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IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES | August 2017
We hope you enjoy receiving our newsletter which includes constructionist ideas and practices as well as news and resources from the Taos Institute.
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Brief Encounters with The Taos Institute
August 2017
This month we welcome Celiane Camargo Borges, a Taos Associate, as she reflects on ...
Social Construction: Premises and Practices - Working within the Global Context
B
y Celiane Camargo Borges
Every year, when I facilitate the online workshop on
Social Construction: Premises and Practices
I am reminded of our vibrant community, the rich resources we have within the Taos Institute and all the many connections and colleagues around the globe.
I find myself filled with extra energy and excitement just knowing that I belong to an international and diverse community. And when I say "belong", to me this means the many ways that we can all be involved in activities and learning within the broader Taos Institute community.
Last Spring we finished our 7th cohort for this online course that introduces participants to Social Construction - Theory and Practice. For six weeks we engage in conversation
exploring insights on weekly topics, combining our learning with
the daily practices/research of the participants. The most recent cohort was comprised of 9 participants from seven different countries. Every week they had the chance to meet with a different learning partner, share the outcomes of their conversation on the online platform and interact during the weekly live meetings, thereby co-creating a rich space for knowledge development and relationship building.
Facilitating this course gives me the opportunity to meet with global conversational partners, addressing a variety of issues from different perspectives. It fills me with energy to connect more with our Taos family and to continuously search for people around the world who are making positive changing through relational, collaborative, dialogic and appreciative practices.
After every course is completed, the participants find their own ways to continue with their conversations, especially those doing their PhD research. They also organize themselves to attend together other Taos workshops, conferences and meetings so that they might expand the conversation.
Our
Taos Online Community Space
- a Ning website - is also a great place for such rich encounters to occur and I would like to call your the attention to the unique opportunities offered through this platform. There are more than one thousand members and ten different groups hosting different topics. We are a global community and technology can help us get connected and continue to co-create something beautiful.
I gain a lot from this "magical" community. Being surrounded by people working with projects all over the world feeds not just my professional life with insights to innovate in class and in my projects but also my multicultural being. I'm constantly being shaped and reshaped by these encounters.
The immersion within the different cultures helps me to understand my own values in specific contexts, which in turn
increases my cultural knowledge and awareness about others.
The Taos Institute community constantly reminds me of the diversity of this world and the possibilities out there. I hope you also will join in the dialogues in various ways to engage with this broader community.
I close by letting you know that I will be facilitating this online course - Social Construction: Premises and Practices- again this Fall beginning the week of Sept 6th. We would love to have you participate. For more information visit:
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Taos Institute Events and Gatherings
The Many Ways to Get Involved.....
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at University College Zaeland, Roskilde, Denmark
Nov. 16-17, 2017
Sharing, exploring and creating new ideas and practices... Call for Proposals being accepted now!
For more information visit:
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Workshops and Courses
- Social Construction, Relational Theory and Transformative Practices | October 5-7, 2017, with Harlene Anderson and Sheila McNamee, in Durham, NH
Taos Online Courses
- An Introduction to Social Construction: Premises and Promises, September 11 - October 23, with Celiane Camargo Borges.
- Relational Theory and Practice - with Ken and Mary Gergen. Nov. 6 - Dec. 13. More details available soon.
Friends of the Taos Institute Workshops and Events
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Coaching, Change Management (Supervision), Counselling, Consulting, Organizational Development (in german: Beratungswissenschaften) and Future Forming Research, (bilingual), August 24-25, 2017, with Celiane Camargo Borges and Astrid Frischknecht, Zurich, Switzerland
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Other Learning Opportunities
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Join the groups from
Taos Institute Europe
- A Gathering to Explore Possibilities
Please plan to attend our Lowlands Gathering event planned on:
- Friday, September 15. 2017. Start: 13.30hr-18.00hr.
- Location: Hoge School De Kempel Helmond
- Deurneseweg 11, Helmond, NL
We are very excited about this first gathering. We see this as a kick-off event for getting to know each other better, making spaces for exchange of knowledge and experiences within all kinds of working fields. We are looking forward to co-create, share ideas and to make this first event successful.
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Looking for intellectual excitement
...a way to do some serious reflection on your practice
...a period to prepare for possible PhD study
...support in doing research of your choice
...all with the guidance of a highly trained scholar
then consider...
The Taos Institute Diploma
in the Study of Professional Practice
A two-year program designed to allow seasoned professionals to work independently on a project related to their personal interests.
Advised by a Taos Faculty member, participants create
a project and a program that fulfill their specific interests and needs.
Final projects, designed from a social constructionist perspective, can be a text, video, website, research report, or other creative form. Participants work independently, but are encouraged to connect with other members of the Taos community. Each semester they may attend a Taos Institute workshop or other offering free of registration fees.
After receiving the diploma, participants are invited to become Taos Institute associates, with all the opportunities that are available to them.
Application are accepted on a rolling basis. Next start date is March 1st.
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The Taos Institute and Kanankil Institute in Merida, Mexico, invite you to explore with us as we introduce our new masters program in English. This program has been successfully offered in Spanish for many years and is now available in Enlish.
In this two-year online learning program participants will learn about and explore different applications of Collaborative and Dialogic Practices related to professional life as educators, social workers, managers, coaches, mediators, lawyers, psychotherapists, doctors, nurses, and communications working with individuals or organizations.
The collaborative approach is based on an ideological shift in the way we think about language and knowledge. It is relating and conversing in a manner that includes a way of thinking with, talking with, acting with, and responding to the people with whom we meet in our professional activities. The Master of Arts degree in Collaborative and Dialogic Practices (CDP) will introduce social construction and CDP for those new to it and help those familiar with it to deepen their understandings and practices. Drawing on the works of thinkers and practitioners such as Mikhail Bakhtin, Hans-Georg Gadamer,Kenneth Gergen, Jean Francois Lyotard, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, John Shotter, Ludwig Wittgenstein, as well as Harlene Anderson, Harry Goolishian, Lynn Hoffman, SheilaMcNamee, Tom Andersen, and Jaakko Seikkula, it specifically focuses on relational constructionist understandings of language and meaning-making, polyvocality, transformative dialogue, and appreciative and future-oriented perspectives.
Apply today! And help spread the word about this innovative program.
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International Relational Research Network Meeting and Global Dialogue
The Summer Article Reading
and
Discussion Series
Continues...
The Article Sereis continues as we offer an opportunity, for anyone interested, to read a scholarly article or chapter on research, and then join in a conversation about that article. This summer reading series is open to everyone. No need to pre-register. Free and open to the public.
Details: For all the information including host, article, date and time of the conversation and link to join the conversation please visit the Taos Institute website at:
The RelationalResearch Network Summer Article Series Talks Continue on August 18th...
- August 18th at 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm New York Time/ US Eastern time - The Rhizome and Gift Exchange: Reflections on our practices on health and human services, (conversation in English)
- Facilitator: Rocio Chaveste
- Article: The Rhizome and Gift Exchange: Reflections on our practices on health and human services, Chaveste, R., Kinman, CH., and Molina, M.L.P. Sistemas Familiares y otros sistemas humanos, Año 29:2, Diciembre 2013
- Link to the article - Find it on this webpage: Click Here.
- Guest/Author: Chris Kinman
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And then continues with the following:
August 25 - Dialogic Action Research: The phenomenon of transformative democratic agency of the ability to respond
- Facilitator: ML Papusa Molina
- Article: Dialogic Action Research and the Challenge of Remaining Answerable, Jan DeFehr, unpublished paper
- Guest/author: Jan DeFehr (invited to the English conversation)
- Link to article- Find it on this webpage: Click Here.
- English: August 25 at 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm New York Time/ US Eastern time
September 1 and 12 - The Digital Wayfarer - Evocative Ethnography as Performance
- Facilitator: Josep Seguí Dolz
- Article: The Digital Wayfarer. Evocative Ethnography as Performance, By Kenneth J. Gergen
- Article citation - Gergen, Kenneth J. (in press). "The Digital Wayfarer. Evocative Ethnography as Permformance".
- Guest: Kenneth J. Gergen
- Watch Video performance before the call: www.taosinstitute.net/digital-wayfarer "Digital Wayfarer" by Kenneth J. Gergen (15 min.)
- Video with Spanish sub-titles - Click Here.
- Link to article: English: Click Here.
- Link to article: Spanish: Click Here.
- Date: English - Friday, September 1st at 10:00 am - 11:30 am New York Time/ US Eastern time
- and Spanish - Tuesday, Sept. 12th at 10:00 am - 11:30 am New York Time/ US Eastern time
September 6 - Writing as Relationship
- Facilitator: Mette Vinther Larsen and Jenny Helin
- Article: Writing as Relationship by Kenneth J. Gergen In Zachry, M. and Thralls, C. (Eds.) Communicative practices in workplaces and the professions. Amityville, NY: Baywood. (2007)
- Link to article: Click Here.
- Date: Bilingual - September 6 at 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm New York Time/ US Eastern time
How to join in the summer article series conversations:
- Download the articles at www.taosinstitute.net/relational-research-network
- Read the article
- Come prepared with questions, examples, comments
- Mark your calendar and arrive on time for the conversation
- No need to pre-register for these
- Use the link provided on that web page to join the call
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New Book!
Communicating Possibilities: A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)
by Ilene Wasserman and Beth Fisher-Yoshido
Communicating Possibilities is an introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), a practical theory which at its roots, is an approach to looking at our social interactions. In the process of stepping back to look at our interactions and how we construct our social worlds, we open possibilities of alternative paths and outcomes. CMM offers tools and frameworks to use so when we pause and notice what we are making together and how, we open up spaces to make better choices with more desirable relationships each turn of the way. This book offers ways we can better notice how we shape our lives through the stories we create in our ongoing conversations, and, hopefully strengthen the quality of our communities at all levels. Order the book today at:
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Dialogue with the Author Series -
Fall 2017
Free and open to anyone interested in these books!
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Week in Dialogue with the Author - Gita Baack
October 2 - 6th, Monday through Friday, with the culminating webinar on Friday, Oct. 6th
Join Gita Baack as we explore her new book.
"The Inheritors"
is generative and personal. It is written from Gita's lens as a child of Holocaust survivors, as well as from the
personal stories by people I spoke with from different parts of the world, from someone who escaped Syria in the nick of time, to Vietnamese inheritors, to children of military parents.
Through intimate stories, engaging dialogues, and a backpack of resources, readers will
be able to
process
their inherited sadness and find solace in discovering common experiences with others
. G
uiding questions at the end of each chapter helps readers to uncover their own inherited stories and even their inherited memories to find their resilience and claim the whole life that we all deserve.
We will meet Monday - Thursday online, asynchronously, using our Taos Online Learning Community website. Then on Friday we meet live on a webinar platform.
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In this Week in Dialogue with the Author, we will explore these stories and your stories, and look at:
- What are the possible ways that we can acknowledge and validate our traumatic legacies?
- How do we access hidden memories and deeply seated trauma?
- How can we create dialogues with communities and individuals both homogenous and across races and ethnicities and overcome reluctance to do so?
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Dialogue with the Authors - A Webinar
With Thalia Dragonas, Sheila McNamee and Eleftheria Tseliou (Editors)
October 10th, 1:00 to 3:00 PM New York time/US Eastern time.
(Please check your own local time using the online World Clock calculator.)
Drawing from the rich array of ideas and practices surrounding social constructionist theory, this Dialogue with the Authors: A Webinar, will showcase work from a variety of different cultural settings in education. The editors will discuss how constructionist initiatives in education can be successfully shared across national boundaries. More important, we come to see how ideas and practices can be re-formed as they shift from one cultural context to another. Social constructionist logics do not demand regimentation and restriction; rather, they invite continuous emergence. Constructionism does not, for example, make a clean separation between theory and practice. Theory is itself a practice, and all practice carries with it often unspoken conceptual assumptions. Further, changes in micro-practices (for example, classroom pedagogy) are not fundamentally distinct from system change. The book includes 20 contributions from 12 countries across four continents, with each contribution carrying its own special qualities and creativity. We hope that the process of sharing these contributions through this online dialogue will invite the participant in to read the book, and continue to shape education in the years to come.
The book is available as free download. We invite you to download the book now and read it before the webinar. Download the book at:
www.taosinstitute.net/education-as-social-construction-contributions-to-theory-research-and-practice
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Check out our Newest Books:
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Paths to Positive Aging: Dog Days with a Bone and Other Essays
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by Mary and Ken Gergen
Mary and Ken Gergen are devoted to the cause of reinventing aging. To focus on the gains of aging is to realize that the later years are among the richest and most rewarding of one's life. In their dedication to this reconstruction, the Gergens publish the Positive Aging Newsletter, an electronic newsletter, available in seven languages (
www.positiveaging.net).
In this book, the Gergens share ideas and experiences designed to inspire others as they age.
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Communicating Possibilities:
A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM)
by Ilene Wasserman and Beth Fisher-Yoshida
Communicating Possibilities is an introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), a practical theory which at its roots, is an approach to looking at our social interactions. In the process of stepping back to look at our interactions and how we construct our social worlds, we open possibilities of alternative paths and outcomes. CMM offers tools and frameworks to use so when we pause and notice what we are making together and how, we open up spaces to make better choices with more desirable relationships each turn of the way.
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The Magic of Organizational Life
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by Mette Vinther Larsen
The Magic of Organisational Life
is a story that invites you to look at your everyday work life through new eyes. It allows you to reflect upon well-known organisational, strategic and managerial challenges from a magical perspective. This perspective emphasizes what our imagination can do, if only we set it free. The Magic of Organisational Life
gently reminds us of our capacity to create flourishing ways of being at work.
For more information
→
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We are thrilled to bring you all the WorldShare Books and we hope you will take a few minutes to download your free copies today.
Enjoy our newest WorldShare Books:
Construccionismo Social en Acción: Prácticas Inspiradoras en Diferentes Contextos
Donate to the Peggy Penn WorldShare Books Fund
This fund helps to cover the expenses of offering these online books free of charge to anyone in the world.
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Sign up for this free newsletter in the following languages:
- English
- Spanish
- Danish
- German
- French
- Chinese
- Portuguese
- Greek
- Italian
By focusing on the positive aspects of aging, and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research not only brings useful insights into the realm of practice but creates hope and empowers action among older people. By moving beyond practices of repair and prevention, to emphasize growth-enhancing activities, practitioners also contribute more effectively to the societal reconstruction of aging.
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Join the Taos Institute NING Online Community website
Participate in online conversations, share resources, ask questions, connect with others doing similar work. Also, we feature special events on this community website.
Join in many different forums, groups and conversations:
1. Taos Institute Europe
2. Collaborative Governance
3. Relational Learning
4. Relational Research
5. Taos Latin America
6. Intergenerativity and Innovation
and many more at:
http://taoslearning.ning.com/
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Welcome (Bienvenidos) to the International Journal of Collaborative Practices. The Journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants interested in postmodern collaborative practices.
Sponsored by Taos Institute and Houston Galveston Institute
I
ssue 7- Available Now in English and Spanish -
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You can help to make a difference...
These are challenging times, and you can make a difference by supporting the Taos Institute's efforts to bring about more promising futures.
Help us to continue our work in:
- Creating and Expanding Collaborative Practices Globally
- Promoting Dialogic Means for Reducing Conflict
- Providing Degree Opportunities for Practitioners
- Offering Cutting Edge Publications in Multiple Languages: Free or at Low Cost
- Generating Resources for Positive Aging
- Creating Global Forms and Conferences for Constructing New Futures
Given the perilous global context into which we are moving, we feel the work in which we are engaged is more important than ever. We hope you can join with us as we continue to develop resources to aid the global community in co-creating more viable futures.
The Taos Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and all donations are tax deductible in the US.
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The Taos Institute's mission is to bring together scholars and practitioners concerned with the social processes essential for the construction of reason, knowledge, and human value.
We are committed to exploring, developing and disseminating ideas and practices that promote creative, appreciative and collaborative processes in families, communities and organizations around the world through a social constructionist lens.
We look forward to your participation in the dialogue.
Keep up with our updates!
Dawn Dole, Executive Director
The Taos Institute
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