[OSList] A Question About Safety

Tue Aug 21 03:59:24 PDT 2018

Forgive the explanations/examples  being from a different time… 1969

From: OSList <oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org> on behalf of "Royle, Karl via OSList" <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Reply-To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Date: Tuesday, 21 August 2018 at 11:58
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Cc: Karl Royle <K.Royle at wlv.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [OSList] A Question About Safety

And this too

ten principles of learning that Rogers (1969, pp. 157-164) abstracted from his own experience:
1. Human beings have a natural potentiality for learning. “They are curious about their world, until and unless this curiosity is blunted by their experience in our educational system” (p. 157).
2. Significant learning takes place when the subject matter is perceived by the student as having relevance for his own purposes. “A somewhat more formal way of stating this is that a person learns significantly only those things which he perceives as being involved in the maintenance of or the enhancement of his own self” (p. 158).
3. Learning which involves a change in self organization—in the perception of oneself—is threatening and tends to be resisted.
Why has there been so much furor, sometimes even lawsuits, concerning the adolescent boy who comes to school with long hair? Surely the length of his hair makes little objective difference. The reason seems to be that if I, as a teacher or administrator, accept the value which he places on non-conformity then it threatens the value which I have placed on conforming to social demands. If I permit this contradiction to exist I may find myself changing, because I will be forced to a reappraisal of some of my values. (p. 159)
4. Those learnings which are threatening to the self are more easily perceived and assimilated when external threats are at a minimum.
The boy who is retarded in his reading already feels threatened and inadequate because of this deficiency. When he is forced to attempt to read aloud in front of the group, when he is ridiculed for his efforts, when his grades are a vivid reflection of his failure, it is no surprise that he may go through several years of school with no perceptible increase in his reading ability. On the other hand, a supportive, understanding environment and a lack of grades, or an encouragement of self evaluation, remove the external threats and permit him to make progress because he is no longer paralyzed by fear.[1]<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1fs4MO-000B2y-5l&i=57e1b682&c=WpoLFgI3o0ebHOKOLvbd6TxfG5ViNKnIpni9NkrZ2xNKYo5u-HL9T9MmCnpXMlyPXljGn5FwsduuWsvmKZzybckBhaEHox0jAyR1SZgS8lyKa7LOw7pT5AiHN3alytgDfQP1aROeRgvaUGiOU5ZwQ_dwy17k3Bsf6QdG__sMxPPTKAVafjrJZboeOA3w_RVUhW7mYT0QtE1c4b8yHr12nANg6vBs2g2EQiRR6_82yHkPHPhYOy20FDjgM0tEfrVspBaKvhxptleeMH6JKdekJKGIXNMOSV-Z2JTryVJgIembJwFlboh9_IT49PFq84lEKrlzVbmQRtCc3aZhfAij-LLmBTqhqMIzbIOJd9_9U0R7antHd6FFjZW0nTXGIm__> (pp. 159-160)
5. When threat to the self is low, experience can be perceived in differentiated fashion and learning can proceed.
When [the learner] is in an environment in which he is assured of personal security and when he becomes convinced that there is no threat to his ego, he is once more free to…move forward in the process of learning. (p. 161)
6. Much significant learning is acquired through doing. “Placing the student in direct experiential confrontation with practical problems, social problems, ethical and philosophical problems, personal issues, and research problems, is one of the most effective modes of promoting learning” (p. 162).
7. Learning is facilitated when the student participates responsibly in the learning process. “When he chooses his own directions, helps to discover his own learning resources, formulates his own problems, decides his own course of action, lives with the consequences of these choices, then significant learning is maximized” (p. 162).
8. Self-initiated learning which involves the whole person of the learner—feelings as wells as intellect—is the most lasting and pervasive.
We have discovered this in psychotherapy, where it is the totally involved learning of oneself by oneself which is most effective. This is not the learning which takes place “only from the neck up.” It is a “gut level” type of learning which is profound and pervasive. It can also occur in the tentative discovery of a new self-generated idea or in the learning of a difficult skill, or in the act of artistic creation—a painting, a poem, a sculpture. It is the whole person who “let’s himself go” in these creative learnings. An important element in these situations is that the learner knows it is his own learning and thus can hold to it or relinquish it in the face of a more profound learning without having to turn to some authority for corroboration of his judgment. (pp. 162-163)
9. Independence, creativity, and self-reliance are all facilitated when self-criticism and self-evaluation are basic and evaluation by others is of secondary importance.
If a child is to grow up to be independent and self reliant he must be given opportunities at an early age not only to make his own judgments and his own mistakes but to evaluate the consequences of these judgments and choices. (p. 163).
10. The most socially useful learning in the modern world is the learning of the process of learning, a continuing openness to experience and incorporation into oneself of the process of change.

From: OSList <oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org> on behalf of David Osborne via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Reply-To: World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Date: Tuesday, 21 August 2018 at 11:25
To: Bhavesh Patel <bhavmail at gmail.com>
Cc: David Osborne <dosborne at change-fusion.com>, World wide Open Space Technology email list <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>
Subject: Re: [OSList] A Question About Safety

Quoting from Harrison in The Practice of Peace.

Stuart Kaufman's original work which focused on biological systems aka the emergence of life on earth describes five pre-conditions for open space, one of which is "A safe, nutrient-rich environment."   Harrison goes on to describe the equivalent for Human systems as "some kind of safety and support in the overall environment."

I interpret safety as a psychologically safe space where individuals can act and speak ( take risks, share diverse views etc.

Can it be too safe to support self-organization?

David

David R. Osborne
Organization and Leadership Development
[cid:F50CD739-0CB3-4057-980C-62D5983A9F83 at hsd1.il.comcast.net.]
6402 Arlington Blvd., Suite 1120, Falls Church, VA 22042
703-939-1777   |   dosborne at change-fusion.com<mailto:dosborne at change-fusion.com>   |   change-fusion.com<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1fs3rA-000cvh-4o&i=57e1b682&c=QCpcCypIxCv5d4h40NtwqZ9H6mJEQ4sgb5pcnTEzM00A4oZBnY8-2TY2qKkgpOfaFCw-M8Ay5xcU5POMzTRUMa4-kN_n3Gt0JiURRWAkI0wXFgWAi6C8yL-AehIRT5POtwrB0rNZOKm9IbRbgWZDeAKoB5M97UvJNJytrFxDtPhqfYPWbELh5WPCbiAk1OfIZJqVA-h_7xpZfpGcUy1ozRpthhIDdEIZKvtAsRyyVDQ>

On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 2:13 AM, Bhavesh Patel <bhavmail at gmail.com<mailto:bhavmail at gmail.com>> wrote:
Curious to know what you mean by 'safety'?

On 21 August 2018 at 07:49, David Osborne via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org<mailto:oslist at lists.openspacetech.org>> wrote:
Greetings all,

I have questions about safety related to self-organization I would love others thoughts on.

Is it possible for an environment can be too safe to support self-organization? Can safety be at such a high level that it inhibits or slows down the self-organizing process?

I'm very interested to hear others perspectives.

Best to all,

David

David R. Osborne
Organization and Leadership Development
[cid:F50CD739-0CB3-4057-980C-62D5983A9F83 at hsd1.il.comcast.net.]
6402 Arlington Blvd., Suite 1120, Falls Church, VA 22042<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1fs3rA-000cvh-4o&i=57e1b682&c=n-2YEqlsSl7wDHKUWiHgAEH4RtVxoofWZDGD9wzJ9QaG_iXK2cDS4VPR1BmBHkrTLum90_FMTYEKDdZ8dO47zgN3vkJUOeO3VdW9Ioj6aaaGe0iEnns2n7J1OcKYILUPTGh949Vk98Fc3Z5oqC-0YkooLkPcnf9Ou99WF0tAwmku9XvxhF8cXmbH_Mm9SPKQj74npj4HDLeSF72-v0djbUiHmJyM0NPJ8sFe-YO56EO6sJgo7CZfEiJ1VmWGkbEuexUjvt1HPEGrq6Z9L1cjh_QCxHlkrANm5CHIxljIw5a8IYkDJCYU-p6UMqchh4lXhzkXOZFbR2SE_r-E4mm-bQ>
703-939-1777   |   dosborne at change-fusion.com<mailto:dosborne at change-fusion.com>   |   change-fusion.com<https://url6.mailanyone.net/v1/?m=1fs3rA-000cvh-4o&i=57e1b682&c=QCpcCypIxCv5d4h40NtwqZ9H6mJEQ4sgb5pcnTEzM00A4oZBnY8-2TY2qKkgpOfaFCw-M8Ay5xcU5POMzTRUMa4-kN_n3Gt0JiURRWAkI0wXFgWAi6C8yL-AehIRT5POtwrB0rNZOKm9IbRbgWZDeAKoB5M97UvJNJytrFxDtPhqfYPWbELh5WPCbiAk1OfIZJqVA-h_7xpZfpGcUy1ozRpthhIDdEIZKvtAsRyyVDQ>

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