COMMUNITY

network of thought

• learning to think with others
• learning to think as if with others

thinking progresses from scraps and questions and provisional structure to formal thought

communities can share found thoughts but it is more valuable to be able to form thoughts together

this requires the confidence to be vulnerable and it requires trust

trust that we share premises of process

premises of process:

• questioning replaces judgments
• questioning of others is question of self
• everything should be revelant to the focus
• formed thought may be individual (consensus is not necessary)
• focus must be clear

school teaches work for demonstration rather than use

• this is based on the assumption that value can be determined without a context (unless you count "demonstration" as a context)
• this s a sport paradigm where competence serves only to be judged competent or to outperform a competitor

There is WORK TO BE DONE beyond demonstration

In literature how can we help each other experience more? This is the work to be done.

• we can help each other notice
• noticing is the most obvious community project
• we can also help each other with connections (part to part, part to experience, part to whole, part to outside text)

In writing how can we improve policy and our individual attitudes through written interchange

• we can listen to each other and help us listen to ourselves
• we can notice what is left out or badly connected

How do we evaluate communities doing group work?

• Who is helping out and who is not pulling their weight

• This does not have to be part of grading but it should be brought to consciousness

Responsibility

• we are responsible for our own learning
• we are also responsible for the learning of others because we want to live in a community where learning is valued and thoughts can be explored

"Wrong" answers / "stupid" comments should be approached rather than avoided

irrelevant comments / comments going toward digressions should be acknowledged as topics to save for another discussion