OS to engage the whole child?

[Larry Peterson]

I agree.  I have Opened Space in a number of school settings with students
alone, teachers & Students, parents and students.  They have been exciting
and productive events.  It is wonderful to see a young black pre-teen
leading a discussion with teachers and adults and other students on violence
prevention in his school.  All is possible and the context is key.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Suzanne
Daigle
Sent: April 26, 2010 1:19 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] OS to engage the whole child?

Valerie, Please pursue this dream with all your might! It so connects
with conversations I had yesterday at an Open Space community event
that I facilitated which was hosted by a fabulous leadership team of 5
Girl Scouts ages 10 to 17. The theme was about "Making Healthy
Contagious in Sarasota". It was a group of 30, half adults and half
young girls.

One of the 16-year leaders confided how much she wished Open Space
could happen in her school.  In that conversation, I could feel the
pressures, the competitiveness... everyone trying to "one-up" the
other as she described it. She talked about how much she valued being
herself yesterday afternoon, equal in the conversations with people of
all ages. I also felt her passion and joy working with us these past
few months on this Open Space project, planning the theme, creating
posters, inviting, and then welcoming the group as one of the two
hosts yesterday.

As we were briefly imagining an Open Space at school, we felt
ourselves bump into the overwhelming practicalities of so much
structure, never any free time with her also describing how annoyed
some of  the teachers get if other events intrude on their class
program. With these obstacles, we felt like we could only hope!

Coincidentally, the 16-year old's mom also had a butterfly
conversation with me sharing privately how concerned she was to see
her daughter at such a young age worry so much and be setting such
high standards for herself all the time. With the job market and
things being as they are, I can understand, said the mom, and yet I
worry about my daughter having the opportunity to just be a teenager.

This morning as I respond to your note Valerie, I also remembered
another 16-year old high achiever on our team blurting out to us a few
months ago in the course of an Open Space planning conversation: " I
don't know where all of this will lead and I don't care. I just know
that it feels so good to have a conversation that's more than 10
minutes, a conversation where people don't expect you to make a
decision or take an action after just a few minutes. We just NEVER get
a chance to do that."

Like you, I know that innovation, learning and creativity does not
happen when it is prescribed. And if we stifle this in children, a
time when it should be the strongest, were will we be?

Reading your posting this morning brought some things into focus
perhaps leading to something more than hope for me, for the Girl
Scouts and our recent event!

Thank you Valerie,
Suzanne


On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 10:19 PM, Valerie Schmitz
<valerie at teachmepeace.org> wrote:
> Thinking today about a K-12 learning environment (both face to face and
> some online) and the work we continually repeat which seems to preclude
> any real innovation for those we serve. Is it possible to create and
> sustain a permanent learning environment for children and young adults
> based on the OS/AOH - a clear and bright way of action that engages the
> whole child? I thank you for any thoughts.
>
> Valerie
>
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-- 
Suzanne Daigle
NuFocus Strategic Group
7159 Victoria Circle
University Park, FL 34201
FL 941-359-8877;
CT 203-722-2009
www.nufocusgroup.com
s.daigle at nufocusgroup.com

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