<div dir="ltr">OSonOS 2008 has begun. A number of us are here blogging away, and I've just put up a post about the first session I was in this morning at my blog:<br><br><a href="http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1428">http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=1428</a><br>
<br>I've reprinted it below:<br><br><p><em>San Francisco</em></p>
<p>OSonOS 2008 has begun with <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2699414468_710666b02e_m.jpg">Lisa Heft opening up space</a> in a <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/2699414656_cf065c8011.jpg">beautiful building at San Francisco's Presidio</a>
this morning for 120 of us from more than 15 countries to get into what
Open Space is all about. This is my third worldwide OSonOS and I love
these gatherings because I get to hang around with people for three
days that I don;t have to explain myself to! That, I think may be a
good working definition of a community of practice.</p>
<p>THis one is different for me as I am here with my whole family, and
my kids are actively participating. I sat with my seven year old <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/2698598937_d1436ebed6.jpg">Finn</a> today in a session on <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/2698598979_a421965495.jpg">facilitating Open Space as a kid.</a>
For him I think it was an experiment in what it is like to post a
session and see who will come and find out how the whole thing goes.
There was a small group of us talking about a number of issues having
to do with working with children both in Open Space and facilitating
Open Space, and a few insights came to light.</p>
<p>First, when working with kids, it's important to know that the
principles of Open Space will always be pushed to the max, and probably
beyond what most adults are comfortable with. We had a story of a
gathering that my kids were a part of that was hosted by adults, but in
which the outcomes were predetermined and "the best face" was put on
the event. Working with kids means whatever happens in the only thing
that could have happened and that might also mean that nothing of
significance happens. Being okay with this, especially if resources
have been sunk into something, can be hard for adults tied to
outcomes. Working with kids will always teach you something about your
practice.</p>
<p>We heared some good points about the kinds of ways adults need to
show up with kids in Open Space, notably around the issue of time
rhythms and silence. Kids operate on a different time engine than
adults, sometimes speeding ahead, other times slowing down. Often kids
won't speak until they know they are safe and they will silently canvas
a circle of their peers to see who might talk first. This can seem
interminable to adults who are expecting answers and yet this
relationsl field is very important to kids.</p>
<p>We talked too about making sure that spaces are meaningful for
kids. If we are doing work that involves kids voices, we need to make
sure that these voices will have impact and that we may be prepared to
be changed by the experience. Adults can be advocates to kids - even
in child-based organizations - to make sure that children's wisdom is
heard.</p>
<p>Finally we talked a little about a real world issue going on in our home community of Bowen Island, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8F41CkY0PQ">where some trees are being taken out of a playground to build an all weather playing field</a>,
something Finn is pretty interested in. The need for children to have
spaces in which unfettered social self-organization can occur is
critical. While there are many forested areas on our island, there are
very few in which all the island kids can meet and in which the
co-create self-organized worlds. In this sense kids already know how
to live and be in Open Space. Helping them to actually run meetings
like this might benefit from drawing on these expereinces.</p>
<p>My son really co-convened this session with me and at times he was
lost for words. I think for him, there was a little experiment going
on: what is it like to call a session? Who will come? How does the
power work in this process? He learned a few things about this,
including the fact that if you call it, people will come. He also
learned about checking in and checking out and knowing that that is
okay, but it reminded me that for a wide open learner it may be true
that working in Open Space is equally about learning about the content
and playing with the process. Fascinating all round. <br></p><br><p><br></p><p>Cheers, all!</p><br><p><br></p><p>Chris<br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>CHRIS CORRIGAN<br>Facilitation - Training - Process Design<br>Open Space Technology<br>
<br>Weblog: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot">http://www.chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot</a><br>Site: <a href="http://www.chriscorrigan.com">http://www.chriscorrigan.com</a><br><br>Principal, Harvest Moon Consultants, Ltd.<br>
<a href="http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com">http://www.harvestmoonconsultants.com</a>
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