OST for schools & with children

[Chris Corrigan]

Along with my friend Kathryn Thompson, I did an Open Space with an
alternative school in North Vancouver in 2004 who was confronting a major
philosophical shift on the part of its school board.   The OS was aimed at
revitalizing the school community's leadership around the school itself.

A few months later the sponsor wrote to say the following:

**

"It's truly remarkable to see how a few hours spent in OS can affect a
community...I have seen the parents, staff and students go from
hopelessness, despair and anger to action and strength. It seems like
somehow everyone suddenly remembered what their true purpose was. They've
organized action groups, committees, totally revamped the school website,
created a very professional proposal and accompanying powerpoint
presentation to the school district trustees and best of all, everyone seems
to have come together and pooled their energy to really take this school in
the direction that we all want. I'm not sure how many of the people who have
been actively involved in this work over the past few months would credit
that time in OS with having been the turning point for our community... in a
way I think that's a credit to your facilitation, that they see the energy
and action as coming together in an organic way from within the group.
Regardless, I think that the gift you and Kathryn gave us by holding that
space for a few hours and making it possible for us to have true open
dialogue together, has been exactly what our school needed to continue
existing."

Here on Bowen Island, where I live, I lend support to our community of
homelearners and their families by convening Open Space events to provide
parents with an opportunity to connect around various approaches to
homelearning.  In the fall my nine year old daughter and I will be holding
space with the kids themselves around the topic of creating projects where
the kids can make contributions to the community.  This will be my first
Open Space working with my daughter, and I'm really looking forward to it!.


Chris
On 7/6/06, Jennifer Hurley <jlhurley at hfadesign.com> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone.  I may be holding space for a group looking at school
> design issues.  The group will include architects, parents, and teachers,
> and will be exploring the issues in general (not designing a particular
> school).  I know many people have posted resources and links here
> before.  Could someone point me in the direction of resources about:
>
> 1. OST with children
>
> 2. OST around architectural design issues
>
> 3. OST related to schools
>
> Thanks so much!
> Jennifer Hurley
>
> =====================
> Hurley~Franks & Associates
> Planning & Urban Design
> 215-988-9440
> http://www.hfadesign.com
> 1429 Walnut St.
> Philadelphia, PA 19102
>
> *
> *
> ==========================================================
> OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> ------------------------------
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
> view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
> To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
> http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
>



-- 
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Weblog: http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot
Site: http://www.chriscorrigan.com
Open Space Resources:  http://tinyurl.com/r94tj

*
*
==========================================================
OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
------------------------------
To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options,
view the archives of oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs:
http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20060706/2a0dc487/attachment-0016.htm>