Ethos

FACING the SOCIAL CONTEXT

We live in a time of growing global 'crisis' that includes economic collapse, unemployment, increasing youth suicide, homelessness, forced migration, environmental destruction, war, aftermath of colonisation and organisational ‘terrorism’. These dilemmas are so overwhelming that they are often met with what John Dryzek, an Australian political scientist, refers to as survivalism.They result in responses based on past experiences or ‘First Order Change’ (Watzlawick et al).

The workshops provide participants with the opportunity to develop the courage to embrace and mobilise the inspired potential of larger group processes to face these awesome problems by developing our skills and knowledge so we are able to more confidently open the space for dialogue in settings of our choice. This is an approach that allows personal experiences to be heard in diverse collective settings enabling new and perhaps more appropriate responses to be found: ‘Second Order Change’ solutions (Watzlawick et al).

We hope the space we provide is inspirational and transformative: to match learning with practice through group experiences, and through live ‘action research’ based on our own working or living environment.

The particular focus is on how hidden processes in the socio-political context influence our capacity to think, make decisions, develop policy and form strategy, that might include the public in decision-making, encourage consultation processes, bridge racial, cultural and religious divides or tackle current local and global challenges.

We have learnt that the best way to learn about how to convene Larger Groups is to be a member of a regular slow open Median Group. Teresa began a completely new way of working with the community as a manager and an architect while in an on-going Median Group and Seminar Group with Patrick de Maré for ten years. She would try things out and come back and talk about it in the group.

As de Maré suggested, being a regular member of a Median Group acts as a form of ‘ballast’ that enables the possibility of taking all sorts of risks that would otherwise not be possible. The workshop space provides a much-needed place of support whether it be for conducting or convening actual groups, or using ‘the larger group in the mind’ to work in organisations or community projects.

ESTABLISHING the COMMUNITY of PRACTICE

Since the pandemic, the composition of the group has changed as Zoom has made it possible for more international participants to join us. A question then emerges about how these participants become part of our learning community - in an ongoing way.

Additional staff members have been individuals that the convenors have either worked with previously or have expressed an on-going interest in and support for this endeavour. They also have some understanding of the thinking behind - understanding of large group processes grounded in the work of Patrick de Maré. Central to this thinking is a willingness to learn through experience - sometimes a painful and gradual process - in which the use of interpretation or more didactic forms of learning, play a very secondary role.

Student-participants come from a variety of life experiences and bring with them very different theoretical backgrounds. They are invited to contribute their thinking to the different situations that group members bring with them - potentially leading to cross-fertilisation but also to inevitable frustrations when those ideas appear not to be easily integrated.

Anyone can invite student participants providing they discuss their interest in joining with the convenors and or the group and whether they plan to come as a one-off or in an ongoing way.

FACING the SOCIAL CONTEXT

ESTABLISHING the COMMUNITY of PRACTICE

SUGGESTED READING