OST training and "certification" - the role of OSIs? (was: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Tue May 25 13:12:45 PDT 2010

Here we go again!  Open Space is and always has been free. Of course if you want to pay somebody to train you in something that is yours by birthright, be my guest. That said, it can be very useful to do something like Lisa provides, as also Michael P and others (myself on occasion) – when a bunch of good folks collectively explore the wonderful world of Open Space. I am not sure I would call that training – maybe co-learning would be closer. However when it comes to “certification” I don’t have a clue how you would do that. Certainly you can “certify that X participated in a program”, but whether they have a clue what is going on – who can say? Frankly when I hear the word “certify” my immediate association is with mental aberrations. In American English, to say that “somebody is certifiable” means quite simply that they are nuts. But that might just fit, you know. J And certainly there was a time that if you said you were in Open Space people assumed you were smoking a controlled substance or had just plain lost it. Ah, The good old days!

Harrison  

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

Phone 301-365-2093

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of  <mailto:oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:

 <http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html> http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html

From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Artur Silva
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:41 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: OST training and "certification" - the role of OSIs? (was: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Jack:

This is a critical problem, in these days.

Was OST a gift for all people that read the book (or not) and have a "good heart and a good mind" and where training is an additional aid for those that need that, or is it a business (or part of a business) for "self empowered "trainers"? And what is a "good heart"? And a "good mind"?

Do the organizers from Merlin (that btw are mostly scholars, but you may became a member and have discounts for a Standard Individual Membership per year of 59.95 eur) and the facilitator of the course you mentioned have "a good heart" or an "old days Kansas" one?

In Berlin, I was surprised to see the advertisement of a Program (presented as if it was a gift to the Access Queen") with a Certification Program costing 3.800 US $, with a four days part on "Working with OST" costing 650 US $. These prices are lower or greater the ones you mentioned? And including OST combined with other methods is still the "free" and "open" spirit of OST? Is it still OST?

But "certification" is often a requisite for grants in the EU and I think elsewhere too. 

Who (and how) can 'certify' that someone that presents oneself as an "OST facilitator" is indeed using OST, and not mixing it with other methods that "facilitate too much" (having, for instance, people presenting themselves in groups of two, previously to the opening, or having "reflections in pairs" before the closing, or guiding them through the stages of Future Search in a so called OST meeting, to give only some examples)?

I think that the Open Space Institutes around the world (and only OSIs, and not other "facilitation organizations", that use OST as one among many different tools, with many different epistemologies and values, frequently mixing and confusing them in a single so called OST event) can have a saying in relation to that.

Something that, IMHO, does that care about the future of OST must consider carefully...

Regards

Artur

  _____  

From: Jack Martin Leith <jack at leithcocreation.com>
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Sent: Tue, May 25, 2010 9:11:56 AM
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] Open Space Facilitation: Making it Work! 28-30 Sep 2010, Utrecht, The Netherlands

My curiosity aroused by the announcement below, I visited www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

Very interesting. An OS facilitator training led by ... well, who, exactly?

An OS facilitator training for, among others, professional conference companies.

An OS facilitator training that costs €795.00.

An OS facilitator training that provides participations with "a certificate awarded by the School of Advanced Facilitation".

Ladies and gentlemen, 25 years down the track, we are not in Kansas anymore!

Jack 

Jack Martin Leith
Leith Co-creation
email: jack at leithcocreation.com
Mobile: 07831 840541 (+44 7831 840541)
Skype: jackmartinleith
Professional website: www.leithcocreation.com
Personal website: www.jackmartinleith.com

On 24 May 2010 23:59, OST Training <events at merlien.org> wrote:

Open Space Facilitation: Making it work!
How to design, plan and execute unconference meetings successfully
28-30 September 2010, Utrecht
Event website: http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

About the workshop:
The International Open Space Facilitator workshop, co-organised by the
School of Advanced Facilitation (SAF) and Merlien Institute will be held on
the 28-30 September 2010 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Open Space offers your
participants more than just talks, questions and poster sessions. It builds
on the knowledge people bring to the event, harness their passion and give
them the responsibility for discussing what really matters to them in a
self-organising conference format. This workshop, conducted in English wiill
equip you with the essential skills to design and execute an open space
workshop or incorporate open space within your existing conference formats.

Who should attend:
This workshop is for meeting organisers and facilitators who will offer
their participants the opportunity to tackle complex issues in a highly
interactive, productive and self-structured "unconference" environment. The
workshop is designed with meeting organisers and facilitators in mind who
work for government agencies, educational institutions, European programmes
and projects, professional conference companies and industry associations.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to equip yourself with skills to
design and execute successful open space events. This two and half days
course includes refreshments and lunches. Early-Bird registration is now
open! To register, please visit:
http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/osft2010.html

*
*
==========================================================
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.openspacetech.org/pipermail/oslist-openspacetech.org/attachments/20100525/90e40d02/attachment-0016.htm>