Cross Cultural Facilitation

Fri Sep 30 22:29:49 PDT 2005

Hi Brendan,

I can't comment specifically on the cross-cultural experience beyond my
anti-racism training but I have worked in the battered women's movement for
ten years and the concerns are valid.  That said, I think that there will be
fewer problems with OST than there would be with other processes as your
goal is to be as invisible as possible anyway.  There is also the potential
benefit in the end of being a positive model that they don't get to see very
often.  

I would suggest, for yourself, you may want to spend a little time
evaluating your cultural competence (I have a tool for this that you could
probably adapt if you want) and gender analysis so that you are sure you are
comfortable going in there-and fully aware of what you are likely to face.
Bottom line is that they have no reason to trust you and many probably
won't.  If you do choose to go ahead, I think that you need to be as
authentic and upfront as possible when you open the circle.  If you think
about this from an appreciative angle, if you open by addressing your power
and privilege and by acknowledging that they have no reason to trust you,
you can then move right on to why that's okay-maybe even a good thing,
because this isn't about you anyway-it's about them.  This is their space,
their time, their wisdom.  You're just there to hold the space so that they
can get to work on what has heart and meaning for them.  Look to your
sponsor for guidance on language and metaphor that will speak to the group.
Your honesty and vulnerability could make the difference.

Just my two-cents worth.

Contact me off-list if you want the cultural competence tool or other info
on connecting with white privilege.

Cheers,

Wendy

wendy at xe.net

  _____  

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Brendan
McKeague
Sent: September 30, 2005 8:22 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Cross Cultural Facilitation

G'day folks in the OS global community
A new client has asked me about facilitating a one-day OS for a group of
stakeholders and others about the creation of a refuge/hostel for indigenous
women - she has only minor concerns about using Open Space having recently
experienced her first event with me - her major concern is about using a
non-Aboriginal white male as the facilitator - see honest and forthright
comments below - and this event would be in a different part of the country
from where I live and where I'm not known locally in the indigenous
community - any thoughts on this query? Any stories of this sort of
cross-cultural/gender scenario?
Cheers
Brendan 

We have an opportunity with the new site being built in ----- to devote some
of our resources to responding to the plight of indigenous families.  Having
a different focus away from the mainstream site gives our service an
opportunity to explore, with the assistance of indigenous stakeholders, a
different way of responding to women and children from indigenous families
escaping violence.  I don't know what this will look like and it will be
difficult and we won't always get it right.  It will be a process of
learning and experimenting with new ways of responding to families. 

This is like a leap into the unknown for us because it will change our
service.  It has not been undertaken by any other service to my knowledge,
so there is no blue print to how we should proceed.  Having said this, I do
think it is possible and I believe it will have a positive impact on our
service as a whole. 

There would be about 35-40 people invited to this gathering which would
represent all of the key groups that would have an interest in a mainstream
organisation taking on and providing a service to Aboriginal women and
children. 

There has been a positive reaction so far to the proposal from Aboriginal
organisations but I am sure we will face some resistance/perhaps hostility?
(I will probably know this before we enter an open space) - and in a sense
that is one of the reasons why I think an Open Space forum will be good so
that we can hear and respond to people's concerns. 

One of my concerns Brendan is how they will receive you as a facilitator of
this process.  I am confident about you holding the space for us to discuss
these issues but I also don't want to set you up in the process either.  I
am worried that there might be some hostility to a man facilitating the
process and not a woman (you may be the only man there).  I would love your
thoughts around this and whether you have done anything similar before.
Part of me says be courageous and go with what you think will work and
another part of me is scared stiff!  

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