[OSList] Marking a New National/Regional Educational Policy -examples of Open Space meeting being set up?

[Chris Corrigan]

I’ve used Open Space as a part of policy making work in the following contexts:

* Working with the Ministry of Advanced Education in British Columbia on Aboriginal post-secondary education policy
* Working with two alternative school programs in North Vancouver and Bowen Island, British Columbia to host discussions with parents and children around education policy
* Working with a school district and indigenous communities in Prince George BC to create an Aboriginal Choice School (also used World Cafe and participatory decision making to create recommendations for a site for that school)

As a part of the policy making process, Open Space is useful for including diverse stakeholders in the process. I would make sure that the participants in the process are allowed as much freedom as possible to tell their stories, convene there conversations and raise their issues.  Sometimes policy makers want to convene large groups to have stakeholders make policy. If you are including people like students, teachers and others in the conversation, you need to not have the expectation that they will make policy.  Let the policy makers work with the results to craft policy. Work with the conveners of the break out sessions later to keep them in the loop about how their work has informed the process.  

If you are only working with policy makers, then the Open Space will point to the overall most important issues to deal with in the policy framework.  Don’t use Open Space to make a decision, but instead, use the process the allow the group to explore a diversity of approaches to the issues and then have your core policy team work within that diversity of opinion.

Those are my reflections.  Let me know if you need anything else.  I’m sure others will weigh in as well.

Chris

> On Oct 30, 2018, at 10:20 AM, Ingibjorg Gisladottir via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear OS community
> 
> Can anyone lead me to examples of where OS has been used in the making of Educational Policy of a nation/state/community?
> 
> I think it is important to invite children, teenagers, highschool/university students and young people who are recently out of school to the conversations. . ..but who else should be there?  
> 
> Your insights on this and experience is appreciated if you have the possibility to share it with me.  
> 
> All the best
> 
> Ingibjorg (Inga)
> 
> ingibjorg.gisladottir at gmail.com <mailto:ingibjorg.gisladottir at gmail.com>
> Reykjavik, Iceland
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