Reflecting on Discourse One Final Time; Yet Realizing the Changes In My Own Forever

I feel I must apologize (again?) before I even really begin, for many may be starting to wonder if I have learned anything else this semester outside of the concept of Discourse (with a capital D).  I also know that Dr. Muth is eager for us to share more about our projects through our blogs before the semester ends; but I am over eager to share a few recent reflections with all of you first.  Perhaps I am experiencing what Christine Woodcock would describe as embodied knowing?  For as I read chapter 5 of Belfiore, I nearly ran to my computer in an effort to write my thoughts down before the emotion I felt subsided…And I find myself equally as eager, of course, to hear your opinions about them….

As I find myself immersed in the Belfiore team's ethnographies once again,  I am struck by the similarities between  the reflections in this text and thoughts of my own during the interviews and compilation of this semester's project.  But my reference to a possible embodied knowing experience above, came as I read page 213.   On this page we find a portion of Sue Folinsbee's accounts regarding Janet, a trainer, with Texco.  In this particular example, Folinsbee mentions that Janet is describing a required form and how to fill it out.  Folinsbee notes that as the training goes on, the employees seem to visibly relax and the conversation to be more comfortable.  A different feel than when they had previously been reviewing documents with unfamiliar and complex language.  On the surface, this may not appear to be that much of an 'ah ha' moment; but I immediately wrote the words "use their Discourse" with emphasis next to this particular section due to an experience of my own just a few hours before.

As I sat in my office today, I was distracted slightly as I heard robust laughter coming through the closed door of one of our training rooms.   I found myself listening after that, eager to hear what may have caused such excitement in a training session that can usually have a somewhat serious undertone (conflict and management of difficult people).  I marveled at the skilled facilitator's ability to relate to his audience and entertain, while still instilling the knowledge and awareness that they sought and perhaps needed.  No true 'nuggets' of wisdom floated through the door frame after that, so I soon went back to my work.  At the conclusion of the session, I approached the facilitator eager to discover what secrets he may have for me.  But as I mentioned to him that it sounded as though it had gone well; he commented that although he felt it had, he had really had to work hard for it.  He must have noticed my quizzical look in response, because he went on to explain that his typical jokes and examples had fallen flat with this particular audience at first.  He typically had done this type of training with high-level managers with great success; so had not considered the difference he may find with a group outside of that Discourse.  After "bringing it down a level" and truly relaxing his style a bit more; the group began to relate more to him, share their stories and the session seemed to go a lot easier overall.

As he described all of this to me, I couldn't help but smile as I considered the stories that I had found within the pages of our text, Reading Work, and various other articles throughout the semester.  As I shared the potential word for what he had experienced, he smiled back (feeling justified in his approach perhaps?).  We continued a brief discussion about the complexities that we can find sometimes within our own organization.  A relatively good sized company made up of such a variety of individuals; a seemingly similar world on the outside, but one with such different needs when one really takes the time to look closely.

As a facilitator, I recognize that I may not always know what the Discourse of my audience may be.  And I may not even have the ability to recognize it each time and adapt when needed.  But for those times when I find myself among a sea of blank faces, I wonder if I will know now to try a different approach or consider my words more carefully. And will the documents that I produce or be presented with ever be viewed the same way?

Whether I am to simplify or professionalize my language, or to ensure that I use the correct jargon; I appreciate my newest lens and what it can provide for me.  For the text on a page is not as flat as the piece of paper it is on; a view my newest Discourse has thankfully granted me.

Banksy tags Detroit

Banksy tags Detroit

Only people from Detroit care about about Detroit.  There's something very special about the place we call home, even when it's a deeply troubled city that makes national headlines for all the wrong reasons.   Well, I was reading about my hometown and came across a familiar name and his street art.  It seems Detroit came up on Banksy' radar as an urban cesspool worthy of a tag.  (Yes, only people from Detroit get to criticize Detroit).

It seems the Banksy tag was just the beginning of the controversy.  The Detroit Free Press originally reported this story in 2010: "Discovered last weekend, the stenciled work shows a forlorn boy holding a can of red paint next to the words “I remember when all this was trees.” But by Tuesday, artists from the 555 Nonprofit Gallery and Studios, a feisty grassroots group, had excavated the 7-by-8-foot, 1,500-pound cinder block wall with a masonry saw and forklift and moved the piece to their grounds near the foot of the Ambassador Bridge in southwest Detroit.

The move -- a guerilla act on top of Banksy’s initial guerilla act -- has sparked an intense debate about the nature of graffiti art, including complicated questions of meaning, legality, value and ownership. Some say the work should be protected and preserved at all costs. Others say that no one had a right to move it — and that the power and meaning of graffiti art is so intrinsic to its location that to relocate it is to kill it."

The Los Angeles Times  reported in 2012 that "the parties recently settled the dispute, and the gallery paid $2,500 for the wall art, estimated to be worth $100,000." 

 Given our studies and interest in street art,  I thought I would ask what you think of the Banksy controversy in Detroit.  I have mixed feelings about 555's action.  I believe the meaning of street art is  its context.  Will the "guerrilla act" of moving the work to "preserve it at all costs" become part of the context and thus a new part of the artwork's meaning?  Or, is removing the graffiti from its surroundings, valuing it at $100,000, and "preserving it" turning it into a neutral thing?

I'm also saddened because there doesn't seem to be anything else in Detroit to care about, much less, to preserve.  Why was this Banksy work deemed so worthy while neighborhoods, historical buildings, and city treasures sit in a state of decay?   Then again, I suppose you have to know the Motor City to understand the Motor City.

I did not intend to make a connection to Michael Gecan's article, but somehow, that's where I'm going.  Maybe I should ignore the media hype surrounding the Banksy art and look at  555's work.  Maybe they are fighting to save their hometown, a place that never gets much attention other than making the news for crime and corruption.  Perhaps 555 is just one small part of a larger network of organizers that I don't see because I only listen to media hype.  I'm blind to the current situation.

 Gecan's passion as a community organizer is evident in his writing, but I did not get the sense that East Brooklyn was his hometown, his touchstone, or his native context.  Maybe, like Banksy, Gecan's passion is in his work, where ever that may take him.  But, his organizers, the people he meets and gets to know, are connected heart and soul to their communities.  I wonder, then, how being disconnected from our communities (hometowns, families, roots) turns us into neutral things like the "stolen" art?   Do we loose interest in what's going on around us because we are out of our contexts, valuing our lives based on the superficial? 

I am left with only one final thought: I wonder if anyone is organizing a raid to return the Banksy work to it's original location?  I'll keep you posted.  Thanks.  Susan 

Sit and Get

I’ve been doing some reading, and an odd coincidence occurred.  I wasn’t an educator today.  Today I became a "hub worker". 

First my NEA Today magazine came in the mail today.  Although the website does provide interesting reading the site is not updated yet with the magazine’s cover story “An End to ‘Sit and Get’ Workshops”.  Essentially the article describes educators as being low on morale and tired of professional development calling sessions “Spray and Pray”, “Drive By,” or “Sit and Get”.  Worthwhile professional development is considered indispensable, yet the time is “wasted listening to a so-called expert who hasn’t spent a day in the classroom, with participants in a windowless hotel conference room filled with an endless parade of PowerPoint slides.”  (Ah, I’ve see many a deck!)  The experiences are described as ending with “We’re done.  Now, go ahead and successfully replicate what you’ve learned in your classroom.  Good luck?  Follow-up training?  Don’t count on it.  Collaborative time with colleagues?  Hmmm… no.”  The conclusion is so accurate that I cringed from experience. 

Second I picked up Belfiore and Folinsebee and suddenly I was comparing the two discussions.  The similar practices observed included “Sign-off procedures”, “Lecture-style teaching”, “Print materials with dense text”, “Long stretches of reading aloud by the trainer,” and “Written tests”.  Although I don’t want the educational system to be treated as a business, the comparisons in training are huge.  Enter an expert (trainer), leave the work environment (for some office) and enter the deck (training manual – read aloud time).  Although Bozena seemed a little more oriented toward the workers, Janet, for all the wisdom she displayed in reflection, was definitely spraying her employees and praying it would take.  She seemed to have blind faith that they got it, because she was so good at her job I wonder?? 

So if professional learning is to change, regardless of the field, be it business or education, we must “get through to them” as Janet states.  As one of the “them” in the education field, I think Janet is spot on.  In public education I want to get it, I hope to get it, but quite often the administration’s message is lost in test scores, bureaucracy, and a trail of paperwork that proved I performed as one of “them”.  Did I learn as I went along, or did I just check another thing off my list? 

To again reference the NEA article they state that “professional learning needs to be conducted – continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific content to particular learners.”  A remarkably similar quote ends chapter 5 of Belfiore, “Educators’ effectiveness then is greatly dependent on the extent to which they can work collaboratively and strategically with a number of different others in a role that facilitates learning, rather than delivers teaching.”  So maybe today, as I was reading the text, I was framing myself as one of the “hub workers” just trying to do my job with a lack of trainer collaboration. 

Deciding that “collaborate” was a key word in both texts, I looked for a definition and again coincidence struck me.
Collaborate –

: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

: to cooperate with or willingly assist an enemy of one's country and especially an occupying force

: to cooperate with an agency or instrumentality with which one is not immediately connected

 

Although “enemy” in definition number two is a strong word, definition number three is the one that fits both of my readings today.  I didn't feel connected to my training, and I couldn't even begin to credit Janet with any wisdom when I have suffered through her "Sit and Get" practices myself.