A summer school elevated by local initiative
A bold experiment was launched when the summer school for 177 B.E. was moved to a decentralised, internet-supported model after decades of holding regional residential events in both the North and South Islands. The decentralised model offered new opportunities, judging by reports and comments received from around the country .
The National Spiritual Assembly reviewed the summer school at its February meeting and decided to build on the initial experience of a decentralised event by replicating some of its successful features next time. Some of the benefits of the new model that seem worth pursuing include:
Heightened levels of local level engagement and creativity.
Removal of financial barriers to participation.
Flexibility in when people are able to listen, or listen again, to the plenary talks (because they remained online after they were first broadcast — and are still available on YouTube).
Ease of inviting friends from the local neighbourhood to a home-based summer school session.
Opportunity for local groups to get together to view the online sessions, engage in productive workshops, and discuss personal and group action.
Sense of connection with the whole country — generated by the sharing of photos from local gatherings.
Flexibility in being able to use various venues from homes, to wharenui, to Bahá’í Centres, community centres, etc.
Plenary talks that resonated well with the audience in addressing important themes related to the Plan and to honouring tangata whenua. This normal feature of summer school carried over successfully from the “real life” environment to online delivery.
One of the main improvements clearly needed next time is better provision for children and youth. Feedback was also received indicating that people missed the joy of Bahá’í fellowship in a large group that has been possible with the traditional model of major residential events. A few technical problems occurred with the production and broadcast of online content and workshops. Refinements to address such issues are being carefully considered by the National Assembly as part of its planning for an enhanced version of a decentralised summer school in 178 B.E.
The bold experiment that was instigated by pandemic conditions proved fruitful, and much of its success resulted from the enthusiasm of the participants and the devoted efforts of the large team who contributed as organisers, speakers, workshop facilitators, media support, website managers, and local coordinators.
