mental meanderings - you got me going Julie (long)

[Harrison Owen]

At 04:02 PM 10/30/2002 -0400, Chris wrote:
>But with the school groups, the basics of the situation seem to require
>pre-designated leadership.  This is simply because, if we have a theme, it
>is fun stuff to do.  And 90 minutes of fun stuff to do, three times a day,
>seems to often require neat materials, neat tools, artful space-holding,
>and careful preparation.  Can young people provide this for themselves,
>spontaneously?  I would say yes, sometimes, but not in a way that would
>allow us to deliver the promise of our particular program.  As I ponder
>it, however, I can imagine how over time our instructor/mentors could
>become more and more transparent - background support.  A ten-year old
>could convene the climbing tower, and John & Sharon could let the child
>give all the safety instructions, and fill in only when necessary.  Our
>adults could be on standby to respond to what the children convene.

  You Said -- "As I ponder it, however, I can imagine how over time our
instructor/mentors could become more and more transparent - background
support."  I think that is a wonderful "ponder" And I suspect that
"transparency" for instructors and mentors is the true index of their real
effectiveness. The next question is -- how do you foster that? And you
won't be surprised to learn that my suggestion is  -- Open some Space. Not
only would that mean Opening Space with these folks around the "issues and
opportunities for Transparent Teaching" -- but also some intense reflection
of the Open Space experience itself -- where it seems to me transparency
rules -- or something like that.

>I suspect that you are right.  We spin out practical structures, less
>fluid than simple Open Space, for particular situations of working with
>children.  Sometimes these additional rules do make it "palatable" for
>certain groups to sign up.  The additional rules may enhance the learning
>experience in a given time frame or location.  But as always you remind me
>to ask, "What is one less thing we can do here?"  We may find that it is
>our own assumptions, and not the capacity of the children or the givens of
>the situation, that hold us back.

You said it. (smile)  A long time ago I ran a teacher training program for
Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) going to West Africa. Granted, PCVs may be a
special breed, but we found that once the volunteers had the meaningful
questions hit them right between the eyes, they massively got on with the
business of finding, or inventing, appropriate answers/solutions. The net
result was a learning environment that took my breath away then, and still.
I have written all that up as a story for my book, The Practice of Peace.
It is much too long to include here, so I will send it to you as a file,
and will be pleased to do the same for anybody else who cares.

Harrison


Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm

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