March 27-30...^^ 2012. 2. 25. 오전 1:07에 "Harrison Owen" <[email protected]>님이 작성:
> Artur – your point about “teaching” is well taken. And given the state of > language at the moment it is doubtless necessary to take the route you > have taken in describing the role of teacher-as-mentor/guide. Couldn’t > agree more! But wouldn’t it be nice if real teaching could be defined and > understood as you have suggested? This whole subject is very pertinent to > me at the moment as I am pulling myself together for the upcoming > conference Manila on “The Future of Learning.” I have agreed to do a one > day dialogue on Learning just to raise and shape the questions – then it is > on to the Maine Event which will be 2 days of Open Space. Should be great > and we will be having folks from all over Asia. You should come! And by the > way so should anybody else on the LIST. Dates are March 27-20 and our > hostess in Sharon Chao at SEAMEO-Innotech. For the details contact Sharon > [email protected] **** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > ** ** > > Harrison Owen**** > > 7808 River Falls Dr.**** > > Potomac, MD 20854**** > > USA**** > > ** ** > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)**** > > Camden, Maine 20854**** > > ** ** > > Phone 301-365-2093**** > > (summer) 207-763-3261**** > > ** ** > > www.openspaceworld.com**** > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)**** > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > OSLIST Go to: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org**** > > ** ** > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Artur Silva > *Sent:* Friday, February 24, 2012 8:20 AM > *To:* World wide Open Space Technology email list > *Subject:* Re: [OSList] Teach Them to Fish / A Note to My Friends**** > > ** ** > > Amen for almost everything! And thank you, Harrison, for reminding us of > all this.**** > > > > **** > > A small observation: I have struggled myself with the same old saying: > "instead of giving a fish, teach them to fish". Yes, if you "give a fish" > you are patronizing and disempowering the other. But, if you "*teach to > fish*" aren't you also disempowering him?**** > > **** > > Having done professional training and facilitation (intermittently) for 40 > years and teaching at Universities for 20 years, I have come to the > conclusion that *the role of a Professor is not to teach*. It is to *help > the students to learn* and more specifically to "*learn how to learn*" - > anything, anytime, for all their lives... **** > > **** > > So it is not "to teach to fish"; it is to help them "*to learn* > (remember?) *how to survive*". It may be fishing today, hunting > tomorrow, cultivating in another day, but especially it will change every > now and then, and the student must be prepared to "*learn as a way of > being*" (from the title of a book of your friend Peter Vaill).**** > > **** > > So, indeed the teacher/professor/facilitator must *learn how to disappear*, > so that the student can surpass the master - at least, if he his younger, > as he probably will continue to learn for a longer time. **** > > > But this is not a disagreement because - if I understood well - this is > exactly what your post says.**** > > > Warm regards**** > > > Artur**** > > ** ** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Harrison Owen <[email protected]> > *To:* 'World wide Open Space Technology email list' < > [email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, February 23, 2012 9:31 PM > *Subject:* [OSList] Teach Them to Fish / A Note to My Friends**** > > ** ** > > There is an old saying to the effect that when seeking to help people it > is infinitely better to teach them to fish than to give them fish. The > point is obvious. When you learn how to fish you can feed yourself. The > secondary point may be less than obvious. When you are simply handed a fish > the conditions for learned helplessness and continued dependence, to say > nothing of subservience are created. Even with the best, most altruistic > intentions in the world, a fish handout has its problems. And what does all > this have to do with the price of tea in China? Not much, I guess, but I > think it has a lot to say about our roles as facilitators. **** > > **** > > One of the things I have always loved about Open Space is that it is not > rocket science. Anybody with a good head and good heart can “do it” – a > reality which has been proved time and time again. Early on I thought the > “magic” lay in the simplicity of the process – but it turned out it was > worse than that. There isn’t any process that “We do” – in fact the process > does us. Yes, I know – you have heard all this before… self organization at > work. We are simply remembering what we already know. But well before I > made any connection between Open Space and self-organization, I was struck > by its simplicity and universality – it simply worked… everywhere. The > immediate impact of this realization was a “tag phrase” I found myself > uttering at every opening of space. At the beginning and at the end I told > the folks,” There is absolutely nothing that I am doing with you that you > cannot do for yourselves.” It was all about teaching fishing.**** > > **** > > As time went along I found myself working the implications of this phrase. > Substantively, I told everybody who came to me that, while I would be > pleased to open their space, I would do it only once. Should they want to > do it again, I would help from the sidelines, and for all subsequent > gatherings, they were on their own. A second impact on my practice resolved > into a simple phrase: “Think of one more thing not to do.”**** > > **** > > Having come into the “business” (of facilitation) in the late ‘60’s I > found myself in the midst of a flowering of methods, techniques and > procedures emanating from the emergent OD movement in all of its > manifestations. Suddenly the “simple meeting” became a massive cookbook of > possibilities. Warm up processes, Ice breakers for starters. Interventions > of all sorts during the main course, with “Kumb’yah” and holding hands for > desert. I jest, but only just. Designing such a thing could take months > and involve dozens of people. And when it came to the actual meeting it > almost seemed that the Conference Committee plus assorted Facilitators > outnumbered participants by 2:1. I couldn’t help but wonder…was this trip > really necessary? **** > > **** > > In many ways, Open Space (OST) came to me as an answer to my questing. It > is true that two martinis helped and marked the birth, but I think the > period of gestation had been going on for a bit. I have joked that my > essential laziness was the primal cause, but more basic was a deep hope > that there had to be a better way. Was it not possible that human beings > could engage in intelligent conversation without “all that stuff?” The gin > helped, I suppose – but the answer was ridiculously simple: Yes – Just sit > in a circle, create a bulletin board, open a market place, and go to work. > All the rest is history, but I wasn’t out of the woods.**** > > **** > > Given my prior experience, to say nothing of the experience and practice > of my friends, I just could not believe that something so simple could > possibly work without help. Obviously we needed to “prepare” for Open > Space. And so I tried any number of warm-ups and ice breakers – trust > games, relaxation exercises, visualizations and more. Most were pleasant, > maybe even fun – but did they really add value? The only way to find out > was not to do them – and find out.**** > > **** > > As often happens, the first iteration of the experiment (dropping stuff) > happened quite unintentionally. I was in South Africa in the anxious days > immediately post Apartheid. We needed to do an Open Space -- FAST. Nobody > had ever heard of Open Space, but they were ready to try anything. So we > just did it. No preparation, no warm up, no nothing. Just the barebones: > circle, bulletin board, market place and to work. And to work they went! I > learned something, which has been confirmed again and again as the > experience grew. When space needs to open – Just Do it. But I must confess > that holding hands at the end still can feel good, although there is no > need to sing Kumb’yah.**** > > **** > > But it wasn’t just the warm ups. As my experience with Open Space was > growing, friends and colleagues were creating their own approaches. Diana > Whitney and David Cooperrider with Appreciative Inquiry and Juanita Brown > with World Café, for example. Wouldn’t it make sense to sequence or combine > all these things? We tried, and it was fun – but did it really make any > difference? Did the work move more swiftly, were the conversations deeper? > Was the follow-on more effective? Despite my best efforts, I could see > little if any improvement, *and I really wanted to*. And to the extent > that there was a marginal plus, that seemed to have less to do with the > cumulative effect of the several approaches – and more to do with the > simple fact that people had been together longer. In fact on multiple > occasions participants would come up to me to ask why we hadn’t done it all > in Open Space? “That is where the cookie really crumbled,” one person said. > (Translation: “That’s where the conversation really got real.”)**** > > **** > > I know this is an argument I can never win. But the truth of the matter is > that there is no argument and I have no interest in winning. Each of us > must make our own judgment as to what might be the most effective and > appropriate in each situation. That said, the fact of the matter is that in > 27 years of observation I have never seen any group of people have the > slightest bit of difficulty entering into Open Space – even when the topic > under consideration was viciously volatile. Always worked, all by itself. I > have, to be sure, seen situations where the sponsors (and often the > facilitators) were more than hesitant. But for the people themselves – no > problem.**** > > **** > > I suppose there could be an argument if my basic concern were to defend > this approach (OST) against all others, any combination thereof, or > extraneous heterodoxies. Were that the case, I am sure that I could be > (should be!) accused of a very biased, proprietary self-interest. But my > interest is rather different, and the simple truth of the matter is that I > would be delighted if all methods and approaches were simply to disappear – > right along with every last Facilitator. Throw out the Tool Box and The > Profession! No longer needed. It is all about teaching folks to fish.**** > > **** > > I judge myself and the impact of my work by a single criterion: How fast > can I become redundant? How soon can the folks fish for themselves? My task > becomes infinitely easier as the simplicity of my approach increases and > the necessity to explain fades away. Best of all would be a situation where > there is really nothing to explain – just Do it. And then remind the folks > that they did it, and can do it again. No more. No less. After that the > only thing left to do is post a sign: “Gone Fishing!”**** > > **** > > Harrison **** > > **** > > Harrison Owen**** > > 7808 River Falls Dr.**** > > Potomac, MD 20854**** > > USA**** > > **** > > 189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)**** > > Camden, Maine 20854**** > > **** > > Phone 301-365-2093**** > > (summer) 207-763-3261**** > > **** > > www.openspaceworld.com**** > > www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)**** > > To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > OSLIST Go to: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org**** > > **** > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > > **** > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > >
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