the Coddiwomple to CPSI.
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