When I was in 9th grade I attended an encounter group weekend designed to get us teenagers more comfortable with ourselves. The first thing we did was a “warm-up” exercise so we could “get to know each other.” What did we do? We stood in a circle and passed an orange around the circle, not […]
If you’ve been kicking around Dialogue Education circles long enough you’ll have heard a bunch of axioms bandied about. You might have read Dr. Jane Vella’s A Few New Axioms, about the new truths that have become apparent to her during her retirement years, or seen the results of the experiment Dan Haase and Kyle […]
By Dan Haase and Kyle Tennant Dan Haase, left, talks with his student, Kyle Tennant. “The design bears the burden.” This is one of our favorite axioms of Jane Vella’s. Our experience with this truth came through a college graduate course entitled “Teaching for Transformation.” Before the class began, we realized we had a major problem […]
The other day I had a conversation with an international DE practitioner who really got me thinking. She said: The GLP approach is great — I believe in dialogue and open questions to make dialogue happen. But, people also need information! Especially in the fields of public health and financial literacy, there are right and […]
Usually we’re talking about workshops or courses or change initiatives when we talk about Dialogue Education, and the fact is, for as much as Dialogue Education is about learning, its roots in Paulo Freire’s theories of “liberation education” mean it’s also about managing our power in the world. Will we make decisions based on fear […]
I collect verbs. Until recently I assumed I was the only eccentric out there, engaged in doing so, but then I was introduced to Darlene Goetzman’s Voracious Verbs cards for facilitators. She, too, collects verbs. The verbs I collect come from resumés and strategic plans, well chosen in those contexts to convey strategic and/or innovative activity: achievements in […]
I learned something this week: Da’at is the Hebrew word for knowing, knowledge that is powerful, participative, productive. Da’at is cognitive, affective, psychomotor knowing: ideas, feelings, actions interwoven and effective towards new behavior. Da’at is what the four year old is searching for when he says, “Me do!” Da’at is the renewed and reformed consciousness that […]
Teaching, training, or facilitating with someone else is very different from doing the same work on your own. Here are some tips to ensure you are successful: Check in with each other in advance. As soon as you know you will be working with each other, get together to plan. You need to agree on […]
Walter Brueggemann is a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures. He says: Moses was not engaged in a struggle to transform a regime (in Egypt ); rather his concern was with the consciousness that undergirded and made such a regime possible. THE PROPHETIC IMAGINATION p. 21 Reading this, I was blown away! I saw for […]
Using guidelines during a learning or work event can be extremely helpful (and sometimes paramount to a successful session!). Below are a few things to keep in mind for ensuring they are relevant, needed, and meaningful. Use Guidelines for especially difficult groups or topics, multi-day events, or when you think issues around power may arise. […]