IDEAS, NEWS AND RESOURCES | May 2022 |
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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, and their application in relational, collaborative and appreciative practices around the world. |
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The Many Ways to Get Involved! |
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Brief Encounter with The Taos Institute |
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"What does “working together” look like? What does it mean in the face of [...] enormous global challenges?"
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"I think most will agree that we need to amplify and put into practice the generative ways in which constructionist ideas can make a difference." |
UNFOLDING DIALOGUE
This month, Taos Institute Co-Founder and Vice President Sheila McNamee invites you to join in an online dialogue with her on these ideas.
Please join in!
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Are Relational Practices, Dialogue, and Collaboration Enough?
and Vice-President
I think it is safe to say that we are horrified watching what is happening in Ukraine. There is senseless loss of life, the destruction of cities and villages, entire ways of living are being uprooted, tearing apart families, friends, neighbors. But the war in Ukraine is not the sole locale of today’s terror and conflict. Governments around the globe are engaging in clashes between extremist positions (both conservative and liberal). Every day as I read the newspaper, I feel that humanity has taken ten steps backward. Human rights – that is, the belief that we can have equal social opportunities and protection under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, class, etc. – are regressing in ways we never thought possible. Some say that we have taken democracy for granted and ask, “Where did we go wrong? What did we do that initiated this decline in humanizing forms of life?” These are provocative questions, to be sure. However, perhaps imagining a global citizenry that is bound by an appreciation of difference rather than distain for diversity, as well as an interest in collaboration as opposed to competition would ignite hope. How would the world be different if our dominant theme was coordination of our diversity rather than elimination of it? If we work together, how could we address issues of poverty, food insecurity, global warming, racial and social inequalities? But I must ask, what does “working together” look like? What does it mean in the face of such enormous global challenges?
This is where the very ideas that bind our Taos community together should be of critical importance. My idealist inner dialogue wonders why world leaders fail to see that, in cooperating with each other and working together, everyone gains. And then my realist inner dialogue – acknowledging the thrill of power and wealth – asks, “Is dialogue the answer?” “Is curiosity about diverse beliefs enough?” “Is giving all voices an opportunity to be heard useful?” “Is acknowledging that I am because you are – that, in other words, we are relational beings – going to help us move beyond destruction of each other and the globe?”
I think we all realize the power of imagining how things might be. There is enormous inspiration in admitting that the ways in which we interact with each other and with our environment make a difference – that we can change our understandings and our ways of living if we work together. But how do we do this on a scale that surpasses the dyad, the family, the organization, or the community? This work is hard. How do we call others to dialogue when their interest is only directed toward wealth and power? How do we adopt a curiosity for ideas that are so different from our own? Is it possible to refrain from judgment of one who believes that the color of one’s skin is surely linked to the degree of one’s humanity? How do we cultivate curiosity about another nation’s apparent disregard for human life?
There are, thankfully, illustrations of work that take on some of these challenging issues. But I think most will agree that we need to amplify and put into practice the generative ways in which constructionist ideas can make a difference.
I invite you to share your thoughts and experiences by leaving a comment at www.taosinstitute.net/unfolding-dialogues. I think it is safe to say that we all view constructionist ideals as potential resources for challenging global issues. What I wonder is
if we can make those ideals real.
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It is with great sadness that due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to cancel the in-person conference originally planned for this November in Puerto Rico.
Our event planning team is pivoting quickly to offer you a virtual gathering opportunity.
Unfolding Dialogues: Relational Resources for Global Good
A Virtual Gathering - November 2022
Look for details and more information in the weeks to come.
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"The course content allowed me to understand concepts in more depth. I had certain ideas from reading but the opportunity to discuss this on the online
platform or in class or with a learning partner or to hear the facilitator speak directly to the content was so helpful to really start to understand the material."
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August 29 - October 10, 2022
A 6-week online course with Taos Institute Board Member
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Featuring videos and writings of Ken Gergen, Mary Gergen, Sheila McNamee, Harlene Anderson, Barnett Pearce, John Shotter, Saliha Bava and more, this course introduces the framework of Social Constructionism and presents cutting edge ideas and concepts on the collaborative construction of realities, reason and value. It introduces common premises and orienting ideas central to dialogue and meaning making. The course provides the groundwork for understanding how groups and organizations can work in the context of continuous, and sometimes radical change, and how innovation takes place by embracing dialogic approaches.
Participants engage in meaningful dialogue each week on a live video call, and deepen their learning through reading, interactions with the group in our virtual community platform, as well as during meetings with a new learning partner each week. This course is for those familiar with constructionist ideas as well as those new to these concepts. It is a unique opportunity to engage in deep reflection with others from a diverse range of experiences, while exploring how Social Construction applies to their own life and practice.
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with Gitte Haslebo and Maja Loua Haslebo
May 18, 2022
9:00-10:30 am EST (New York time)
- How can leaders and consultants handle conflicts and dilemmas in organizations with inspiration from social constructionist theory?
- Which alternatives to universal theories of ethics can leaders and consultants draw on from relational ethics?
- Looking at stories with ethical dilemmas or conflict, how can we co-create better actions and outcomes for all parties drawing on relational ethics?
This workshop includes an introductory presentation by the authors, reflections on real life stories of ethical dilemmas and conflict in organization, dialogue on questions from participants and final perspectives. Register at this link.
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All past Dialogues
are available on our
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The International Certificate in Collaborative-Dialogic Practices Network presents |
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Don't miss the first conversation with
Harlene Anderson and Sue Levin on May 14, 2022
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ICCP, HGI and The Taos Institute are pleased to announce this series of free online workshops, where leading voices in Social Constructionism and Collaborative-Dialogic ideas will engage in conversation with practitioners and scholars from different parts of the world. We will explore the principles and the applications of these practices in a variety of contexts and with different populations. The workshops will be in English with simultaneous translation. Details and registration are available here.
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Rhizome Way Consulting presents
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A 3-part workshop
May 27, June 3 and June 10, 2022
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An online-Zoom experience designed for helping professionals and concerned community members. For counsellors, therapists, educators, medical professionals, peer-support workers, managers, and anyone interested in communal/ecological values in our practices. In these meetings we will:
- Consider actions and structures that challenge the colonial legacies our various human service institutions and practices have been formed within.
- Delve into forms of engagement that honour the diversities of relations that hold people into life.
- Experience the radical implications of a rhizome-oriented practice.
- Focus upon the circulation of gifts within the communal/ecological relations that compose a life (as opposed to the imposition of predetermined pathologies/dysfunctions and treatment strategizing).
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And so much more... Details and registration available here.
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The Narrative Therapy Initiative presents
June 10 & 11, 2022
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This skill-based, two-day training is for people wanting to learn how narrative therapy ideas are put into practice in therapeutic settings. In particular, we explore externalizing practices and skills in the context of deconstructing and re-authoring therapy conversations. Clinical examples and experiential exercises will help support participants’ learning. Participants can expect to learn how narrative practitioners work to help people separate their lives from problems and identify new steps they can take that fit with their hopes and values. Details and registration available here.
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The East Side Institute Presents |
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With deepening social, environmental and political crises worldwide, many who want to make a difference in the world are finding that they need new tools to make social change, to grow, and to develop their communities. The East Side Institute’s International Class is a 9-month virtual immersion in creative and cultural approaches to human development, learning and social change. The course introduces and examines social therapeutics, a philosophically informed, practically oriented method in which human beings develop themselves while building the ensemble, group and community. Details and registration available here.
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"What does it mean to carry out work in a social constructionist frame? This is a topic of broad discussion, and it is important to resist the temptation of a conclusion." Along with Sheila McNamee's provocative questions in this month's Brief Encounter, we invite you to (re)visit Ken Gergen's thoughts on Social Construction's orienting principles.
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Season 5 of Positivity Strategist highlighted the innovations of social constructionist practice around the world. In the season's finale, guests reflect on how social constructionism as an orientation is relevant and meaningful in all times, places and communities, especially while facing unrest and uncertainty. The way we engage keeps changing, yet it offers us possibilities to find new innovations and reinvent ourselves in unprecedented ways.
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ISSUE 12 Available Now!
This free journal brings together members of a growing international community of practitioners, scholars, educators, researchers, and consultants interested in postmodern collaborative practices.
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FREE downloadable books in 12 different languages. Like all of the Taos Institute Publications, WorldShare Books represent significant contributions relevant to social constructionist theory and practice. With over 30 books in English and many more from around the world, you will enjoy reading about education, spirituality, organizational life, community building, group dynamics, leadership and more.
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By focusing on the positive aspects of aging and the availability of resources, skills, and resiliencies, research brings useful insights into the realm of practice, 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. For 20 years, late Taos Institute co-founder Mary Gergen, Ph.D. has inspired and driven the publication of this free newsletter - also translated in 9 languages!
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Access hundreds of articles and papers on topics such as:
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Collaborative Practices
- Dialogic Practices
- Creativity and Change
- Narrative Practices
- Relational Research
- Relational Learning
- Qualitative Research
- and so much more!
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In the current global context, the work in which we engage is more important than ever. You can make a difference by supporting our mission to create a promising future through social construction. Read more
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Also choose The Taos Institute on
Amazon Smile:
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In loving memory of Taos Institute co-founder and board member Mary Gergen, Ph.D.. Mary was an innovator in feminist theory, social constructionism, and qualitative methods. She was an inspiration and mentor to thousands of people around the world. She deeply cared about making the world a better place and her contributions will be felt for generations. Read more
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