Teacher edu in open space?

Sat Nov 19 05:36:19 PST 2005

Hello OS List People,

I've been reading for several months, enjoying learning, and now I have 
a question.

A friend of mine, Melinda Salazar, teaches at the public high school in 
Durham NH, the home of UNH. (She also teaches a few courses at UNH.) 
Her field is peace studies and sustainable developement. She and 
another teacher at the HS put on a "Teaching Peace" one-day conference 
last year, in April, aimed at NH teachers, and secondarily for parents, 
activists etc. from New England. There were the usual keynotes, 
workshops, round tables, and I think there were about 85 participants. 
It felt good - challenging, new connections, strong spirit - and 
they've decided to do it again this April.

I was a participant last year, and she and I have been talking a lot 
about the  plans for this year. I am not a decision maker re what she 
decided to do, but have been sending her tidbits from the OS list, 
which she has appreciated. It ocurred to me today to ask directly for 
advice. (My work is in community organizing, staffing a regional 
coalition: www.keysregion.org and we have used a variety of processes 
in our work, but not yet OS, though one of our core coalition members 
uses it.)

The question: Melinda and her co-organizer are considering using OS for 
the April 2006 Teaching Peace conference. Is it appropriate for this 
sort of event?

The day is about 6-7 hours long, on a Saturday, at the HS or possibly 
at UNH. With complete agreement that longer would be better (I've 
experienced a full 16-hr Future Search, and really "get" the power of 
working over a 3-day span), the firm plan for this year is a Saturday 
in April. Does it make sense to try OS for all or part of the day? (I 
read with interest the "taste of OS" emails a while back.)

I just read the part about "keynote etc. the day before, then OS for 
1-3 days works well" -- would a keynote 9-10am, then OS until 3pm, then 
a closing circle work? Any suggestions?

Some of the concerns re doing 100% OS: If there is no keynote, no names 
or topics on the flyer, will teachers, parents, and peace activists be 
attracted to come? This is not a required "in-service" training, so 
there is no pre-set audience. It's not the business corporate culture, 
where people are used to going away to a hotel for 2-3 days for events. 
The participants are largely teachers who are tired by Friday night, 
and it's appealing for many of them to come and listen rather than 
expect to offer something themselves.

The conference is low budget (the teachers make and sell Teaching Peace 
t-shirts to fund it, and there is a registration fee, something like 
$15 for the day), so hiring a professional OS designer seems unlikely.

Thanks for any advice that might be offered on the list,

Diane Brandon
Eliot, Maine

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>From  Sat Nov 19 10:09:30 2005
Message-Id: <SAT.19.NOV.2005.100930.0500.>
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 10:09:30 -0500
Reply-To: hhowen at verizon.net
To: OSLIST <OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU>
From: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>
Organization: HH Owen and Co.
Subject: Re: Teacher edu in open space?
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Hello Stranger! And the answer is YES! Virtually any combination that you
have mentioned has worked in the past and presumably would again. The real
question, it seems to me, is what would be optimum? And that in turn depends
on what your hoped for outcomes may be. To take an extreme situation -- if
all you want to do is impart a quantum of information to folks who prefer to
sit in passive receptivity, Open Space would definitely be your last choice.
On the other hand if your hoped for future state is something like an
energized, not to say inspired, group of folks who are ready to go out and
"teach peace" -- supported by a sympathetic and knowledgeable network of
colleagues and peers, then open Space is probably the only way to go -- and
if it were me I would go all the way. Everything in Open Space -- for as
long as you can. And I wouldn't give up hope for a multi-day gathering. If
the spirit was high last year and the level of commitment strong -- it is
amazing how people clear calendars -- even those who are not used to doing
that. A further suggestion: Do not try to maximize the number of
participants -- but rather the quality and commitment of those who choose to
attend. Personally I would really rather have a high octane group of 25 who
really "get it" and are ready to go for it! -- than triple that number who
are just going out for a nice day in the conference chair.

I hear what you say about the absence of NAMES on the marquee. Conventional
wisdom says that limits your drawing power. I am not so sure, and further
more there are ways around this. What you do is gather a committed group of
"Inviters" and ask them to invite their friends and colleagues. Put their
(The Inviters) name on the Invitation -- so that the conference is being
sponsored not by you or Melinda -- but by this group. Might even include
some "NAMES!" I know you remember the OT conferences -- which I believe are
still going. We never had names or speakers and yet somewhere between
100-250 folks showed up from all over the world for a 4 day gathering every
year. It can be done.

Last point -- Open Space and Peace go together like a horse and a carriage.
In my experience, what Open Space does is create the conditions for Peace
and so for your conference, Folks would not only be talking about Peace, but
living in it. In addition they would have the benefit of a little
experiential education when it came to the central question -- How do you
teach Peace? Simple answer from where I sit is, to teach Peace just open
space. Sounds a little glib, I am sure, but if you want more and deeper
check out www.openspaceworld.com. It is all about Open Space and it is all
about the Practice of Peace. And if you really get a little bit crazy, you
might read my book, "The Practice of Peace." (Human Systems Dynamics
Institute, 2003)

Good Luck!

Harrison   

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!
hhowen at verizon.net
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland   20854
Phone 301-365-2093
Skype hhowen
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com 
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website www.ho-image.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Diane
Brandon
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2005 8:36 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Teacher edu in open space?