The magic that happens...

Julie Smith jsmith at mosquitonet.com
Mon Sep 2 10:20:32 PDT 2002


Dear Elena,

When I met with high school students last week, my goal was to introduce
them to the idea of OST, and to invite them to think about how they
might use the OST process in their classroom and in their school.  When
one of the students asked if we could just do it (using Harrison's own
words), I knew our fate was sealed.  I told the students we needed a
theme, and the theme needed to be something important to them.  A number
of ideas were suggested, but not everyone was interested in the same
theme.  When we looked at the suggestions more carefully, we saw that
the underlying issue was often respect.  Since we didn't have much time
(the class meets for 80 minutes each day), we decided to use "Respect"
as our one-word theme.

I should also tell you that this was not the first time this class had
met together.  They had met together 5 or 6 times previously, and I had
met with them one of those times.  The students didn't know each other
well, but they weren't strangers to each other.

I'm thinking of the students as being in the position of the sponsor of
the OST events we create. (Michael Pannwitz helped me understand this
more clearly.)  That way, they are responsible for defining the theme,
creating the invitation, and deciding who to invite.  That creates a
very comfortable role for me, as I can simply support them in doing what
they feel called to do.

The teachers I'm working with are very excited about this process.  My
hope is that both classes sponsor an OST event for their schools in
September, and that they also use OST as a tool for learning in their
mediation classes.  I'm now thinking I might provide students with a
very brief overview of what the mediation process looks like, and invite
them to give it a try in a practice role-play.  As they play with the
process, questions will arise.  Those questions can be raised and
discussed using the OST process.  As students continue doing practice
role-plays, begin doing actual mediations, and then struggle with
developing the mediation program in the school, questions will continue
to arise.  My hope is that the students will begin to use OST when they
need to talk things through with each other, and spend the rest of their
time doing what they've decided they want to do.

We're also moving very quickly into student-facilitated OST.  I expect
to spend some time talking with students about the role of the
facilitator, and then let go and watch them do it.  The students I
talked with last week were very eager to take responsibility for this
part of the process.

Elena, I would be very happy if you shared my address with others who
would like to have it.  I wonder sometimes if my messages are too long
for people who are translating into another language.  Since I speak
only one language, I'm not sure how to be helpful to those who are
translating.  If you or others have any thoughts about this, please let
me know!

Julie

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