Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Peter Rawsthorne -
Number of replies: 2

Brenda,

I am glad you also brought up Open Space... a very powerful approach for encouraging emergent learning. I have a friend (Chris Corrigan) who travels the world facilitating open space workshops. These workshops happen everywhere you can imagine. Chris speaks often of holding the space to allow amazing things to emerge and to have the conversations that matter. Open spaces can be designed to encourage a trajectory, this begins with the invite (call for participants)... the invite is what would provide the rudder to the sailing ship, where the participants provide the wind.

I see this applies directly to online learning; where the facilitator, or group of peers, creates the invite. The invite sets the terms of reference (subject domain) of the learning and then those with an interest show up to the space. It is this pre-selection toward an interest that keeps in on track... but, amazing learning can emerge from an amazing number of directions, leading to new directions. But again, it is the invite (almost a social contract) that can bring it back into alignment if it strays...

$0.02

Peter

In reply to Peter Rawsthorne

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Roy Williams -

Peter, if we are talking about the 'new open' space (forget about MOOCs for a moment, they are wonderful, but can be a distraction) ...

1. Its not so new - as in your example, and the variety of case studies we - and others - are exploring in terms of emergence. 

2. Redefining:  open / the new open / social learning / ... add to taste ... 

requires us to shift away from outcomes, goals, aims etc - certainly as they have been colonised by the bureaucratic administration of 'schooling' - which in the UK now includes the requirement that all PhD students report - in person - to their supervisors every one or two weeks - reimposing physical space on a hybrid, networked world - can you beat that?  

And 'an interest' that both opens up the space and invites people in, and 'holds' the space is a really neat way to reconceptualise / reconfigure that pedagogical discourse, thanks. 'Holding space' is such a tentative balancing act, full of paradox and ambiguity, no? 

 

 

 

In reply to Peter Rawsthorne

Re: Welcome to Footprints of Emergence

by Jenny Mackness -

Peter - I have just picked up a mention of Chris Corrigan in a blog post by Nancy White - http://www.fullcirc.com/2013/11/26/chris-corrigan-on-designing-with-introverts-in-mind/ who refers to his blog post - http://chriscorrigan.com/parkinglot/?p=3982

I would probably have overlooked this had you not mentioned his name.

It has also struck me that although his post is about designing with introverts in mind - it relates to one of the factors we have for drawing the footprints - solitude and contemplation. I usually come up as an introvert on the tests and certainly like plenty of solitude and contemplation and like Chris, I have found it important for emergent learning for me on a personal level.