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<FONT SIZE="2" POINTSIZE="10" DEFAULT="SIZE">Dear Alan,<BR>
as I read your "what if" questions the second principle we put on posters when introducing os-technology came popping up: Whatever happens is the only thing that could have.<BR>
Another way of saying this in German is "Wenn der Hund nicht geschissen haette, haette er den Hasen gefangen", which translates something like "If the dog had not taken time out to shit, he would have caught the rabbit".<BR>
So my reaction to your question is simply to lets be on the lookout for schools or subsystems of schools that want to open space....which I believe is one of the possible first steps to consciously experience the open space nature of schools (or any other system).<BR>
I was fortunate enough to facilitate a 2.5 day open space together with Irmi Gruensteidel for 47 student body representatives of a Berlin highschool (actually 45 from one highschool and 2 "guests" from a highschool where 75% of the students are immigrants). As could have been expected they surfed in this new environment as if they had done it all their life.<BR>
This open space according to my count is now the 6th open space within the schoolsystem that "spun off" from one that was held for a crossection of stakeholders in schools from all over Berlin 3 years ago ... it had as its main theme "The mole learns to fly" which I think is appropriate when you look at schoolsystems in this part of the world. Beyond these 6 open spaces a number of others, I think about 8 spun off into other systems and contexts.<BR>
The student body os mentioned earlier had as its theme "More active! More constructive! More communicative! --- and this is how we will do it." They came up with 36 issues, worked 22 of them and had 17 concrete actionplans produced in the "third day"....the first one: we will become an open space school! A year earlier, when they had their first os, their vision was "we will be an open space student body council" which in fact they immediately put into practice in turn infecting the parent representatives to have an open space for the whole school (took place last September).<BR>
The reason I am telling this at some length is that nobody I know of (certainly not I) had intentionally done anything to bring about an open space organization in schools and still or perhaps just because of this things seem to be developing in that direction....or picking up on your questions again, nobody is consciously forming self-organizing systems, none of the participants are given equal, democratic power and rights, students are not recognized as responsible for their own learning, there are mandated classes and all the rest and the requirements for graduation are still the same.<BR>
And: are these the conditions or givens or prerequisites that we have a preference for?<BR>
Which takes me back to Harrisons remark "the harder we try the behinder we get" which made Eric Lilius think of the Zen line:<BR>
"The Great Way is not difficult<BR>
for those who have no preferences."<BR>
This is damn wise and awfully hard to actually be but the more we open space facilitators transform in that direction the more will we contribute to the surfacing of the open space character of organisations. <BR>
I hope there will be more schools in my open space work in the future, there is nothing that invigorates me more (another way of saying its just a hell of a lot of fun) than working with students and I wish you and everyone else the fortune of working in schools and other systems with students, kids and other young humans.<BR>
Merry xmas<BR>
michael<BR>
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- What if schools were formed as consciously self-organizing systems. "<BR>
- What if all participants (parents, staff, and students) were given equal, democratic power and rights within the school? <BR>
- What if students of all ages were recognized as responsible for their own learning? <BR>
- What if this meant that there were no mandated classes, tests, or other externally imposed requirements? <BR>
- What if the only requirement for graduation is to defend (to the entire school community) the thesis that you are ready to take responsibility for yourself in the outside world? <BR>
There are a few schools that operate in this way aound the US as well as other places on the planet. What is your reaction to this way of organizing education? What concerns arise in you? What excitements arise? What questions occur to you? <BR>
Thanks, <BR>
~Alan Klein <BR>
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If you want to contact him -- the email is <FONT COLOR=0000ff><U>alan@klein.net<BR>
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<FONT COLOR=000000 DEFAULT="COLOR"></U>Harrison<BR>
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Harrison Owen<BR>
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Michael M Pannwitz<br>
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