The Container Concept: Conditions for Creating a Sense of Community

Stillwater Area Public SchoolsAugust 2015

Agenda/Flow

• Introduction/Context• Mission: What is a sense of community?• Vision: Why create a sense of community?• Strategies:– Conditions for creating a sense of community– Sequencing/Flow of the process

• Closing

INTRODUCTION/CONTEXT

We shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploringWill be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time

-T.S. Eliot

Protocols

• Assume good intentions• Spinach in the teeth rule

(Ouch/Oops)• Right to Pass• Make it work for you• Others?

CONTAINER CONCEPT

Not all Containers are Alike

We Have Choices…We have Influence…

What are the qualities of your container(s)? How have you & others felt/operated in healthy containers? Unhealthy containers?

Mission: What is a Sense of Community?

From Group to Community“In genuine community there are no sides. It is not always easy but by the time they reach community the members have learned how to give up cliques and factions. They have learned how to listen to each other and how not to reject each other. Sometimes consensus in community is reached with miraculous rapidity. But at other times it is arrived at only after lengthy struggle. Just because it is a safe place does not mean community is a place without conflict. It is, however, a place where conflict can be resolved without physical or emotional bloodshed and with wisdom as well as grace. A community is a group that can fight gracefully.”

M. Scott Peck M.D.The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace

Thomas Sergiovanni states that “the need for community is universal. A sense of belonging, of continuity, of being connected to others and to ideas and values that make our lives meaningful and significant -- these needs are shared by all of us.”

“The people in one’s life are like the pillars on one’s porch you see life through. And sometimes they hold you up. And sometimes they lean on you, and sometimes it’s just enough to know they’re standing by.”

Anonymous

Community is consciousness of connection, combining and comprising: Courtesy, communication, collaboration, cooperation, consideration, caring, compassion, curiosity, commonalities, common goals, confidence, creativity, courage, challenge, camaraderie, and conceivably chocolate.

CTC Group, 2004

"… a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members' needs will be met through their commitment to be together.”

~ McMillan & Chavis, 1986

Vision: Why Create a Sense of Community?

• ACTIVE• AT PEACE• CARING• COMPASSIONATE• CONFIDENT • CONTRIBUTOR• CREATIVE• CRITICAL THINKER• EMPATHETIC • EMPLOYED• FORGIVING• GENEROUS • GET ALONG W/ OTHERS• GOOD COMMUNICATOR

• GOOD PARENTS• HAPPY • HEALTHY• HONEST • INDEPENDENT• INTEGRITY• LITERATE • LOYAL• MOTIVATED• PATIENT• PERSEVERENCE• POSITIVE ATTITUDE• PROBLEM SOLVERS• PRODUCTIVE CITIZENS

• RELIABLE• RESILIENT• RESOURCEFUL• RESPECT• RESPONSIBLE• SELF DIRECTED• SELF ESTEEM • SELF RESPECT • SELF SUFFICIENT• SENSE OF HUMOR• SUCCESSFUL • WELL-INFORMED

VISION

"Many of those personal qualities that we hold dear—resilience and courage in the face of stress, a sense of craft in our work, a commitment to justice and caring in our social relationships, a dedication to advancing the public good in communal life—are exceedingly

From: Alexander, L. & James, H.T. (1987) The Nation’s Report Card: Improving the assessment of student Achievement. Washington, DC: National Academy of Education.

difficult to assess. And so, unfortunately, we are apt to measure what we can, and eventually come to value what is measured over what is unmeasured. The shift is subtle and occurs gradually.”

Creating a sense of community…

SUPPORTS LEARNING

Learning & emotions are intertwined(see amygdala)

Fight, Flight, Freeze inhibits learning

Fear, embarrassment, frustration, boredom…

…can trigger fight, flight, freeze

Fundamental Elements of Brain-based Teaching & LearningCaine, et. al. Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action

Relaxed Alertness: Creating the optimal emotional climate for

learning

Orchestrated Immersion in complex Experience: Creating optimal opportunities for learning

Active Processing of Experience: Create optimal ways to consolidate learning

Creating a sense of community…PERSONAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

ThroughFOSTERING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

Maslow’s

Hierarchy

of Needs

Retrieved from: http://two.not2.org/psychosynthesis/articles/maslow.gif

Security

Esteem

Belonging

Supports Social Emotional Learning (SEL)

See www.CASEL.org

Bullying – More than a label

“A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students.”

~ Dan Olweus

Social-Ecological Framework

• Pain• Fear• Adult attitudes• School climate

Pre-Bullying

1. Behavior that, if escalated, could become bullying.

2. Norms that set the stage for bullying if the behavior becomes intentional, consistent, and abusive (e.g. sarcastic humor, put downs, unconscious and/or unchallenged use of derogatory terms)

Strategies: Conditions for Creating a Sense of Community

Elements of Sense of Community

• Membership• Influence• Integration & Fulfillment of Needs• Shared Emotional Connection

McMillan & Chavez

Conditions for Community to Develop• Intentionality

• Safe and Trusting Environment

• Balancing “Me” and “We”

• Ownership

• Positivity

• Others?

INFLUENCE

Safe & Trusting Environment

Intentionality

Balancing “m

e” & “w

e”

Ow

ners

hip

SHARED EMOTIONAL

CONNECTION

INTEGRATION & FULFILLMENT OF

NEEDS

MEMBERSHIP

Positivity

Intentionality is Key

Presenting activities do not, in themselves, guarantee the attainment of lifelong learning and skills.

The more intentional and systematic we can be, the more possible it is to achieve what we wish to achieve.

IntentionalityInvitational Education – a Container Framework

Making time for relationships

Invitational Education

www.invitationaleducation.net

Examples of Tools• Community Meetings• Greeting people when they arrive• Activities• Curriculum & lessons• Books, movies, internet• Rules and norms• Traditions• Peace Circles• Bulletin Boards and signage

INVITATIONAL EDUCATION

INTENTIONALLY UNINTENTIONALLY

INVITING INTENTIONALLY INVITING

UNINTENTIONALLY INVITING

DISINVITING INTENTIONALLY DISINVITING

UNINTENTIONALLY DISINVITING

Safe & Trusting Environment

Safe EnvironmentRelational Trust

Physical/Emotional Safety

• Physical and verbal violence has to be addressed.

• Ground rules and social commitments help in establishing boundaries.

• Instances of harassment, hitting, etc. though, must also be dealt with quickly.

Relational Trust

SEQUENCING AND FLOW

Two Perspectives on Sequencing

1.Ice Melters

2.Deinhibitizers

3.Trust Activities

4.Problem Solving Initiatives

5.Challenges

1. Getting Acquainted

2. Learning to Trust and Support Each Other

3. Communication Skills

4. Setting Goals

5. Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution

6. Extensions

Balancing “Me” & “We”

Empowerment “Me”Social Commitment “We”

Empowerment: “Me”

“Me” Topics

• Noticing vs. praising• Challenge with choice vs. right to pass• Competition• Pseudo choice• Other topics?

SOCIAL COMMITMENT: “WE”

The central message of the consumer culture in which we live is: You’re the most important thing on earth. You’re the heaviest object in the universe and everything orbits around you. And we’ve enshrined this idea as ‘human nature.’ Not remembering that most people in most places have had other things very near the center of their identity – the tribe, the community, their relationship with the natural world, or the Divine – something that gave them more of a sense of identity not obsessively rooted in themselves

Bill McKibbon (Interview aired on May 26, 2007)

Rules & Expectations

• External• Enforced• Safety• Respect

General School/Community rules

Specific Classroom rules

Non-negotiable

Always in Place

Agreements & Contracts

• Internal • Owned

(co-created)• Rights• Responsibilities

Agreed Upon

Important to the Group

Negotiable

Open to Change as Group Evolves

Rules vs. Agreements

• External• Enforced

• Safety• Respect

• Internal • Owned

(co-created)• Rights• Responsibilities

Rules vs. Agreements

• General School/Community rules

• Specific Classroom rules

• Non-negotiable• Always in Place

• Agreed Upon

• Important to the Group

• Negotiable• Open to Change as

Group Evolves

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• People• Talents/Gifts• Ideas• Insights• Inspiration• Life Experience• Family• Beliefs & Ideals• Values• Theories & Models

What Guides You? What shows you the way?

How have you added to your cairn so far at this conference?

OWNERSHIP

GOAL SETTING

The 3 ‘R’s• Routines

What are some routines you have in your classroom/school?

• RitualsWhat are some of your family, cultural, or personal rituals? What are some of your school traditions? What is a rite of passage you have experienced?

• ResponsibilityWhat do you in your classroom/school to engender responsibility toward self and others?

Positivity

Reflections on the 10

• Joy• Gratitude• Serenity• Interest• Hope

• Pride• Amusement• Inspiration• Awe• Love

From: Fredrickson, B. (2009) Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive. New York, NY: Crown Archetype.

Positivity

1. Broadens our minds and our hearts

2. Transforms us for the better

3. Fuels Resilience

1. Asking questions and focusing outward (open to new ideas)

2. Connectivity and attunement of the team. More responsive to one another

3. Bouncing back from adversity rather than getting stuck in self-absorbed advocacy

Individuals Groups

Positivity Ratio

The Tipping PointFlourishing = 3 to 1

“… only when positivity ratios are higher than 3 to 1 is positivity in sufficient supply to seed human flourishing.” (Fredrickson, 2009)

A Place for Negativity

• Specific negative emotions help us focus and take action (such as in resolving or transforming conflict).

• Global and unfocused negative emotions overwhelm and poison us.

• The difference between anger and contempt or guilt and shame

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “the other is good – he is joy, peace, love hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I am because we are

Yo soy porque nosotros somos

私たちがいるので、私は

Ako mao tungod kay kita我是因为我们

हम कर रह� ह� क्योंकिक म� कर रह� हूँ�Mimi ni kwa sababu sisi ni

Laurie FrankGOAL Consulting+1-608-251-2234LSFrank@mac.com

To download this PowerPoint, please go to my website:www.goalconsulting.org