Re: Education Healing (long)

[BJ Peters]

Thanks Larry-- What a gift to Ontario and to us on this list! Because we all face tremendous challenge with public education, it might be helpful if you share some about the forums that preceded this event. If you've already done that, forgive the request. BJ Peters Larry Peterson wrote: I have to share a story while I’m still vibrating with the excitement and energy.(I’ll improve the writing and detail for the next OSI Canada Newsletter coming out soon). I just finished leading a 2.5 day 350 person Open Space event on “Realizing the Promise of Public Education” that was wonderful. Judy Gast and Audrey Coward volunteered to give super help for a topic they cared about.Some other folks who have taken OS workshops and facilitate events were there, Eric Lillis and Louise Pinet as participants and Susan Langley and RuthBaumann, both trained facilitators, were also the sponsors. For the past 10 years Public Education has been under substantial threat in Ontario, like in many places.What was touted as one of the best systems in the world has been cut to the bone and teachers have been taken on buy a government with strong leaning toward a private system.During that time the Teacher’s Federations have fought among themselves and the umbrella Ontario Teachers’ Federation has had to substantially downsize (in the last 6 months). In the face of all this there has been a poisoned, confrontational climate among the stakeholders.To begin to address this, the Ontario Teachers Federation initiated a series of 2.5 hour community forums in 1999.I was asked to design them and to train teacher-facilitators to use a process of small group discussions where teachers listened with no presentations.The 38 communities that have held the forums across the province recruited a diversity of participants to the dialogue ­ and dialogue not outcome was the focus.As you might expect, the “outcomes” of those forums, what people have done as a result of the conversations and networking have been exciting both for the communities and for the participants, including the teachers. These past few days, OTF held a Provincial Forum.Because of the downsizing, they cut the expectation to 200 participants.Because of great recruiting 320 people from across the province came. The event began with some presentations, not my preference but what was necessary for the sponsors.I then opened and held the space and the participants self-organized some amazing, healing, joyful, strategic and momentum building conversations.The participants were from across Ontario: parents, teachers, administrators, trustees, provincial activists, federation activists with education, food banks, healthy schools, small business people, aboriginal education leaders, a few Ministry of Education folks, black activists, etc. For most it was their first experience of Open Space but they carried with them some of the values and skills from the Community Forums.There was some attrition by the closing on Saturday morning, as expected, but those who stayed told of life affirming and changing experiences: healing conversations between parents and teachers, between those working from different perspectives on how to move forward, between local union leaders and business people.One woman was moved by here community forum a couple of years ago to run for trustee, and won.She described how she was moved by the Open Space to stand up for her community in ways she could not have imagined.Students loved it. It was a delight and another step down a path.More community forums are planned in areas that have not held them or to take the conversations to a new level where they have been held.The next Provincial Forum in Open Space will be held in a year with a hope to double the size and it will be right before Provincial Elections. It’s a story I needed to tell my friends this morning.Thanks. Larry Larry Peterson Associates in Transformation Toronto, ON, Canada 416.653.4829 la...@spiritedorg.com www.spiritedorg.com  * * ========================================================== 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