mental meanderings, self-organizaiton, education

[Chris Kloth]

The last couple of comments about the assumption of language as the primary
learning mode triggered a couple of thoughts.

The link, which I will loop back to, is that there is a model for education
called Reggio Emilia after the town in Italy where it was developed.  The
title of the book that is the core reference for people interested is: "The
Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood
Education" (1993/ revised 1998 - Albes Publishing).  There is a series of
"Hundred Language" exhibits and training programs traveling around the US
this year.

This approach is all about assuring that all the languages are attended to
and using that as leverage to create an environment in which children feel
powerful in making choices (not a place where adult people believe they are
the ones who empower children).  Most of the staff training involves
liberating/deprogramming them from their  power and control issues.

For the last ten years I have been working on the edges of the early
education and child care system in Ohio, especially in Franklin County.
This system serves all children from birth to 6 years. The most recent
outcome of the work, which is ongoing, is building a new school that is
"owned" by the Franklin County Mental Retardation & Developmental
Disabilities (MR/DD) Board (only two states use have this kind of levy -
funded community-based nonprofit leading this system on the local level).
While it is "owned" the Board, it is funded by a community collaborative
that includes the MR/DD Board, several Boards of Education in the county,
two Head Start providers, the YMCA, the YWCA and others.

In 1991 we used a Future Search to shape legislation that changed or
affected virtually every aspect of how early education and care is
delivered.  In 1993 another Future Search resulted in a Franklin County
approach to implementing the changes.  In 1994 one agency also used future
search to reorganize itself to create and hold space for the whole community
to participate in the change process.

Open Space has been used since that time in a growing number of settings as
agency partners experiment, learn, revise and grow.  Now that the community
infrastructure is in place to sustain the ongoing change process another
agency, the MRDD board has emerged to push the operational limits by pulling
together a community effort that lead to building a school building that is
structurally congruent with the Reggio Amilia based program that has been
serving 600 children of diverse developmental abilities (typical &
non-typical), economic (market rate and subsidized) and cultural
backgrounds!

We used Open Space to debrief the first year and you won't be surprised that
they have now begun opening space all over the place.  Staff and other
partners are realizing that it is more congruent with what the kids have
taught them about self organization.

So here are a couple thoughts.

While there is important work to be done helping adults liberate themselves
from the structures that bind them, the work we do with very young children
is critical.  We often talk about the pattern of problem solving about how
to pull drowning people out of the river instead of going upstream to
prevent them from falling in or preparing them to swim and survive if they
choose to jump in.  When we focus on very young children we create huge
leverage for the future and, if the adults involved with very young children
start opening space rather than directing the space the children already
know how to operate in the space.

As the adults become more familiar with OST as a way to be instead of as a
way to meet my contact in the system is hoping that we will be able to
document how OST is reflected in and sustainable among groups of young
children and those adults who work with them.

It has taken 10 years to start at the state level to remove the structural
barriers that virtually outlawed what we now are beginning to consider
normal and appropriate.  I sense that the learning curve is increasing
rapidly.  More learning to come in the next year or two!

I understand that it takes a community to raise a child, but I wonder if it
takes a child to raise a community!

Shalom,

Chris Kloth
Senior Partner
ChangeWorks of the Heartland
250 South Virginialee Road
Columbus, OH 43209-2052
telephone - 614-239-1336 x 1
fax - 614-239-1337
e-mail - chris at got2change.com
www.got2change.com

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