 |
IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES | November 2017
We hope you enjoy receiving our newsletter which includes constructionist ideas and practices as well as news and resources from the Taos Institute.
|
|
Brief Encounters with The Taos Institute
November 2017
This month we welcome Loek Schoenmakers, a member of the Taos Institute Europe board, and Taos Associate as he reflects on education...
Every school has them: students who know and care about the digital world. Smart schools know how best to use these students. For example, by inviting them to form an IT "help desk" for the school and teachers.
In my daily work as an educational consultant and trainer the LinkedIn message above caught my attention. Isn't this a great idea to use the enormous potential of students' wisdom and knowledge? How different our educational world would be if we included students - at whatever age - within the educational learning and change process. What if we appreciated students as "experts" and invited them to help transform our educational systems by turning them - together with their teachers - into active co-producers of change, instead of keeping them in a static and passive position as consumers?
It brings me back to the many experiences of using social construction, which is an enormous inspirational resource for my educational change work. It was at a meeting of a primary school when the staff asked me to organize a parents' meeting. I was the "expert," and I was to tell the parents about the importance of social climate and conflict resolution within the school. I suggested carefully to the staff, "what if we invited the children of all ages to come as the 'experts' for this evening meeting?" The staff was shocked by this proposal and couldn't imagine that children could be used as experts. The turmoil became even louder when I suggested that this would mean that we would also include the 5 and 6 years olds as experts.
'Trust the process' is still one of the mantras I learned from Sheila McNamee. So, I did. I trusted the process. I gave the staff a few minutes to recover and soon this normally conservative staff was ready to take the challenge. No need to tell you how different this parent meeting was and how thrilled the teaching staff was to see the positive effects of this meeting. These young children were able to express their learnings in very touching ways, coached by their teachers. In our reflection afterwards, they mutually agreed: from now on we will always organize our parent meetings in this way.
Students and teachers are the human face of every day educational experiences. The language within our schools represents our view of reality and holds our school systems and, therefore our approaches to change, in 'iron cages" as Andy Hargreaves tells us. Words make worlds.
How would it be if we change our language within our schools and stop talking about special needs children, and highly gifted students, as if the former are less smart than the latter? Every child is gifted. Every child is an expert. A new world opens when we become aware that, as soon as we shift our focus to "what is happening in between," many new solutions can be found. Changing language to one of hope and possibilities suddenly activates everyone to make a difference, not only by talking but, most of all, by "doing." Together. Through joint action.
I am thrilled when we see the many possibilities.
We can treat every child as a V.I.P. - as a Very Important Persons - using their potential to open new worlds which will lead to better solutions for our complex educational world.
A teacher affects eternity, but s/he can never tell where her/his influence stops, AND I am convinced that our children will tell us how to do it....
|
|
Taos Institute Events and Gatherings
The Many Ways to Get Involved.....
***************************************************************************************
SAVE the DATE!
The Taos Institute Silver Jubilee
25 Years of Innovation in Social Construction
November 8 - 11, 2018
(Pre-conference Nov. 7-8)
Cancun, Mexico
At the Fiesta Americana Resort
and Conference Center
Mark your calendar and plan to join us as we celebrate The Taos Institute's 25th Anniversary. This special conference will highlight the theories and practices of social construction over the past 25 years, as well as explore what the future may hold.
***************************************************************************************
|
Taos Online Courses
-
Practical Tips for Writing Your Dissertation - with Rich Furman.
-
Research Constructions
-
with Sally St. George and Dan Wulff. January 12 - April 6, 2018. An online course over 12 weeks with four live calls.
Friends of the Taos Institute Workshops and Events
- Appreciative Inquiry Community Jam! SAVE the DATE - Sept. 7-9, 2018, in Burlington, VT at the Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry - more information to come! Everyone is welcome.
*********************
***********************************************************
|
|
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 English.
- A two-year online learning program
- Learn about and explore different applications of Collaborative and Dialogic Practices
- Focus on practices related to professional life as:
- educators, social workers, managers, coaches, mediators, lawyers, psychotherapists, doctors, nurses, and communications working with individuals or organizations.
- Learning opportunity for any discipline or background.
- Begins January 2018.
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.
And help spread the word about this innovative program.
|
|
International Relational Research Network Meeting and Global Dialogues
The Fall Article Reading
and
Discussion Series
Continues...
The Article Series 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 article 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:
How to join in the article series conversations:
- Visit and then 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 zoom link provided on that web page to join the call
|
|
It is our special pleasure to announce The Taos Institute's first publication of books in the Arabic language.
WorldShare Books includes publications in English, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, and even Farci. But at long last we have opened a significant channel of communication with the Arab World.
We express our enormous appreciation to Edgar Noumair for his dedicated work to this project. It is though his efforts and the support of the Anath Foundation, that we now have posted on the web
translations of three key books:
- Appreciative inquiry: Positive approaches to building cooperative capacity (Barrett and Fry)
- Mapping dialogue: Essential tools for social change (Bojer, Roehl, et.al.)
- Social Construction: Entering the Dialogue (Gergen and Gergen)
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.
|
|
New Focus Book!
Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM):
A RESEARCH MANUAL
Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM): A Research Manual invites those who are interested, intrigued, or invested in CMM to explore the theory as method. Through conversations, Rascon and Littlejohn discussed the many research possibilities and created a manual that offers several frameworks for practical research. The manual provides contexts for applying CMM tools and models as well as many examples from researchers and professionals. Those who have been introduced to CMM and are interested in discovering possibilities for their research and practical interests at any level should enjoy the offerings of this book.
Order the book today at:
|
|
|
Check out our Newest Books:
|
|
Paths to Positive Aging: Dog Days with a Bone and Other Essays
|
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.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
The Magic of Organizational Life
|
|
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
→
|
|
|
Positive Aging book in Danish Now Available
"Veje til positiv aldring" by Mary and Ken Gergen
|
|
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.
|
|
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/
|
|
|
|
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 -
|
|
|
AI World Inquiry!
If you have ever participated in an Appreciative Inquiry, in your organization, community, family, etc., then this opportunity is for you!
Join the World Inquiry into the impacts of
AI!
You are invited to share your stories!
The AI World Inquiry invites everyone to share the stories and examples of how Appreciative Inquiry has impacted your organizations, communities, families, and life.
By sharing these stories you are helping to create viral and inspiring examples of positive change in the world, both the larger world and in our local worlds.
Participation is easy - simply visit the AI World Inquiry web page, decide which question or questions you would like to answer and record a short video to share!
And please feel free to invite others in your network to share as well...and help us lift up these untold stories of AI around the world!
|
|
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.
|
|
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
