Worldskills Abu Dhabi 2017: C-4

Competition Minus 4 Days

Building the workshop, induction and the experts expert

It’s a relief to listen to a teacher who not only can instruct a class representating nearly every culture on Earth, but also in a non-native, second language. Introducing Markus Ruben Wiese from Leipzig, Germany — Worldskills’ Graphic Design Chief Expert in Abu Dhabi.

Today he guided a large group of newbies through the basics and underscored each point with a genuine, authentic fair competition focus.

He also completed the day with one of the best recaps I’ve ever witnessed:

  1. Hand wrote what had been achieved during the day.
  2. Asked for feedback and questioned the group “did you get what you needed…?”
  3. Posed the question—“What about the rules?”
  4. Held aloft — “and I have my presentation printed out”
  5. And tomorrow we will continue with …
  6. Pause for effect, “How do you feel about that?”
  7. Reflected on the fact that most of the experts took mandatory assessment training… He asked “was it okay? Did you feel uncomfortable?”
  8. “You have the opportunity to do it again tomorrow”… Any comments on that?
  9. And then the kicker,  “please be all on time (8:45AM) or we will have to start earlier the following day…”
  10. Deftly wrapped it in a bow tie, staying around for another hour for further questions or some more assessment examination practice…

Furthermore, Competition Skills Manager Sarah Jones (ex Aussie expert) shone brilliantly with judgement training, featuring a super clean slide bank and poignant reminders of how easy it is to get caught up in holistic marking. The answer, demonstrated carefully in several ways to drill it home, was to  ‘think about criteria individually each time’.

When competitors compete at an international competition level they really ‘earn’ the right to take home a medal. There is no pity for sub-standard industry performance.

Don’t feel sorry for them.