FW: Bullying and OST
Carol Hiltner
carol.hiltner at gmail.com
Thu Nov 5 09:20:58 PST 2009
So, Harrison, am I to understand that, if someone physically assaults
someone else during an Open Space meeting, that you would just watch the
show? It's not clear that that was happening in this case, but I was in a
situation where it did happen.
Carol
On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 10:08 PM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:
> "Please say more about *how* you would have opened more space here?
>
> :- Doug."
>
>
>
> Doug -- I would have done business as usual. In conversations with the
> sponsors/teachers prior to the meeting (all under the heading of opening
> space) I would have said -- Folks this is going to be wonderful and just
> perfect! I would not have warned them about "the possibility of chaos" --
> which is what they would have been expecting, maybe even hoping for in
> order
> to justify their skepticism that these young savages could do anything
> useful without prior instruction and rigid control -- all provided by the
> teachers, of course. And in the meeting itself. . . Trust the people. They
> will work things out, given the space/time to do so.
>
> And what about the young lady who was ejected from her own group? Needless
> to say I wasn't there and don't know the situation. But a plausible story
> could be that she was a bossy, strong minded young person who knew exactly
> how the issue she raised must be discussed. As it happened the other folks
> in the group had different ideas and also really wanted to discuss the
> issue. Ergo.
>
> 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
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of douglas
> germann
> Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 9:44 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Bullying and OST
>
> Harrison--
>
> Please say more about *how* you would have opened more space here?
>
> :- Doug.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 2009-11-04 at 21:19 -0500, Harrison Owen wrote:
> > Rose – Sounds like and interesting Go. For me OS is very much like the
> > Rorschach Test – What you see is what you got, and it sounds like the
> > teachers and Principal confirmed that. Not terribly far from a prison
> > camp which is where many schools are. God forbid that the inmates
> > should become too restless and then get out of control! So of course,
> > the forces of reason and right will have to intervene (which they did)
> > – thereby substantiating their prior convictions that these “students”
> > were pretty much wild savages requiring a strong hand. Was there an
> > alternative? Probably and it wouldn’t have been pretty, but in my
> > experience it usually (always) works. Open more Space and treat the
> > students like responsible human beings. Expect the best and you might
> > get there. I have worked with fighting street gangs, and that was
> > always my approach. It did get a little exciting, but nobody ever
> > died. In fact, very useful things always took place. Simple fact of
> > the matter is that folks will live down to our expectations. That way
> > they can avoid responsibility for themselves and their actions. It is
> > all OUR fault! Then we can feel guilty and do more of what we have
> > always done (control, heavy hand, etc) and predictably get more of
> > what we have always gotten which then justifies more of the same – and
> > so on ad infinitum. Or something.
> >
> >
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Rose
> > Tassone
> > Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 6:51 PM
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: Bullying and OST
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hello everyone. I’m wishing to share my experience of facilitating OST
> > for the first time. It was held in a primary school in Perth, Western
> > Australia. Surveys administered by the principal earlier in the year
> > had parents and students report that they were most concerned about
> > bullying at this school. The principal identified the question “What
> > do we need to do to respect each other and get along?’ 73 students,
> > ages 8 to 12, 6 educators and 3 parents accepted the invitation.
> >
> >
> >
> > This is what I observed during the OS event: A student was pushed out
> > of her group when she went to the breakout space even though she was
> > the one who had initiated the topic; students were physically
> > fighting, pushing each other and name calling; students who were being
> > butterflies chose to run around, disrupt and tease those in the groups
> > even though there was a drawing activity available to them; the groups
> > tended to compete with each other on how many pages they could fill
> > with lists of dos and don’ts of how to treat each other. The energy
> > of the morning was one of palpable violence and two students were
> > suspended. Teachers who had been briefed by the principal to allow
> > chaos at the event, so that children could self organise, finally had
> > to intervene because of duty of care issues.
> >
> >
> >
> > Looking through the Book of Proceedings the students appear to have
> > all the knowledge of how to respect each other and get along, though
> > their behaviour during the event did not depict this. At the
> > debriefing the principal mentioned that the behaviours that were shown
> > are what normally occur every day in the schoolyard as they self
> > organise around individual survival. So it appears that the
> > proverbial ‘Lucy’ is more than likely a 10 year old bully!
> >
> >
> >
> > I would really appreciate any comments and/or thoughts.
> >
> >
> >
> > Kindest regards
> >
> > Rose Tassone
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > m: (+61) 0408 944 072
> >
> > e: rosetassone at iinet.net.au
> >
> > p: po box 358 leederville wa 6903
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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--
Best regards,
Carol Hiltner
Founder, Altai Mir University
206-525-2101 (US)
913-462-6912 (Novosibirsk)
carol.hiltner at gmail.com
www.AltaiMir.org
www.AltaiBooks.com
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