Eval Cafe

Double the Carolyn’s, double the depth of conversation! We’re joined this week by Carolyn Hoessler, facilitator, curriculum developer, evaluator, and Founder of Higher Education and Beyond. After a brief chat on evaluation in higher education contexts, we dive into the topics of sense-making and evaluative thinking, covering What-So What-Now What, the Cynefin framework, children as complex adaptive systems, and the power of saying “I don’t know”. Plus, Brian takes some time to answer the question “Is water wet?”, and Carolyn Camman says something nice about the field of evaluation. Full show notes available on our website [https://evalcafe.wordpress.com/2020/05/07/episode-35-learning-to-think-and-act-at-the-same-time/]. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

On this week's episode, we're joined by Khalil Bitar, chair of the EvalYouth Global Network for a wide-ranging conversation. We touch on the trends we're seeing with young and emerging evaluators, why we should consider contrarian opinions, the value of evaluative thinking, and how we can work in service of equity and justice without sacrificing methodology and rigour. Full show notes available here [https://evalcafe.wordpress.com/2020/03/27/episode-34-evaluators-change-agents/]. This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

In this episode, we’ve invited listeners from across the globe to join us in checking in, connecting, and being human with each other as we respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Thank you to Ann, Jade, Cameron, Zach, Carolyn H., Shelby, Tom, Sarah, Libby, Kelly, Naomi, Trilby, Megan, Chris, Khalil, and Nicky for being part of this episode and sharing your stories. Full show notes available at our website. [https://evalcafe.wordpress.com/2020/03/11/episode-33-eval-cafe-check-in/] Find out more at https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co [https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

In this episode of Eval Cafe (one of only two places where evaluators really get crunk, according to guest Andy Johnson, with the other being the Diversity TiG social at the annual AEA conference), come hang out with our super panel of returning guests—Andy Johnson and Nora Murphy Johnson (Inspire to Change), and Chris Corrigan (Harvest Moon Consulting) as we expand chronos and play infinite games in kairos. We start by jumping into the question, “What does evaluation offer and what does evaluation need in times of great uncertainty and injustice?”, and follow that thread through a conversation about how evaluation delivers uncertainty instead of certainty, why arts-based evaluation exists (aside from being the coolest evaluation), evaluators as accompanists and ‘friends of the process’, Nora’s outline of her theory of transformation (plus one addition from Chris), exoskeletons, endoskeletons, why evaluation needs imagination to be rigorous, spaciousness, how to play in complexity, and how interesting it is how many problems can be solved in exactly the three years of a granting cycle. Full show notes available at our website. [https://evalcafe.wordpress.com/2020/03/11/episode-32-evaluation-games-with-friends/] Find out more at https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co [https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].

Brian and Carolyn dive into the year 2020 with a characteristically reflective episode where we review the highs and lows of 2019 and our ambitions and intentions for the year ahead. From Brian’s “tripped on a skateboard, slipped on a banana peel, did a triple lutz, and somehow stuck the landing” to Carolyn’s “living in the surprise of it”, we talk about the tribulations of evaluation consulting and finding our respective niches, how the ‘sausage gets made’ vis a vis the podcast, tease our respective plans for 2020 and some potential episode topics and guests, and go deep on what it all means. Will Carolyn get that Red Rose tea sponsorship? Will Brian keep his digital spaces decluttered? How many books does Carolyn sleep with? Will Brian EVER have a Year of the Trombone? And how are evaluators like Casper the Friendly Ghost? Only time (and this episode) will tell! Full show notes available at our website. [https://evalcafe.wordpress.com/2020/01/22/episode-31-another-year-bolder/] Find out more at https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co [https://eval-cafe.pinecast.co] This podcast is powered by Pinecast [https://pinecast.com].