circle: group processes, etc

[GraceAnn]

John.............You might find this web site helpful. It's a program
started more than 30 years ago in the South Bronx
www.UnitasNYC.org

Grace T.

----- Original Message -----
From: "john engle" <englejohn at hotmail.com>
To: <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2003 8:56 AM
Subject: circle: group processes, etc


> raffi, what a great story! what a privilege to have the opportunity to
work
> with circle.
>
> a number of your questions pulled at me to respond. for the moment, i will
> respond to these:
>
> . To those who do peace work, conflict resolution work, and work in
> sister fields: What other tools, training, (spiritual) practices have been
> helpful in making you a better facilitator and trainer?
>
> I recognize this is a big question. The more group work I do, the more
> I return to the question of the quality of my presence.
>
> Also, I see that I would like to develop further in how I design
> workshops (to learn how to design better). And to understand adult
> education principles better.
>
> 8. Anybody out there trained in processwork? Familiar with it?
> I'd be curious to learn what this kind of work has done for you and
> others. Your doubts about this kind of work would also interest me.
>
> raffi, i have been practicing leading "touchstones" discussion for four or
> five years. here in haiti, many open space practitioners are also
> touchstones discussion leaders. in fact, in haiti we call this process
wonn
> refleksyon which translates to reflection circles. thus, on our website,
we
> use reflection circle term instead of touchstones.
>
> to learn more about touchstones, go to: touchstones.org
>
> early on in our experiments with open space here in haiti (eight or nine
> years ago) we discovered that the traditional role of authority in haiti
is
> so strong, that very frequently, the person who proposed the
subject--thus,
> was in a position of authority because people came to "hear" him or
> her--would engage in a monologue for the entire time.
>
> we also discovered that people who engaged in these monologues would be
> frustrated afterwards with others because they refused to participate. yet
> some among the others would be frustrated because they didn't feel there
was
> an opportunity for them to share.
>
> plus, people who were illiterate, street kids, children in servitude  and
> others who are marginalized might not have the "presence" or confidence to
> ever propose a subject or ever say anything in a public setting.
>
> while i believe that continued opportunities in open space might allow a
> group to become adequately aware of what was happening and begin making
> necessary adjustments, i am too aware of limits in patience. if someone
> feels uncomfortable and does not see results inspite of efforts over and
> over again, s/he may cease to invest in continuing.
>
> we have found that touchstones discussions are perfect. it is an exercise
> intended to be done with a group perhaps once a week for 45 minutes to one
> and a half hours each session. over time, the group becomes highly skilled
> in group process; aware of who is talking and who is not, who is listening
> and who is not. people become better at getting their point across more
> quickly, thus not dominating time which does not allow others to share.
> identifying what is not clear to them and asking effective questions, etc.
>
> through this practice, a group develops habits which help its members to
> continue to evolve individually and collectively. and, people who are
> practiced in touchstones are in a good position to really make use of
their
> time in open space meetings, in the sense that they might be able to see
> tangible results more quickly. i do need to add that i buy the argument
that
> says, "if a group has time and space, just because they don't feel that
they
> are moving forward (whatever that may mean), does not mean that they are
> not." again, because of habits and traditions, sometimes we lack patience
> and need to see changes more quickly. i also should add that a discussion
> leader with touchstones becomes very aware of his/her power. one who might
> observe a group that is evolved in touchstones discussions will not,
during
> the majority of the time that the group is together, be able to determine
> who the discussion leader is.
>
> thank you for taking the time to share your rich experience and for
inviting
> us to share our thoughts and experiences.
>
> john
>
>
> http://www.beyondborders.net/experiment.htm
>
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