The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2015 39 all the key areas specific to engaging internationally in our country’s interests: international policy; diplomatic practice; states and societies; understanding the U.K.; consular and crisis management; economics and prosperity; Europe; multilateral; security, defense and intelligence; law; and languages. At this point, I need to set out a couple of major differences between our model and that of FSI. The central Diplomatic Academy team is very small, about 15 people in total at the moment. We rely heavily—and expect to continue to do so—on colleagues with other full-time “day jobs” to lead the creation of learning and drive engagement in it. (More on that in a moment.) This means that the faculties are headed by a director- level colleague for whom that is just one part of a heavy list of responsibilities. We have done this in part because those senior leaders should bear much of the responsibility for ensuring their workforce has the right knowledge and skills, and for knowing what the capability gaps and priorities are for their area of the business. In other words, they know what they need people to do and have a strong interest in them learning how to do it, and do it well. We are also beginning to flesh out a very simple three-level system: Foundation, Practitioner and Advanced. We have just launched the Foundation level, which (as the name suggests) represents the basic knowledge and skills which anyone repre- senting the U.K. should ideally have. Put another way, it’s what you’d be embarrassed not to know. There will be relatively little use of face-to-face classroom teaching at the Academy. Instead, instruction in the eight mod- ules will employ a blend of techniques, including e-learning. It will also introduce to a wider FCO audience the idea of learning groups. The modules are designed so that individuals can work through them alone, but such a learning experience would be poorer. We are putting the responsibility on individuals to make sure that they get involved in a group and work through the cur- riculum with fellow members to get the most out of the material. Successful completion of all eight modules will lead to an externally accredited qualification. Working with Embassy London I’m delighted to say that one of the Foundation-level units provided the latest example of excellent collaboration between our two governments. Your ambassador to the U.K., Matthew W. Barzun, and his team have been great supporters of the Academy even before we were formally launched. He has already given a solo master class; shared a doubles act with our ambassador in Washington, Sir Peter Westmacott; spoken at our “Faculty Teams Retreat”; and sampled some of our training for heads of mission. In early May, British and American colleagues used our new Foundation unit on the U.K. elections for some very timely joint learning. I should also note that our new Inspirational Speakers Series was launched with a hugely successful appearance by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was in magnificent form. Let me also thank Nancy McEldowney and her team at FSI for a fascinating visit last November. We had already drawn heavily on FSI’s experience when creating the Academy, but it was great to see it in person and talk to those working and learning there. I confess to leaving with envy of the resources secured for it, and the “training margin” (also called the “training float”) to make good use of it. The institution should be a resource for all those working to advance British interests internationally. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shares her thoughts on diplomacy with the Diplomatic Academy in February. COURTESYOFTHEU.K.FOREIGN&COMMONWEALTHOFFICE