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Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 23:44:34 +0000
From: James Samuel
Subject: [Co-Creators] Calling a Circle
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Here is a summary of the How-To of Calling a Circle. This is a
powerful tool, that can be used by anyone. I promised a few people
that I would post it here. This description can also be on this
Writeboard, http://cocreators.grouphub.com/W307644 as well as below:
If you find this interesting and useful, you may also like to download
the entire Mapping Dialogue book. Dialogue is one of those things we
can always learn to do better, and this is a very accessible document.
---
Overview
For as long as humankind has been around, the circle has surely been
with us. Human beings have naturally been gathering in circle, around
the fire, sometimes in deep conversation, sometimes in the quiet space
of simply being together. At its most essential level, the circle is a
form that allows a group of people to slow down, practice deep
listening, and truly think together. When practiced fully, it can be
an embodiment of the root of the word dialogue: "meaning flowing
through".
"Council" is another word, which expresses the promise of the circle.
Imagine a circle of elders, passing a talking piece around one by one.
Everyone's attention is on the person currently holding the piece,
sharing his or her thoughts, perspectives, and wisdom. Each person's
voice is valued and honoured. Long pauses of silence are an accepted
part of the conversation.
People can meet in a circle as a once- off gathering, or coming
together regularly over periods ranging from a few months to several
years. In both these forms, and everything in between, the circle is
in recent years making something of a comeback. From business
executives in corporate boardrooms to community organizers in rural
hinterlands, people are re-connecting with the value of sitting in
circle.
Many of the processes described in this collection make use of chairs
set up in a circle because it is generally the most suitable
configuration for a dialogue. This section, however, looks
specifically at Circle as a process in its own right, not only as a
physical set up. We draw here on the guidelines developed by Christina
Baldwin of PeerSpirit. Inspired by her exploration of Native American
traditions, Christina wrote a book entitled "Calling the Circle",
which has made a major contribution to re-introducing circle process
and developing a set of practices that can help us to facilitate
meaningful circle dialogues. These guidelines can be used in their
entirety or held more lightly.
The circle is well known for the use of the talking piece. The talking
piece is passed around the circle, with the person holding it being
the only one to talk. The talking piece can be anything - an
object from nature, a photograph, a pen, or even a cellphone. Some
people think circle is only about working with talking piece council,
but this is just one tool of the circle. Often the check- in is done
with a talking piece, but then people can move into talking without
it. This is called conversation council, where anyone who has
something to say speaks. When people have been using circle for a
while, even in conversation council, the practice is ingrained to not
interrupt someone, and to let each person finish before a new person
begins.
---
Elements of a circle
The circle is good for
* Enabling a group to connect more intimately
* Creating equality among people who are at different levels in a
group, organization or community - giving equal value to
each person, and requiring everyone to participate
* Slowing people down and allowing them to think together
Three practices of a circle dialogue
Essentially the circle is a space for speaking and listening,
reflecting together and building common meaning. Three practices have
been clarified, which can be useful to help people come into a higher
quality of attention:
* Speak with intention: noting what has relevance to the
conversation in the moment.
* Listen with attention: respectful of the learning process all
members of the group.
* Tend the well-being of the circle: remaining aware of the impact
of our contributions.
Three principles that help shape a circle.
* Leadership rotates among all circle members. The circle is not a
leaderless gathering - it is an all leader gathering.
* Responsibility is shared for the quality of experience.
* People place ultimate reliance on inspiration (or spirit), rather
than on any personal agenda. There is a higher purpose at the
centre of every circle.
Intention
As with most of the tools and processes of good dialogue, the starting
point is with the purpose and intention. The intention will determine
who should be invited to join, when, where and for how long they will
meet, as well as what questions they will focus on.
The clearer the intention and the stronger the commitment to it, the
stronger the circle. There are leadership circles, where people gather
to support each other in their respective leadership practice. There
are also circles that come together to solve a specific challenge such
as improving a programme in an organization, or working together to
make a neighbourhood more safe. It could be a group of workers coming
together in circle with management to find the best way to deal with a
need to retrench people, or even a group of homeless people joining
members of a local church congregation to together come up with the
best ways to support the homeless.
Sometimes a circle is more simply a tool used in a larger process
during the course of a workshop, or as a weekly or monthly meeting in
an organization, or community. In this case the intention is more
informal - to share expectations, to connect with how each other
is doing, and to surface and address any concerns or needs people may
have.
The host
Although leadership is fully shared in circle, there will always be a
host for the particular circle. Often the host is also the caller of
the circle, but where a circle meets continuously over a longer period
of time, the host role can change from circle meeting to circle
meeting.
The host will ensure that the circle flows through its main phases and
that the intention is at the centre of the dialogue. The host is often
also responsible, with the "guardian" (see below), for the actual
physical space. Special attention is paid to the physical centre of
the circle - a colorful rug, some meaningful symbols or objects,
and/or a plant may mark the centre of the circle and often represent
the collective intention. This paying attention to the centre of a
circle, brings with it a sense of the sacred, when people gather
together around it. Something out of the ordinary is being invited in.
The Guardian
The Guardian is the person who pays special attention to the energy of
the group, and that the group is not straying from the intention. The
Guardian may interrupt during the course of the circle to suggest a
break or a moment of silence. Sometimes conversation does speed up a
little too much, and the centre - or calm - is lost. This
is where the Guardian, or anyone who feels the need, can call the
circle into reflection, or silent council, where everyone is silent
for a while, letting things settle, before continuing either with the
talking piece or in conversation council.
---
The flow of a typical circle
Welcome
The welcome helps the group shift into circle space. A good welcome
can be a poem, a moment of quiet, or a piece of music to help people
fully arrive, and to become present to each other and their circle.
Check-in
One thing that distinguishes a circle from many other ways of coming
together is the importance placed on bringing each voice into the
room. The circle therefore begins with a check-in where each person
has a chance to speak to how they are feeling, as well as sharing
their expectations for the meeting that day. The host may pose a
specific question for each person to respond to in the check-in. It is
also not unusual to invite participants to place an object
representing their hope for the circle in the centre, sharing a little
about the object as they do so. The result is a meaningful visual
representation of the group's collective hopes in the center.
Agreements
When any circle gathers, its members need to formulate guidelines or
agreements on how they wish to be together. This is an important part
of shared leadership, and everyone taking responsibility for their
time together. An example of commonly used agreements of circle are:
* Listen without judgment
* Offer what you can and ask for what you need
* Confidentiality - whatever is said in circle, stays in
circle
* Silence is also a part of the conversation
Farewell/Check-out
At the end of a circle, similar to the check-in at the beginning,
there is now a check-out for people to share where they are at. The
focus of the check-out can be as diverse as each circle. It can be on
what people have learned, how they are feeling about what transpired,
or what they are committing to do moving forward from the circle.
Every participant usually speaks in the check-ins or check-outs unless
they explicitly choose not to.
---
Case Example - Kufunda Village
At Kufunda Village - a learning centre focusing on rural
community development in Zimbabwe - the circle has become a core
part of the work with communities as well as the way the centre itself
is run. Every time the centre does its evaluations of its programmes,
or of the work in the communities themselves, the circle comes up as a
key factor of success. People seem to connect fully with it, perhaps
because it is a part of the traditional culture.
"The circle - we were brought up there. Round the fire was
where conversation took place. Every evening we would sit around the
fire, and talk." - Silas, Kufunda Village
At its simplest, there is a daily morning circle during community
programmes in which each person checks in with how they are feeling
around the programme, key learnings that survived the night and hopes
and expectations for the day. The effect of using the circle with
rural community organisers is that, where it might typically have been
primarily adult men who would contribute, here everyone speaks. Slowly
but surely, they build the confidence and naturalness of each person
to contribute fully to everything that is done together. At the end of
several programmes, men express their surprise at how much they have
been able to learn in honest conversation with women (in the Shona
system women and men often confer separately), or the elders from
youth. The circle is taken back home to the communities that Kufunda
works with, and it has become a natural way of meeting for all of the
partner communities, allowing for the voice of the youth and the Chief
alike to be expressed.
At Kufunda, a monthly team retreat day, where circle is used a lot
(though not only) brings the team together in a more intimate way,
giving space for people to express and work through concerns, needs or
new ideas that may not make their way to the group during daily
business.
Each team at Kufunda, meeting weekly, begin and end all their meetings
with a talking piece check in, and check out. It means that people
don't dive straight into business, but allow themselves to arrive and
connect with each other, before getting into work. The check-out
usually allows for reflection on how people are feeling about what was
covered or decided. In times when the team struggles with
misunderstandings, dedicated circle work has been invaluable in
clearing the air - through a practice of truth-telling,
choosing to listen without interrupting and jumping to defense. These
are all aspects which the circle help promote.
The following list is a reflection on what the circle means both to
Kufunda's employees and community partners from a series of
evaluations done.
- The circle brings a sense of belonging
- Everyone contributes
- Everyone is a leader
- People speak from the heart
- Silence is ok
- It takes you out of your comfort zone
- It disrupts hierarchy
- It connects people
- It is intimidating
- It is liberating
- Everybody's voice is heard
- It is effective in conflict
- The circle is regulated by guidelines created by the group
- It fosters equality
Another example of a powerful use of circle is in the Alcoholics
Anonymous (AA). Essential to the AA model are weekly meetings of
alcoholics to be in dialogue and reflection together, bearing witness
to each person's challenges and progress. At these meetings people can
ask for help with personal problems in staying sober, and they get
this help from the experience and support of others like them. There
is no hierarchy, but it is rather a place to create a community of
support for people who all share a desire to stop drinking and stay
sober. It is a place where people can show up as who they are, letting
their masks down, and not needing to hide their fear.
There are open and closed AA meetings. The closed meetings are the
ones that most resemble circle as we've described it here. AA is
sometimes ridiculed by those distant from it, but in reality, it is a
very effective and creative organisation. The relationships and
capacities people build at AA often turn out to be lifelong and
relevant in a much broader range of situations.
---
Commentary
In our experience, up to 30 people (max 35) can be in a circle
together. With 8-15 people one is able to go much deeper. It can also
be used in larger processes, breaking the group into several circles.
For this it does need someone familiar with the basics of circle to
facilitate each group initially.
Another variation if the group is large can be to use the "fishbowl",
or what is known as "Samoan Circles". Here, participants are divided
between an active circle and an observer circle, with only the active
circle speaking and the surrounding observer circle listening. The
active circle can either be representative of the whole group, or of a
sub-grouping, and sometimes it is set up so that people can move in
between the the two circles. This process is particularly useful when
issues are controversial, or if the group is large.
For many who are not used to the circle, the slowness of the
conversation and thinking can be frustrating. With time most people
learn to value and appreciate the gifts of slowing down together, to
really listen to each other. Generally, people who tend to be less
vocal and less powerful will appreciate the circle immensely because
they are given the space to speak, while those who are used to
dominating a conversation will be more frustrated.
It's worth noting that Social Science research has actually been done
to show that the first person to speak can have a large influence on
what is said and the direction the conversation takes. The circle
seems particularly prone to this dynamic. This can be useful, but it
can also be problematic. The way around it is to give people time to
reflect in silence and collect their own thoughts before people start
to speak. In general, the host should be aware that while the circle
has a great equalising influence on a group, informal power dynamics
still exist, and can influence the conversation.
Finally, there are rituals connected to some circle practitioners,
which can be off-putting to some. The circle can be used in as
ceremonial or as bare-bones a way as one wants.
---
Resources
Baldwin, Christina. Calling the Circle
http://www.peerspirit.com
http://www.fromthefourdirections.org
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