March 3, 2016 - 07:18
From week 1 in the semester:
Guidelines for our Learning Community -- Draft amalgam of group work (+ last cluster is Alice’s)
- No interrupting/being rude/disrespectful
- Open-mindedness
- Respect
- Honesty
- Confidentiality
- Flexibility
- Respectful of people’s time
- Be present
- Be open to questioning your assumptions
- Remember that you’re not being targeted if you’re being questioned
- lean into discomfort
- assume best intent
- be open to positive confrontation to reach a mutual understanding
- challenge the opinion rather than the person
- overall compassion and respect for others and yourself
- Speak up if you hear an idea/thought that you don’t understand or agree with
- Practice active listening -- give people time and space to share (and finish sharing!)
- Push back with questions
- Actively share personal experiences in discussion
- Bring what you are learning in class to other classes
- No handraising necessary -- engage in organic conversation, allow conversation to emerge
- Everyone participates - helps the dialogue, not necessarily by speaking out loud
- Lean into discomfort -- don’t avoice “awkward” topics
- Be aware of your presence -- ask yourself: What energy am I emitting?,” etc.
- Create space for others
- Engage in healthy debate
- If something hurtful/harmful is said, one should “call in” instead of calling out.
- Validate experiences and feelings of others (and your own!)
- Step up, step back
- In small groups, make sure everyone has a voice
- listen: “you never learn if you’re always speaking”
- exercise leadership ability to be aware of group dynamics
- push yourself to the edge of your comfort zone
- oops, ouch -- you have a right to say something hurt you
- acknowledge differences
- consider brave space v. safe space -- speak up but also be brave to say if you’ve been hurt.
- Consider questioning via “yes, and” as well as “yes, but.”
- Cultivate trust in others and self
- Ask your greenest, tenderest, freshest questions
- Allow people scope to change their/our minds and be works-in-progress