In addition to all other work we engage in from day-to-day we gathered in community meeting for 60 – 90 minutes each day for three days. During these meetings students and teachers worked to resolve issues of discomfort, disappointment and discontent.
These feelings stemmed from issues that arose during last week’s sleepover. Whenever actions or conditions within the Voyagers’ Community upset or confuse members the best solution are found after speaking openly and honestly until everyone has been heard. These meetings provide an opportunity to address what is troublesome to a community member, old or young. We gather in an effort to listen, explore, debate, negotiate, understand and come to agreements that fit our philosophy and our desire to maintain a caring and kind space.
During our most recent meetings all members were fully engaged, honest, direct, and thoughtful. We began with a discussion that helped redefine the philosophical foundation of the school and to identify what makes Voyagers’ different from other schools. We framed or principles and progressed with a clear understanding of our goals.
First we addressed issues that surfaced when children engaged in pranks. Some children were offended by pranks imposed upon them while others felt the intent to prank was mutual and therefore agreed upon. These students felt accused of wrong doing by students who were fully intent on doing the same to another. In this case they felt there was implied consent. We all agreed that pranks needed to be addressed with greater care.
The community worked tirelessly to defined pranks. They agreed that a prank is something that is done to another person while they are sleeping or otherwise not in control. The students took great care to create this definition. Once the definition was adopted by a majority vote we discussed and voted on whether pranks should be conducted at school. They were banned by majority vote.
During our meetings we also addressed our peace conference process. We defined the Peace Conference process, the role of a mediator and agreed upon the expectation that each member, when participating in a peace conference will participate with a sincere desire to find resolutions, listen with an open mind and be respectful of each other. Staff members demonstrated the process of conferring peacefully. We acknowledged that several community members want to be peer mediators but feel they need a training program to better understand this important role.
Other concerns that emerged included community jobs, hurtful expressions, consideration for our space and possessions and competitive games and good sportsmanship.
Addressing one issue allowed us to open up and look at so many others. We really focused on and resolved so many things over these three days.
