Open Space in Arab/Jewish School

Wed Nov 14 13:40:44 PST 2007

We have found the value of that honest and clear voice of the younger
children to far outweigh the wiggliness they sometimes also bring.  Our
experience with our own children is that they have a very strong interior
sense of when something is too intense for them and they will use thier two
feet very smoothly and quickly, particularly when they trust that the space
is truly welcoming of their judgement and movement and they can see they
have somewhere else to go.  Given that the law of two feet is something that
is often not encouraged in a school setting, it would be great to open space
in a way that really makes this really clear to them.

Looking forward to hearing more,

Caitlin.

On Nov 14, 2007 12:44 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

>  Well one thing about younger kids is that they very often ask the
> questions that are on everybody's mind but nobody dares ask. So I guess you
> might miss that. Could be a real show stopper – or just take the whole
> affair to new and different levels. One thing I would be pretty sure of is
> that there would be few issues of significance that all the kids don't
> already know about. They may have things a little confused and a little
> transparent discussion could clear away some of the shadows.
>
>
>
> Good Luck!
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> 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
>
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Yoav
> Peck
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:54 AM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: Open Space in Arab/Jewish School
>
>
>
> Harrison,
>
> Thanks for your response. I am presenting the idea to the central parents'
> committee tonite. I've heard some concern about some of the "heavier" issues
> being discussed with younger children involved. I'm not sure what I think
> about that. As a Jewish – Arab school with some fairly loaded issues, it
> more or less requires an essential shift in the way people see things to
> have a truly open space with first graders and political heavies in the same
> event.
>
> What do you see as the damage we will do if we limit the thing to
> sixth-ninth graders, along with everyone else? The gain? Yoav
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Harrison
> Owen
> *Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2007 9:59 PM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Open Space in Arab/Jewish School
>
>
>
> Yoav – Sounds like a lot of fun, and there is indeed some experience in
> the area. Some time ago in Seattle (USA) one school began each year with an
> Open Space for everybody. All the folks that you are talking about – and it
> turned out to be quite a bunch, something like the 400 you are talking
> about. But everything seemed to work just like usual. In fact it worked much
> better than things usually worked at school. For one thing teachers actually
> talked to students and the students reciprocated. Parents were involved,
> really involved. Not to mention the cooks, custodians, security and
> administration. You should have a grand time and we look forward to hearing
> the results. Only suggestion I have is to make sure you have plenty of
> space. That many people, particularly active, vocal, young people need a lot
> of space. And if the younger grades are involved (they should be) you might
> think about having ½ hour to 45 min sessions. Attention spans are on the
> short side, but the Law of Two Feet usually takes care of any problems.
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> 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
>
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html<http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Yoav
> Peck
> *Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2007 1:09 PM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Re: Facilitator as space-invader!
>
>
>
> I can one-up you, Thomas. In the holy space of Yom Kippur, toward the end
> of the full-day fast, as a speaker reached the climax of a talk about the
> holiness of silence, believe it or not, *my* cellphone rang. Understand, I
> run programs on human dignity and cellphone abuse is one of the examples
> that come up as people explore the ways in which they abuse each other's
> space, and here I was, Dr. Dignity, forgetting to turn off before entering
> the synagogue. If people had not been in a Yom Kippur-ish forgiving mood, I
> would have been tarred and feathered!
>
>
>
> Meanwhile, I am promoting our opening space at the Jewish-Arab school
> which my daughter attends here in Jerusalem. I'd be happy to hear from folks
> who have done this sort of thing. I will be presenting the idea to the
> school parents' committee Wednesday, and I'm thinking that we should go for
> inviting to the space all teachers, parents, perhaps the older students (7-9
> th graders) and assorted additional stakeholders. 450 kids learn thee, so
> it could be a big event. Any thoughts, tips from people's experience will be
> appreciated. Thanks much in advance,
>
> Yoav Peck, Jerusalem
>
>
>   ------------------------------
>
> *From:* OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] *On Behalf Of *Thomas
> Herrmann
> *Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2007 7:14 PM
> *To:* OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> *Subject:* Facilitator as space-invader!
>
>
>
> Hi
>
> I have a confession to make. I, as the facilitator, was a space invader
> today!
>
> Just when I said the final words...I now invite you to come to the center
> of the circle....my cell-phone rang!
>
>
>
> Did that ever happen to anyone else in our community, I wonder??
>
>
>
> Quite funny, actually. – And of course – it still worked.
>
> Warm regards
>
> Thomas
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Thomas Herrmann Phone +46 (0)709-98 97 81
> Open Space Consulting Fax +46 (0)300-713 89
> Pensévägen 4
> 434 46 Kungsbacka, Sweden
> Email: thomas at openspaceconsulting.com
> www.openspaceconsulting.com
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Vill du skapa en välmående och effektiv organisation och ta tillvara hela
> dess potential?
>
> Open Space Consulting erbjuder dig:
> * Lärtillfällen kring hälsa och balans i organisationer
> * Analyser av organisatorisk hälsa och balans
> * Handledning av effektiva och kreativa möten och konferenser
> * Utbildning av mötes- och processhandledare
> * Coaching för organisationer i förändring
> ----------------------------------------------------
> Vårt antivirusskydd scannar alla utgående mail. Infekterade mail stoppas
> automatiskt.
>
>
>  * * ==========================================================
> 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** ==========================================================
> 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* * ==========================================================
> 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** ==========================================================
> 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* * ==========================================================
> 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

-- 
May the beauty we love be what we do.
Rumi

CAITLIN M FROST
Facilitation, Project Management, Coaching
Principal - Harvest Moon Consultants Ltd.

*
*
==========================================================
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/20071114/9634b6a6/attachment-0016.htm>