From the Back Porch
by
Jane Vella
Global
Learning Partners Founder
Dialogue is
a State of Mind
Dialogue in a meeting
is the state of mind that welcomes all.
Recently, a Voices question was raised about the difference
between monologue (what Freire called the banking system) and
dialogue. I responded: "Dialogue is a state of mind."
I trust I was not avoiding the issue by that statement. If you
are trying to do dialogue in a meeting, you can do it if, in
fact, inclusion is your state of mind.
Dialogue Education as we teach it is not
a set of techniques, transforming monologue into dialogue. It
is not format but form; it is not a formula but a flow. What
we learn in Learning
to Listen-Learning to Teach is how to put that state of
mind into an appropriate set of learning actions for this particular
group of learners or folks in a meeting.
Recently I was invited to offer a number
of keynote addresses. One of these was video-taped and as I
watched it, I was appalled. It was not my finest hour, believe
me. I am duly convinced that my work is backstage (back porch)
from now on. However, the response to my efforts was warm and
sincerely grateful. These men and women overlooked my age and
performance and saw my "state of mind". They welcomed
my attempt to establish dialogue, not only between me and them,
but among all of them.
More than one person spoke of the authenticity
manifest in the experience. This is what your efforts at dialogue
in a meeting will show: your honest inclusion, your willingness
to learn, your openness, your "state of mind". This
work is not easy; it takes a long time to prepare such a meeting.
However, it is worthy of the people who come to learn with you.
And you have my experienced.word for it: performance
is not what matters! Dialogue is.
email
Jane
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