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At 05:57 PM 6/29/00 +0000, you wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite cite>Here's what I imagined today: What if
all the mentors and all the new teachers at a particular site (say, 25 of
each) attended a half-day (or more if we can) Open Space to start things
off. The focus groups would be convened around the needs of the new
teachers. Useful relationships would be formed, but not in a
one-to-one fashion; the new teachers would leave that event with the
names and contact info for ALL the mentors, and with relationships with
several of them based on their OS interactions.<br>
<br>
From then on, the new teachers would choose when, how, and from whom
they would need help. Mentors could be paid for <i>being
available,</i> and, hopefully, for attending regular mini-open-spaces
with the new teachers throughout the school year.<br>
<br>
So: Has anyone else done this type of thing as an alternative
structure of a mentorship?<br>
<br>
And, here's my specific question: During the first OS, I am
considering inviting <i>only the new teachers</i> to convene focus
groups. On one level this feels heretical to the spirit of Open
Space. But on another level I want to deliberately break the set-up
of the mentors being the experts. I want the whole program to be
oriented around the needs of the new teachers, not around the expertise
of the mentors. In my current thinking, requesting that the mentors
not convene focus groups but instead to simply attend the ones to which
they feel they can contribute the most would serve to empower the new
teachers. WOULD YOU DO THIS? Or is it a bad controlling
idea?</blockquote><br>
I think this could be wonderful! And I would suggest two things. a) Try
for a whole day -- it will really pay off. b) Don't restrict who can
post. This is not about keeping Open Space "pure" -- although I
guess there is some of that -- but mostly because I am sure everybody
will have value to add, and the Law of Two feet will take care of the
difference. To make all this work, I think the theme should be a lot
broader then just the needs of the new teachers -- How about something
like "Building a school System we would all like to be a part
of" (and please forgive the dangling preposition )<br>
<br>
I once did an OS for a corporation (different venue but similar issue)
that began the orientation program for new employees. We had about 100
participants roughly divided between old hands and new comers. The theme
was Building X Corp that swerves all the stakeholders. Folks really got
into it AND the mentoring relationships just naturally formed. The one
thing to watch out about is that the new folks might take their
contributions seriously and actually think they had something of value to
add -- Could be a bummer for all those who thought they knew how to
design the program and determine the content ( smile).<br>
<br>
Harrison<br>
<br>
<br>
<div align="center">
Harrison Owen<br>
7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854<br>
USA<br>
phone 301-469-9269<br>
fax 301-983-9314<br>
website <br>
<a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh" eudora="autourl">www.mindspring.com/~owenhh</a><br>
Open Space Institute websites<br>
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
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