Education thread - Viginia's story: OS and Teenagers

[Peg Holman]

I am just catching up on my listserv reading and saw Virginia's question
about previous postings.  I have them all!

Also, Birgitt, Rich Henry has used Open Space quite a bit at Pierce College.
Not that he's at Bellevue Community College, he's brought OS with him.  You
can reach him at RHenry at bcc.ctc.edu

And if you haven't connected with Anne about Pathways Elementary, David
Paul, the principal can be reached at
"WPGATE::VAXES::DPAUL"@is.ssd.k12.wa.us  (As weird as it looks, I have sent
a message to him at this address).

And I almost forgot.  The Busch School, a fancy private school in the
Seattle area used OS for a gathering (I think it was faculty and
administration, but I don't know the details.)  I think Dell Drake opened
the space.  Fred Mednick is the Dean.  He's at mednick at home.com

Peg

-----Original Message-----
From: Virginia <visions at INTERLYNX.NET>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.IDBSU.EDU <OSLIST at LISTSERV.IDBSU.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, March 25, 1998 6:32 AM
Subject: Re: OS and Teenagers


>Esther
>I, too, have used Open Space only with teens at college (for US OSlisters
>this means a more trade oriented post secondary ed. in Canada, typically
>meaning they are younger by one year than university entry level)
>
>Interestingly, mine nick named me "crazy woman" (I think Birgitt may have
>posted the first installment of this story on this list before I got
>online) as they did not know what to do with themselves or what I expected
>of them - the CHAOS reigned supreme as you have also discovered during the
>topic posting and the sign up.
>
>I also found that the students were in their full mode of "tribe" behaviour
>with looking to the dominant members in the group, not sure if they wanted
>to speak up...this is where the safe space creation is critical.  My kids
>now respect and listen to all of their peers more carefully as they have
>progressively been exposed to ongoing healing circle teaching methods
>through out this semester.
>
>Birgitt in her process facilitation course has taught me how right brain
>exercises 'transfer in' the students full spirit - they now treat this like
>a feeding frenzy at the start of each class (laughter, diving to the centre
>of the circle like scramble!!). The rewards of teaching third year design
>as a part of my landscape architecture practice are great!
>I enjoyed your sharing Esther!
>To all a great sunny day (yet again here in Ontario)
>Virginia
>----------
>> From: eewing at INFORAMP.NET
>> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.IDBSU.EDU
>> Subject: Re: OS and Teenagers
>> Date: Wednesday, March 25, 1998 7:46 AM
>>
>> Hi from Esther Ewing of Toronto:
>>
>> I have mostly lurked in this list but have some thoughts to share about
>> using OS:
>>
>> I conducted an Open Space at a high school in North York (now part of the
>> Toronto District School Board) on the topic of Safety at Downsview ( the
>> name of the school).
>>
>> The participants were volunteers - students - as well as the appropriate
>> teachers, ie. those who were in guidance and positive peer culture
>> teachers. What I learned:
>>
>> 1. I need to discuss with the teachers their role ahead of time - how to
>be
>> part of the discussion but not overpower - not to debate with the kids
>but
>> at the same time express their own views. A couple of teachers did not
>> manage that balance as well as they could.
>>
>> 2. I need to give more time to the actual signing up for sessions with
>> teens as they spent time discussing who else was going to which sessions
>> before they would make their own decisions. Especially the girls tended
>to
>> hold back on signing up for sessions until they could see which of their
>> friends, male or female, were going where. In other words, for them there
>> was a highly social aspect of choice as well as what aspect of the topics
>> would be meaningful for them. It took almost three times the amount of
>time
>> for the kids to sign up as it would adults.
>>
>> 3. It also took more time to open the space. They needed more examples of
>> how things would work.
>>
>> They were almost unanimous in liking the process: "Miss, I actually felt
>> listened to!" A couple of boys didn't like it. They said that it was too
>> open and allowed some (unidentified) others too much say. A couple of
>kids
>> came to persuade others that drugs were okay(!!) and to justify their own
>> lifestyle choices. The kids did not reward that but they were so vocal
>that
>> a teacher had to step in and make sure that others got heard. A whole
>bunch
>> of kids came because it meant that they could skip French class but got
>> really engaged in the process.
>>
>> Overall, the kids said that they would like more Open Space process. The
>> teachers felt relieved that they didn't have to be solely responsible for
>> fixing all the school safety issues, they could share that with the kids.
>> And they liked that the kids were willing to try to get things happening.
>>
>> That's all, folks,
>>
>> Regards,
>> Esther
>