By Matt Noyes (and participants in the National Carpenters conference.)
ADJUSTMENTS COMMITTEE HERE
REWRITE THIS AS A CASE STUDY WITH WHAT WOULD YOU DO TYPE QUESTIONS
(Like much good popular education, this case was the result of painstaking collaborative planning and a spontaneous rebellion of the participants. Thanks to carpenters Michael Cranmer, Susan Cranmer, and Ken Little, to activist writer Dan LaBotz, to Carl Biers, Jane Latour, and Andy Piascik of AUD, and to Mike Orrfelt, popular educator, journalist, carpenter and building trades activist.)
Summary:
When education crosses over into action the participants assume control and the educator's job is to get out of the way, without simply becoming passive or neutral. If the educator is also a participant, for example a member of the reform group, that can simply mean changing the role he plays -- "go back to your seat, Lenny." When the educator is not part of the activist group, but is an "outsider" the transition can be tricky -- when and how does your authority and leadership end? (Facilitating always involves authority and leadership, be it democratic or authoritarian.) It can be especially tricky when, as in this activity, the participants decide to move from education to action before the educator is ready.
The following activity is really an illustration of many of the ideas of this handbook as they apply in the flow of events. ..The agenda for an event that makes the shift from education to action, in which the educator prepares the ground for action and plans his/her exit.
The idea of building an educational agenda that not only drew on participants' knowledge and interests, but also included a working meeting run by the participants from discussions with Boston carpenters Michael and Susan Cranmer, and educator/carpenter activist/journalist Mike Orrfelt. AUD planned the conference jointly with members of Carpenters for a Democratic Union, in Massachusetts. They wanted education to be a big part of the conference, but they also wanted time for a working meeting, if the participants decided they needed it....)
For those people who find internet metaphors useful, this is a little like using frames on a website: just as frames enable you to browse one website within the framework of another -- with no sacrifice in content and no change to the independence of the two sites -- so, within the frame of the educational event, organized by the educators and their collaborators from the group, you can create space for a completely independent event to take place.
Materials/resources:
Depends on the context, the facilitator can play a helpful role by anticipating what the participants are likely to need and then setting it up as needed.
Purpose:
To prepare for the shift from education to action within an event so that....
An educational event is nearly always also a rare opportunity for workers to meet each other, share stories, and talk union. Activists who are building a movement or campaign or organization, are often in a hurry to get down to business when they get the chance to meet. This activity is designed to create a free space for people to get work done in the context of a highly organized and carefully planned educational event.
Process:
Motivate and explain. When you begin planning an event that may cross-over from education to action, it is important to talk about that with the activists with whom you are planning the event. Discuss the agenda: How much education should happen? How much time should be used for education? How much for action? When will the action piece happen? Why then? What should the flow of education and action be? How can you use the education to prepare the ground for action? Discuss your role and theirs: who will facilitate the action part? Who will explain the plan? What if people want to change it?
Planning with the activists. If you want to organize the shift from education to action, that is plan and facilitate it, you need to do a lot of work with people who are organizing the event and will be participating in it. Why?
Use activities that prepare the ground. Open-ended, real questions, burning issues, provide relevant info, frame options, leave room for changes to options, don't rush into a decision, provoke debate and thought about the possibilities, hold off on judgment/decision-making
Have a clear, shared agenda that is available to the participants -- we all need to know what the plan is if we are to have any ability to alter it.
Include the space and time for making adjustments to the plan and an open mechanism for making adjustments. Note, not just a how-to so people know who to raise it with, but a process that keeps the adjustments in tune with the participants. Agenda and adjustments, time to re-plan, consultation,
Participate in the change and take responsibility for your part of the work. When participants suddenly decide they want to change the agenda, the educator may be tempted to simply withdraw and say, "well, you are the participants and I believe in democratic education, so go ahead." This may sound nice and democratic, but is really just being irresponsible. It was your job as the educator to plan an effective agenda, not to just dump it in the participants' lap. As the creator of the plan and as a facilitator who is carefully observing the process as it unfolds, you have a responsibility to let people know what you think of the change they are proposing, and to try to convince them of your point of view, if you believe you are right.
But, if you do believe in democratic education, you need to have a way to place the decision in the hands of the participants. You need a clear and democratic transition. One simple and efficient way to do this is to put the decision to a vote of the body. As facilitator, you present the situation and explain the decision-making process that you are proposing to use. Check for opposition. If there is none, use a "one speaker for, one against" format, giving the floor to someone to state they the agenda should not change and for someone else to state why they think it should. Do not allow debate or questions. Move to a show of hands, for/against/abstain. Once the decision is made, move on.
Decision-making: responsibility to the education and to the action
Holding-back and sticking in
Watch for:
It is tempting for a facilitator to drift into participating in the group's work
Variations:
free space WHAT IS THE GROOVY TERM FOR THIS?
Write a letter: letter to CUE, to APWU?
Examples:
CDUI, CUE, Workplace Project