I used OST with master's students to evaluate and wrap-up a summer residency. The process was very well recieved and the quality of information the university gleaned about the residency was excellent. Unlike most evaluations, the focus was on what can be created or designed for future residencies, rather than what needs to be fixed. This was pretty refreshing. The students were quite enthusiastic about the process, as was the program director. I was not involved in any instruction during the course of the residency, so, like Jeff, it was easy for me to hold the space. It might have been tougher to focus on the future if the program director himself had facilitated, as the tendency is to rehash what went wrong in those situations (or at least, that had been the case in previous years). At any rate, Open Space would be a wonderful wrap-up for a soft skills course . . . a superb venue to practice all the soft skills, with some responsibility and PASSION added to the mix!
Laurel. -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Aitken [mailto:j...@svn.net] Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2001 9:22 AM To: osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu Subject: Re: Soft Skills and OS I was invited to use OST as a wrap up for a graduate course in Appreciative Inquiry; about 20 students. In 2.5 hours there were many good conversations (we had two 45 minute session times) - people had a chance to wrap up loose threads of inquiry, and/or discuss the future - and the 30 minute closing circle was a wonderful closing for the whole course. I was not the instructor for the course, so it was easy for me to hold the space. If you have no "givens" or desired outcomes except coming to closure, I guess it will be easy for you as instructor to hold the space open... this is worth the time you take to think it through. Jeff - Jeff Aitken Consultant/Facilitator Specialist in Open Space Process PO Box 1092 Inverness CA 94937 USA 415.669.1924 415.663.9410 fax offsite mailto:j...@svn.net * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
