Reflect on important topics in learning and teaching through the World Café method
4 October 2024
The World Café method started in 1995 in California and is underpinned by seven principles, including creating a hospitable space, discussing questions that matter, listening to one another, playing, doodling, and having fun. You can read more on the World Café method website link.
Our World Café sessions at Cardiff University are open to anyone with a role in teaching or supporting learning. This includes graduate tutors, graduate demonstrators, and professional services staff. The events bring staff together to hear different perspectives, resulting in new insights and collective wisdom (Brown and Isaacs 2005). The first World Café was hosted in 2022 and since then the Fellowship Team have hosted 14 events, each focusing on a specific learning and teaching topic. Roundtable discussions take place, transcending the boundaries of Schools, roles, and directorates. In addition to using dialogue, staff are encouraged to draw or sketch their responses to questions which helps to stimulate thinking and develop ideas, enhance knowledge and understanding (Alexander 2019), and strengthen reflective practice (Simpson 2016). Come and give it a try!
Dr Walter Colombo, a lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Informatics, regularly attends World Café. Here is what he has to say:
“I first heard about World Café just over a year ago while undertaking the educational fellowship programme. It sounded like a good opportunity to exchange and compare teaching methods and experiences with other peers. It was, however, clear from the beginning that these events have much more to offer, as shown by the highly diverse nature of their participants. These not only include fellow candidates, but also lecturers and educators at different grades, as well as guest speakers and facilitators. This huge variety makes these events a truly unique opportunity to share, discuss, and primarily learn how educational methods and techniques are applied within different schools, and to hear first-hand from educators with different roles, experience and expertise.
The theme-based nature not only stimulates in-depth analysis and lively debates on diverse educational topics but also allows us to explore a wide variety of communication channels. These can span from more traditional slideshow presentations to visual arts, sometimes even music and multimedia sessions. Most of the session is left for interacting with participants. We exchange experiences, engage in discussions, explore alternative methods, and seek novel solutions to common problems.
World Cafe is an unmissable breath of fresh air in academia, an environment where we too often retreat onto our daily routines and commitments. It gently reminds us that we are all educators who should aspire to make continuous improvements to our teaching methodologies and strategies. This can only be achieved through a process of confrontation and interaction with other colleagues, including those outside our specific areas and domains, and regardless of our role and stage of career”.
Join us
Take a look at the topics, dates and times on the World Café 24-25 flyer, which includes the booking link. We would love to see you there!
If you have any questions or would like to co-facilitate a World Café, please get in touch with Alyson Lewis: Lewisa81@cardiff.ac.uk.
References
Alexander, R. 2019. Dialogic Teaching. Available at: https://robinalexander.org.uk/dialogic-teaching/ [Accessed: 23 February 2023].
Brown, J. and Isaacs, D. 2005. The World Café shaping out futures through conversations that matter. USA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.
Simpson, A. 2016. Designing pedagogic strategies for dialogic learning in higher education, Technology, Pedagogy and Education 25(2), pp. 135-151.
Further reading
Estacio, E. and Karic, T. 2016. The World Café: An innovative method to facilitate reflections on internationalisation in higher education, Journal of Further and Higher Education 40(6), pp. 731–745.
Lorenzetti, L., Azulai, A. and Walsh, C. 2016. Addressing Power in Conversation: Enhancing the Transformative Learning Capacities of the World Café, Journal of Transformative Education 14(3), pp. 200-219.
Pinto-Pinho, P., Ferreira, A., Matos, B., Santiago, J., Henriques, M., Corda, P., Lima, T., Rodrigues, M., Pereira, M.L. and Fardilha, M. 2003. The World Café method and spaces dedicated to active teaching and learning: A dynamic combo that motivates students for biosciences learning, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, pp.1-15.