6. Project Structure

Participants drew attention to the structure of the VALTA Project as contributing to the achievement of outcomes. They mentioned a number of elements of the structure, one of which was the amount of time allotted for learning and for applying the learning to practice. Another important element of the structure was the diversity of learning opportunities: through workshops, reading, online discussion and research projects. In particular, having workshops scheduled at key points throughout the Project was extremely valuable in terms of reinforcing learning, strengthening supportive relationships, and seeking input. In the section below entitled "Learning About the Experience of Being Involved in the Project," we offer more specific details about the major Project strategies: the workshops, the online course and the Changing Practices research projects.

Reflecting on Concerns and Issues: What Didn't Work Well

Although the focus of our inquiry was on outcomes and the factors that contributed to outcomes, we also sought to learn about what did not work well for participants in their experiences of VALTA. However, it should be noted that participants' responses were overwhelmingly positive and they had little to say about any problematic elements or issues. The most commonly mentioned issue concerned the large volume of reading in the online course. Some participants indicated that they felt badly or uncomfortable about their failure to complete the readings even though they knew that they were not expected to read everything.

Only two other concerns were raised by participants. One related to a perception of deadlines for completion of work as being 'soft' with the result that it was easy to postpone the work. The other issue was that participants received very little pay for the hours that they put into the Project.

Learning about the Experience of Being Involved in the Project

As noted above, we were attuned to learning about the experience of participating in the VALTA Project. To a large extent, the experiences of participants are reflected in their comments in the previous sections. In this section, we turn our attention away from outcomes and project elements to consider what it was like for participants to be involved in the Project.