The California Tenure Decision, Part 1: Systems Failure

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Educational equality is about more than teacher-seniority rules: It is about making the schools that serve poor children more attractive places for the smartest, most ambitious people to spend their careers. To do that, those schools need excellent, stable principals who inspire confidence in great teachers. They need rich curricula that stimulate both adults and children. Dana Goldstein in the Atlantic, 11 June 2014. Author of The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled… Read More . . . “The California Tenure Decision, Part 1: Systems Failure”

Understanding Objections & Beheaviments

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Translations There is a conversation on the [email protected] list about the meaning of the word bezwaar, the Dutch word that has been translated as objection. The question is whether objection is a good translation and how other translations might affect understanding objections and consent. The translations into other languages and those in different Dutch/English dictionaries suggest something other than objection. In English, objection means no, “This decision can’t go forward.” In other languages it has… Read More . . . “Understanding Objections & Beheaviments”

Switching to Sociocracy in Cohousing Communities

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  As is true with all governance changes, it is easier to begin with sociocracy than to switch midstream. Communities tend to stick with “the devil they know” rather than take a chance on a new one, but more and more and more communities are switching full scale or adopting some of the principles and practices. Except for those who have switched to sociocracy, cohousing communities use full group consensus as their primary method of… Read More . . . “Switching to Sociocracy in Cohousing Communities”

Citizen Hive: Description of Sociocracy

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Citizen Hive is a NGO in Sweden Using Sociocracy From the Citizen Hive website on sociocratic governance and why the organization uses it: Citizen Hive uses Sociocracy as our governance system. What is Sociocracy? Sociocracy is a holistic approach for inclusive decision-making, efficient governance, and the ongoing evaluation and improvement of your team, project, or organization. It fosters empowerment and an attitude where people feel encouraged to experiment, fail, and learn. Other benefits of sociocracy:… Read More . . . “Citizen Hive: Description of Sociocracy”

Citizen Hive and Another Tree

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Tree Organizational diagram from Citizen Hive in Sweden. Citizen Hive is a sociocratically governed Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)  in Sweden that describes themselves as part Hub, part Cluster,  and an alternative working and meeting space. Members offer a wide range of services that include interior design, IT solutions, facilitation, legal help, and financial information. Citizen Hive simply is a miniature reflection of how society is meant to be. …an efficient and transparent organisation that includes and integrates the diversity in society. An organisation where equivalence puts the individual; the personal,… Read More . . . “Citizen Hive and Another Tree”

Symbol of Sociocracy?

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Row of tree graphics. The power of using a tree as a symbol of sociocracy is not that it turns the hierarchy on its head, which one can do just as easily with the rake diagram. It’s that the tree  is an almost universally positive  living image  and its biology understood. It is universal symbol of life, growth, beauty, and eternity. People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne.… Read More . . . “Symbol of Sociocracy?”