Talking is good for you

Education advisor Caroline Jordan helped to organise UKFIET’s ‘Voices of the Next Generation’ conference in June 2017, where she presented on her recent experiences in Tanzania.

Often, at major conferences, the presentations come from those with 30+ years’ experience in the field, because they have the knowledge and perspective to provide rigour. Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand the need for rigour. But while we can learn plenty by watching and listening, there’s no substitute for doing it yourself.

When we drew up guidelines for the conference, we said it should be ‘by young professionals for young professionals’. But then we reflected that ‘early career’ was better, as age and experience don’t always walk hand in hand.

We saw the benefit in asking a few senior operators to lead thematic discussions. And we asked people to share moments that had gone wrong in their careers, so we could all learn from their experiences, both good and bad – the ‘cock-up club’ was extremely popular and useful.

Frustration often comes with change programmes. Sometimes you need to accept that the change you want is too big for you to achieve alone. The better path is to share the load and focus on smaller changes you can feel proud of, and then see where those baby steps lead.

It’s common to come into the profession with a Masters – you have the theory but need practice. The first scars teach you that nothing goes absolutely perfectly. And from early disappointments you learn who you should and shouldn’t work with.

I led a shared session addressing barriers to girls’ education in Tanzania and inviting attendees to offer solutions. Feedback was fantastic, so we plan to conduct similar workshops at future events. I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to present. Forums like this allow you to share experiences and better understand where they are most relevant.