Residency Reflections, 3 Lessons…
Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have:
But of the best leaders
When their task is accomplished
Their work is done
The people all remark
“We have done it ourselves.”
Lao Tzu
This statement on the front of Dr. Rory’s syllabus really hit home… I remember a miserable failure of implementation that I was a part of when I served on the Tribe’s Constitutional Revision Commission. “Failure” may not be the right word here – if it were meant to be, and if it were the work of the people, it would have succeeded. Looking back, it was a success in that it was not blindly accepted by the people. This proposal never “felt” right, but until now, I never understood exactly why it was doomed to failure. It was not the work of the people; therefore, it would never have the support of the people. So one thing I learned that hit very close to home, and I learned to take these wise words of Lao Tzu to heart. Work with the people, for the people, but always, let the people lead.
Another thing is the human element of the Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability program and Goucher College in general. The human element, the compassion and the selflessness of the Goucher faculty is evident in their work. Dr. Rory takes Lao Tzu to heart in his classroom – the learning was immense, flexible, community driven and collaborative in the spirit of The Courage to Teach. I can picture that little web from The Courage to Teach in my head, but now it has a whole bunch of names on it – those of my classmates and instructors! The human element of learning, teaching and sustaining cannot be denied, or the process is doomed for failure.
A third thing that I have taken home from the residency is the “consulting component” of the 601/600 course merging point – the event in which the class played consultants to a classmate’s personal dilemma. That process and the success of that process was a phenomenal learning opportunity. Wow. One major point of the practice was that it was not our problem or within our ability to solve the problem. This from my class notes:
“Susan is the only person with the power to solve her problem. We are only helping her to explore the problem and maybe see other options by asking clarifying and probing questions. In the end, we may even clarify the problem or the question itself.”
I can envision this consultancy problem being incredibly useful for my work environment, my household including my children, and for myself. This is a very useful process for decision making and conflict resolution. I also learned that I know more than I think I know about “tribal politics” and “tribal peacemaking and restitution…” Some of the process and Susan’s answers were so clear to me even before she spoke – like some sort of second nature or some kind of “basic knowledge,” maybe some sort of “tribal common sense?” The process was one that I could relate to from studying and participating in tribal peacekeeping forums, so I believe that it is a process that will also be acceptable to my coworkers, my family and my fellow tribal members.
Overall, the week was more than I had ever anticipated. Oh – and there is a fourth thing! When classmate Lara talked about her experiences in Austria, and shared her inspirational slide show, I had a realization. I realized how little I know about another facet of my identity, my father’s side of the family. Dad’s father was from French Canadian’s (with a maiden name like “Comeau”…) near the Aleutian Islands. Dad’s grandmother on his mom’s side was off the boat from Ireland! What rich dimensions of my “culture” I have ignored! So, Lara, thank you for opening my mind to these other dimensions of my culture that I must explore someday. The week together with all of you was phenomenal, and I cannot wait until our July week!
