A SchoolHouse BLOG ENTRY
by Leslie C. Lewis
As a consultant who embraces restorative processes in all of my work ranging from racial equity and healing to strategic planning and organizational development, I have often heard the terminology “creating a safe space” used to describe how organizers are going about bringing people together.
In fact, in these kinds of settings, there is no guarantee that you can create a safe space for everyone, as Gail Christopher, architect of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation movement reminds us. It is impossible to know the backgrounds and histories of each person in the room, and therefore, it is impossible to know what might activate the legacy of someone’s hurtful past and cause them to shut down, react with extreme emotion, or simply remove themselves from the process.
The best we can do is to create a compassionate structure that upholds and values the common humanity shared by each person involved. There are many elements that form the bedrock of compassionate structures, however there are a few I check first in my design to make sure they are present:
Invitation – the opposite of coercion; each step of the way, individuals are invited, rather than directed, to respond to the various kinds of prompts and activities introduced to help move the group in its intended direction
Agency – this is the ability of a participant to direct their own actions and take responsibility for themselves within the context of the meeting/project/circle/activity
Equity – each participant is included in a way that allows them to be valued as the stakeholder that they are, and to have corresponding impact on the outcome or goal
Transparency – clarity of purpose and intention and clarity of methodology that is reviewed and iteratively revisited, understood, and shared by participants
The next time you feel tempted to use the words, “this is a safe space,” I invite you to shift into thinking about compassionate structure instead. Check to see if the above elements are true, and if so, welcome the genuine exchanges that are made possible as a result.
#wkkelloggfoundation; #truthracialhealingtransformation; #racialhealing; #StrategicPlanning, #OrganizationalDevelopment, #RestorativeRelationships, #RestorativePractice