Friday, November 16, 2007

Workshop evaluations summary

General feedback:
  1. Did the workshop cover the topics you expected? 7 yes; 2 no.
  2. Did the workshop stick to the subject? 9 yes; 0 no.
  3. Was the workshop a safe place for you to share? 9 yes; 0 no.
  4. Was the workshop spiritually nurturing? 9 yes; 0 no.
  5. Was the workshop fun and/or interesting? 9 yes; 0 no.
  6. Was the Advance Program description accurate? 6 yes; 2 no.
  7. Did you use the information posted on the website in making a workshop selection? 7 yes; 2 no.
  8. If you used the website, was the information helpful? 7 yes; 2 n/a.
  9. Was the quality of worship within the workshop appropriate? 9 always; 0 sometimes; 0 not at all.
  10. Was the leader prepared and knowledgeable? 9 always; 0 sometimes; 0 not at all.
  11. Was the leader appropriately flexible? 8 always; 1 sometimes; 0 not at all.
  12. Did the leader interact appropriately with the group? 9 always; 0 sometimes; 0 not at all.
  13. Did the material presented speak to your condition? 8 always; 1 sometimes; 0 not at all.
  14. To what extent was the amount of worship and/or worship-sharing in the workshop appropriate for you? 0 not enough; 8 about right; 1 too much.
  15. How much daily worship and/or worship-sharing do you expect in a workshop? 1, less than 20 minutes; 7, 20-40 minutes; 1, more than 40 minutes.
  16. Would you recommend this workshop to a Friend if it was offered at a future Gathering? 9 yes; 0 no.
  17. Is this leader skilled enough so that would take another workshop offered by him/her, if the topic were of interest? 9 yes; 0 no.
19. Comments on the workshop leader:
  • Stasa was a well-versed leader with a lot of knowledge in the subject area. She was flexible, encouraged participation, and adjusted plans based on interest.
  • Great caring, understanding.
  • This dear Friend I miss from my meeting, so one of the reasons I took this workshop was to spend time with her.
  • I appreciate her capacity for discernment, her wide, deep experience, her honesty.
  • Stasa was well prepared and capable, worship felt safe. Very capable and trustworthy.
  • Stasa was very loving and nurturing, fun, light hearted, thoughtful, and a great leader. She was very kind and motherly to me which was exactly what I needed, being the youngest, sickest (germ wise) participant.
  • Well informed and ready to go as the group led her.
20. Best things that happened during the workshop:
  • Connections and exploring how Quakers can function with ritual.
  • Conversation and growing closer to people in the workshop worship sharing was meaningful and powerful.
  • Lots of good singing.
  • Ritual, ceremony.
  • Gathering of Friends. Getting to know the other people and having shared experiences and being safe.
  • The closing ritual was wonderful. Sharing.
  • Our final worship-ritual on healing.
  • Community, education.
  • Cleansing ritual was not only beneficial for the experience of being in a circle of other Pagans, but for emotional healing as well. I felt renewed, refreshed and loved. It was wonderful.
21. Troubling things about the workshop:
  • I was nervous about the age difference between me and the other members, but that cleared up quickly.
22. Ways that the workshop did not meet expectations:
  • I had hoped for more discussion. We did this on Wednesday. I would have liked every day.
  • I thought we would be outside more. Wanted to be involved in nature more.
  • Wednesday was a long discussion about common elements of religions that did not feel like it fit the rest of the workshop. Discussion felt dry, not experiential, then again I was very sleepy.
  • I was not used to being in a Pagan group but after the first hour was glad they were there. As an academic, I am curious about history and the connection to ancient spiritual practice. More of this would enhance the program.
23. Comments on guest speaker, field trip, video, or other "special event":
  • Ritual is a special event, wonderful.
  • Both of our rituals were extraordinary, though the first was more powerful for me.
24. New skills, knowledge, or understanding taken from the workshop:
  • I feel more balanced and solid in my own leadings. Leading ceremony.
  • I will take the experience of being in a circle with other more knowledgeable Pagans and seeing how and why they do things.
  • Acceptance of support of Pagan Friends.
  • Diversity in spirituality.
  • Some new songs and connections with like minded Friends.
  • Circle casting, chants and other music.
25. How the workshop affected participants as a Friend:
  • Deepened my practice. I value procedures more, understand clearness committees better.
  • Deep worship, healing, validation of my spirituality.
  • I feel more convicted in my beliefs as a Pagan Quaker. The community gave me strength and courage.
  • Deepened my spiritual experience. Further broadened my spiritual basis.
26. Other comments for the workshop leader:
  • Just what I wanted was different. I felt the workshop did go in the direction the group wanted. I held aside my direction other than small notices that would have been heard if that was what others wanted.
  • Definitely do it again. This was amazing.
  • Thank you.
  • Thanks for your courage.
  • Do some stuff outside. Very important to be in nature.
  • I hope she receives the appreciation that she is worthy of.
  • Hugs and blessings.
  • Some history, druidry, celtic philosophy, perhaps to give context to temporal worship.
27. Other comments for the Workshops Committee:
  • I don't think the Gathering mission statement correctly reflects the gathering mission. It should include the explorative edge processing nature of the workshops. This is a think/feeling tank for Quakerism. Not only inward growth but outward growth.
  • I appreciate space at Gathering for Quaker Pagans to get together.
  • I wonder if a workshop could be developed to form a Pagan-Quaker section for Junior Gathering.

3 comments:

Ben said...

That's wonderful — it sounds like you really succeeded in creating the kind of space you wanted to. I'm reminded how much I miss doing magic with you.

Laura said...

Thanks for sharing these. I must confess - I don't remember which comments were mine!

staśa said...

Ben -- I very much miss doing magic with you as well.

Laura -- Good! :)