Hosting Conversations about Questions that Matter
We had a really juicy Community Cafe conversation last week on an open topic with questions focused on drawing out of what has been engaging us recently.
There has already been some thinking on a good topic for the March Community Cafe (click here for more information, and to register).
Here's what I took from the group "wall":
Wilfried Wilkins, Feb 3:
End poverty - Wouldn´t that be a brilliant theme for one of the next WC?!
Ria Baeck, Feb 4:
and what has ending poverty to do with the production of food, our own relationship with food and the land; and then what have World Café practitioners to do with that?
Where would YOU like to take this topic? Is something sparked for you by what Wilfried and/or Ria said? Are there other topics you'd like to explore in March's Community Cafe?
Add your voice below.
Replies to This Conversation
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i like the directness and down-to-earth-ness in Ria's reply and that is an energy i am more and more appreciating these days to witness and to embody as i am experiencing an exponential growth of small-talks, buzzwords and unreflected world-savers "out there" (not to offend anyone directly but to bring some spice).
daring to make 'topics' very personal and allow the relevance to fill the here and now and the context i am in and you are in. daring to speak the underlying issues and face them with strong bright hearts... does that make sense? how could that be formulated in a theme?
...other directions? -
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Hermeutics and Conversations
"Hermenéutics more than a technique or assembly of rules to avoid the evils understood, is a knowledge next to the art of dialogue because are two people the ones that enter contact: the author and the reader. This it is the reason why hermeneutics is based on the floor of dialectic as an art of mutual understanding. The interpreter is constantly exposed to error, and because of it only he can find the true from dialogue and exchange of ideas with the other… we call hermeneutics the doctrine of the art to understand the demonstrations of life set in writing. Understanding now is not inteligir but to be behaved, to rise to the occasion; it is an art, a capacity that is not cognitive or mental, but practical and vital; what in English we call a know-to be… to understand not from intellection, instead to get along or to rationalize the own situation, but to be open to the other, to be felt in community with the other… The comprehensive man does not judge from disaffection, as if he was found in an external situation, but from affection and the ownership to a world shared."
Source: http://apuntesdefilosofa.blogspot.com/2009/02/conceptos-y-terminos-...
I ask my fellows on humanistic disciplines:
1. Is it possible also to situate hermeneutics between a speaker and a listener (no longer only among an author of a writing and a reader)?
2. If it is thus, ¿will it be because of "conversations" as those of TWC would be displacing the readings of texts in organizations like a valid form of knowing?
3. Will it be that conversations more than a well-being, are carrying really to a know-being: to understand not since the sense of intellection, but to be behaved under circumstances, to share in community with affection?
Sorry for my English, it is not my mother language.
Luis Fernando
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These concepts are difficult to write about, so you are doing OK! Luis, you have a really interesting subject to discuss going here that would be really fun to talk about in a group situation. Everyone has experience translating their thoughts into words.
So this word - hermeneutics - is it a word based on the archetype of Hermes?
Your definition: "the doctrine of the art to understand the demonstrations of life set in writing." Could we write the same idea more simply? How about, "understanding how to demonstrate and describe life in words." Or even more simply, "Understanding how words translate and describe life experience." Do these sentences agree with what you have said in your definition?
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As far as my own suggestion for how to find a topic, I'd go over to Thinqon.com where there are some interesting discussions and dialog already going. Pick a topic that has had lots of action. These sorts of topics are pretty sure to involve people anywhere.
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Although I'm not an institutional teacher, I find it fascinating how education is changing to take advantage of the current technology beyond the 18th Century methods currently in use. Since we have already arrived to a time when information is so rapidly being updated, it really doesn't make sense to test for information retention anymore - the information that testing is cramming down the throats of kids will be out of date by the time they have a chance to use it - if at all. (Think of how useless most of your own past education is for you now.)
How could education be improved if it were going to be completely transformed? Given our world's rate of rapid change, what skills and subjects do you think would be essential for kids to have to equip them for an era most of us adults cannot even imagine? How could these important skills be taught and tested for?
For instance, in the category of "how skills be taught," it's heartening how innovative teachers are currently using video podcasting to replace lecturing. It's called "flipping." Instead teachers spend class time doing what would normally be "homework," giving individual attention. Teachers actually get to teach their subject one-on-one. Students get to "pause" the Vodcast lecture, (burned onto a DVD is provided for those without computer access,) watching it during the time they would normally do "homework."
I'd be eager to participate in a World Cafe on this subject. There are many who would be excited to contribute to such a conversation that might really make a difference in their work in education. A conversation such as this could open the eyes of parents to better help their kids face a changing era, given so many schools not answering such a need.
...in fact, maybe I'll start this as a subject on Thinqon.com...
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The link for that conversation is http://www.thinqon.com/topic/transforming_education
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- It seems to be quite popular: as of March 3, 2011 at 9:56 AM
54 people participating - Spans 9 days -
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I am fascinated by the North African events. This is why my suggestion is based on the assumption (which is quite real) that even in the western counties many people are unhappy about the way their countries are being governed.
What would people in western democracy "demand to change" (rather that ask) from their governments at present?
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Oh these ideas are so JUICY!
I especially like your question, Viktor...
An issue that is hitting me quite hard right now personally is health care in the US... my youngest sister just died. She wasn't feeling well - nothing serious, she thought, but she felt she couldn't go to the doctor to see what was wrong because she didn't have health insurance or the money to pay for a doctor's visit. By the time the pain was so bad she couldn't wait any longer, it was too late. Her death would have been prevented if she'd had access to a doctor.
So if I were to demand change in my country, it would be for affordable health care.
But if I were to demand change in the world as a whole, because the true need goes far beyond my personal tragedy and any one country, I would demand healthy conditions for all life - clean water, food, shelter, work, education, and yes, health care, for all people.
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Permalink Reply by Ursel Biester on -
Dear all, I am looking forward to our next online world café. I am very interested in the art of hosting community and what we can do to help it live up to its full potential. What kind of initiatives are already out there, where people from the community connect to each other locally? What do e.g. these conference calls give to you? What meaning do you find in this community of art of hosting practitioners? I´d be happy to explore these questions with you, because I know for myself, that I like this community so much, and I always get good energy from it. So I´m curious to hear what it´s like for other people and what they appreciate about it.
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What is the role of education in ending poverty? What does the next generation need to know to address this challenge in their lifetime? Whose job is it to fund equitable education for all? If food is related to poverty what do schools need to be teaching children about food production, nutrition, ecology and personal relationships with food? Who will teach the teachers?
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How does conflict sustain the poverty cycle? How can we teach children more peaceful ways of interfacing with the world and the individuals in it? How can world cafe contribute to raising the next generation of problem solvers?
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