Nevada-Based Group Explains Dallemand’s Trip to International Conference in Belgium

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Friday, a group based out of Nevada explained to 41NBC why they chose Bibb County school officials to go to Belgium for an international conference next week. 

Bibb County superintendent Dr. Romain Dallemand will travel with two other district officials to Ghent, Belgium for the 2012 World Appreciative Inquiry conference, where they have been asked to present their methods for organizing the summit back in October of 2011 to discuss Dallemand’s strategic plan. They will present to world businesses, school systems, and other organizations on how they successfully brought people together to discuss the plan.

The trip will cost about $3,000 in taxpayer money per traveler, a fact that has angered many opponents of the Macon Miracle, who say the Superintendent is irresponsibly spending the money, when children in local schools are having to share textbooks. 

41NBC spoke with the Center for Appreciative Inquiry, the group that chose Bibb County schools to present at the conference in Belgium, about why they believe Dallemand’s presentation is important to world organizations that will be in attendance.

“The inquiry that was held in Macon [in October 2011] with Bibb County schools with approximately 4,500 people is the largest inquiry face to face, real time, ever held in the world;” said Jim Pulliam, Vice President of the Center for Appreciative Inquiry. “And we were asked to present with representatives of Bibb County schools about that 2-day inquiry.”

Thursday, there was both fierce opposition and support for Dallemand’s planned trip to Belgium. The opposition stemmed mostly from budget concerns by parents. Some criticized the Superintendent for using the trip as a mode of self-promotion. Supporters of Dallemand and the Macon Miracle said the trip would help Bibb County schools gather important information from school systems worldwide on how to proceed and progress in the future. 

The Center for Appreciative Inquiry defines the term “appreciative inquiry” as “a theory and practice of connecting people and generating new possibilities.

In a blog post today, Dr. Cheri Torres of Innovation Partners International, praised Dr. Dallemand’s work in Macon to put into practice the theory of appreciative inquiry.

“The superintendent and his team are truly working for a miracle in systems change,” writes Torres. “They are leading at the systems level and Appreciative Inquiry and self-efficacy and positivity are at the heart of implementing evidence-based educational strategies, engaging the whole, and empowering students, teachers, parents, and administrators, but when people don’t understand the concepts that are behind the changes, fear drives their actions. This is threatening a lot of folks, scaring a lot of folks, and totally confusing many.” (To see the blog post, visit centerforappreciativeinquiry.net)

The Center for Appreciative Inquiry says they believe Dr. Dallemand has implemented the theory, and that is why they want Bibb County school officials to travel to Belgium for the conference.