First-ever Integral Education Seminar

Twelve hours after arriving on the red-eye from Seattle, 22 hours after bidding the 50 participants and faculty ( and one Witness presencing as Adonia Martineau, 4 years old yet part of our core team for 3 of those years) adieu from the Next Step Integral Education seminar at Whidbey Institute on Whidbey Isl, WA, it would be impossible to affirm that I have permitted the kaleidascope of events to settle into a deep perspective from which to report.

That's never stopped me before, and while memories, sensations, emotions and understandings tetra-arise, and while the multiple voices within me are happily conferring with one another, I want to permit them all latitude to be heard.

Integral education has been my passion for over 14 years, from the first wilber book I read in the 1980s and from the time I returned to the classroom in 1992 from my law career where I had already begun to apply Integral theory as I then understood it , to the courtroom during a death penalty case.....

Dealing with changes within consciousness in Western history as I taught AP history; creating experiential exercises to integrate cognitive understanding within the bodies of my high school students; switching out of honors and AP teaching to the regular college prep students, and wondering how deeply I could affect them with Integral education taught directly and taught through, and experienced....

Shift to Don Beck's SDi listserv in 2002 where I encountered others like me for the first time.  By Sept. 4, 2003, Nancy and I decided to start a Yahoo group, I had met Ken, and Nancy did the tech work on the Yahoo group.  It claimed 114 members before we set up the Integral Ed phpbb site.

  Before long we had excited Terri O'Fallon, Miriam Martineau, Juma Wood, Matt Baker, Jenny Gidley, Jamie Wheal, Santo Nicoteria, John Gruber,  Toyce Collins, Vic Smith, Sue Stack, Gary Hampson, Nick Owen, Olen, Katie, Hannes, Micki,  Patricia Gordon, Richard, and 80 nothers who similarly had been isolated in institutions world-wide and wrote with a passion merging on the spiritual to come into community with other educators influenced by Integral theory.

The core of this group became a virtual LL and wanted closer contact; we sensed that embodiment as best we could arrange it had to be the next step in the deepening of the group.  I've read a bit on vitual groups, and although it is possible to maintain a high levvel of interaction within a group that has constructed an appropriate container that can deepen without further engagement in the gross realm, perhaps it was the fact that educators are, indeed, qualitatively different.

We might teach on-line, but many of these programs have a "meetspace" component once or twice a year, or now a FaceBook/YouTube/Skype component.  My hunch is that we wanted that next level of intimacy, as we encounter within our classrooms, to sense into the levels/lines/states/stages/types of our new colleagues.  

A conference call grew into regular calls, and once Hannes created the phpBB site, we began the serious work of creating an overview and detailed descriptions of I Ed.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2004 2:05 am    Post subject: Welcome.
Dear Members, Almost a year ago, Nancy Davis and I set up the Yahoo group on integral education with the intent to see what interest there might be in forming and collecting knowledge on integral education. We had done teaching of integral in our respective educational settings, but there appeared to be no central meeting space for the generation and sharing of this new concept. Now, with the imminent launch of Integral University, we have found an exciting academic venue for our on-going research, contemplation, and formation of an integral approach to education as informed by Ken Wilber's AQAL model. The forums contained on these pages will serve as discussion boards to support the launch of the Integral Education Center at Integral University. Toward that end, and in anticipation of the March 2005 launch of the much-requested Integral Education Center, we shall act as midwives, conduits, spirits, co-creators, coaches, creative souls, compasses for one another in the furtherance of our vision, which has been proposed initially, but which we shall continue to flesh out in an emergent process. I consider our Center to be a meta (and a metta) center, all-encompassing and crucial to evolution's arrow. Toward that end, I shall dedicate myself, and I hold out my hand to all of you to shepherd our effort successfully. With deepest gratitude and boundless humility, Lynne

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Ah, but that imminent launch was postponed...and postponed...and postponed......

In the interim, we decided that we all realllly needed to meet one another, and a few of us met in Boulder in July, 2004 at the Holiday Inn.  After creating a tentative structure, we got to sit with Ken at the loft while he talked, really for the first time deeply, about his view of Integral education.  Could life GEt any better???

By later 2005 we had  created the following structure for our forum:
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2005 6:40 pm    Post subject: Updated Welcome: March, 2005
Dear Members, We have evolved into a most extraordinary community of learners in 7 months. We have an active, intelligent, committed, caring group of core members who are creating the Integral Education Center, and our projected launch is this summer or early fall. Ken Wilber is quite impressed with what we have all, collectively accomplished here. This Forum will become the prototype for Centers at Integral University, and our members (that includes ALL of you if you so choose) will be assisting with the educational processes and content that we are creating for Integral University. We have assets being constructed for the site, and welcome anyone who has already written an article, done a PowerPoint, on-line course, or other activity that they would like to have uploaded to the site. We are gathering information for an August, 2005 meeting in Boulder for those of us who have contributed to I Ed's construction, where we shall consider prospects for a major conference on Integral Education the following summer as part of Integral Institute's comprehensive offerings. To those of you who join us now, you are entering at the most providential time when your voice can and will be heard. We also ask both old and new members to contribute special biographies to us, perhaps detailing for us your 4 Quadrant orientations, what brought you to integral education, or other data that will assist us in embracing you into this vibrant community of learners. Please do not just sit by and follow our posts; join us in body, mind and spirit! Please feel free to email me privately. Blessings, Lynne ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2005 1:47 am    Post subject: Overview of the I-Ed Forum ?If anything imaginable were possible, what would be the nature of an ideal education?? Dear Members, We invite you to explore the site as you see fit. However, as there is quite a lot of material already and a particular site structure, you may wish to take a look at the following to help you orientate to the site. Q: What is the purpose of the iED Center? A: The purpose of the iED Center is to build a learning community that will draw together all who are have an interest in the education of the human species to appropriately integrate what is already known with what we are hoping will eventually come about. Specifically (among other things), > To define and publish integral education theory and practice, as guided by Ken Wilber?s integral approach. > To examine and map past and present educational philosophies and applications (link later) of intrinsic and demonstrated value according to the AQAL framework. > To conceive and document, through properly examined orienting generalizations, a framework of educational guidelines that optimally addresses the prime directive?the health of the entire spiral. > To provide support , direction and resources to those who have initiated or will initiate valid practical applications of integrally-oriented education. > To maintain a library of results, discoveries, observations and refinements of integral education theory and practice. > To maintain connectivity among those pursuing careers, interests or research in iED through forums, courses, events, etc. for individual and collective benefit. > To cross-reference the efforts and results of the iED group with efforts and results of other IU domains to mutually enrich the entire integral movement. > To provide hope and encouragement for those trying to survive / find meaning in / make integral changes to the current mainstream and alternative education systems. > To collectively create and maintain the conduit for papers, courses and other relevant material (AQAL and otherwise) that will form the Integral Education Center at Integral University. > To create a place for a wide ranging conversation about integral education, in which ideas and practices are shared. Q: What is the structure of the site? A: There are four forums: 1. The Integral Education forum is where all general discussion takes place on integral education. Specific discussion topics also arise here. Notably, it is a place for new members to introduce themselves and start participating in this dialogue. To engage meaningfully with the material in this site, it is very helpful for members to have a working knowledge of Ken Wilber's integral approach. For suggested essential reading, click HERE. It is our hope that members will join in the discussion by exploring the meaning and application of integral theory in education through collaborative dialogue with other members. Musings, reflections, and creative ideas related to integral education may all serve as catalysts for the development of new papers, research projects, or valuable teaching and learning materials. 2. The Contributors' Circle is the development and tracking area for articles and other media presentations being prepared for Integral Education's domain on the Integral University site (Resources under Development Forum). It is also home to current Integral Education working projects (meditations, discussion groups such as the Educational Theory Group, etc) (Projects Forum). Its products and some of its projects will be transferred to the site once opened, but the Contributors Circle will remain the work space for incubating and developing further new materials and programs for the site. As of May 2005, there were 25 members in the Contributors Circle, including 10 members of The Educational Theory Group. 3. The Executive Sangha is a working, integral learning/teaching group, coordinating, facilitating and administering this site and its evolution into the many-faceted iED Center. It consists of the director, 12 other voluntary contributing members and 3 administrative members who collectively take responsibility for the design, research and development, and day-to-day running of the site/Center. This involves, among other things, navigating and embodying the development of integral education as a new approach to education; editing contributions for publication; managing the forum/site, partly through facilitatory contributions; outreach into the wider educational community; and various other tasks that arise. A key role is to help maintain this space to enable the whole integral education group to function and grow harmoniously and effectively. As of March 2005, The Executive Sangha consists of the following members: Lynne Feldman (director) Katie Heikkinen (assistant director) Hannas Aurell (admin/technical) Katrina Owen (admin) Matt Baker Nancy Davis Richard Freis Jennifer Gidley Patricia Gordon John Gruber Gary Hampson Miriam Martineau Santo Nicotera Terri O'Fallon Vic Smith Jamie Wheal 4. An administrative forum area is available to and used by iED administrators for database maintenance purposes. The last three forums are not immediately open to new members. This has been done to enable efficient administrative and creative working spaces. Due processes, nonetheless, enable access to the Contributos' Circle and Executive Sangha (see below). This structure is organic and evolving, established to service the tasks at hand rather than the other way round. It is based on the notion of a healthy nested holarchy (rather than a dominator hierarchy), but, like all things here, this interpretation is naturally provisional and open to evolution and revision. ENTERING THE CONTRIBUTORS CIRCLE Public Members of the Integral Education forum who propose papers or projects that are accepted for development/use are granted access to the Contributors Circle. Also project participants or those engaged otherwise as contributors or editors are given access to the CC. As it is a working area, the general public is not given access. ENTERING THE EXECUTIVE SANGHA Changes to the membership of the Executive Sangha necessarily occur less frequently than changes to the membership of the Contributors? Circle. Relevant emergent dialogue between ES members and CC members may result in changes. Using the metaphor of a biological structure rather than a mechanical structure results in an organic collective process. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That meeting was held at Beaver Meadows, CO, and was a severe test for our newly constituted LL and LR. 
The challenges had to do in part with our origins outside of I-I, with folks not familiar to nor approved by Ken.  Under the old structure, this was a real concern; under the structure offered by Robb, this is not an immediate concern at all, but we had yet to learn about holarchic structuring, which created tremendous freedom within the holonic format for us all to function creatively.

Other contributing factors were my reluctance to suggest that some participants were a hindrance to the healthy development and functioning of an emergent LL, due to my hesitance to utilize masculine compassion. It was a stressful time for me, coming immediately after my aunt's death, which had a deep psychological impact, plus my triggering and engagement by and with a  member of the NY community who did not have much capacity for introspection, although neither did I in regard too our unhealthy tangling, at that moment.


2006 came with an explosaion of activity on the iEd forum, which will remain archived, so that the fascinating discussions and helpful resources will remain.  We began an impressive on-line meditation begun and facilitated by Terri that was totally extraordinary, and we adopted a holacratic structure to resolve our orientation to ourselves and to I-I:

The annual meeting for our now much smaller executive sangha was held in Nelson, BC, at an exquisite site that Miriam and Stephan had rented for the summer.  it was apparent that we core team members would travel anywhere in the northern hemisphere to be with one another.
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Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 12:05 am    Post subject:
I cannot express my gratitude, in this life and forever more, thru all the transmutations this Soul might take, for your enfoldment of me during the retreat. I wrote to Ken and got a lovely answer from him. He confirmed that there is a caution around I Ed b/c we have been the only center to have developed a LL separate from the structure envisioned by IU. I replied that we had moved beyond the state of whether we are volunteers or a separate group, and explained that we have adopted a whole/part philosophy, where, for the time being, we fit into IU's structures, while permitting us to continue the growth of a startlingly robust collective individualism.  Love, Lynne

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We were itching to put on a seminar, and we wanted it to be under I-I's guidance and banner, but we were concerned about whether we would be able to meet many of the requirements.  We first decided to go it alone under Stephan's and Miriam's Next Step Integral international NPO, but then were persuaded to "go for" sponsorship with I-I; thus, the showcase date was scheduled for Jan., 2007.

All but Terri and Miriam flew into Denver during one incredibly bone-numbing January weekend to work with Clint and Nicole and other I-I staffers as we wove together our ideas for the FIRST EVER INTEGRAL EDUCATION SEMINAR.  Leaving Denver after 3 days, the two groups were deeply appreciative of the others' gifts and dedication, and I was so pleased that the 2 parts of me had joined into one Big Heart.  But I-I had gone through an intensely personal and public trauma, and had just engaged the services of a temporary (now thankfully PERMANENT) new CEO, and there was some understandable hesitation to state that we would definitely be able to go out under the I-I banner.

Our weekly executive sangha conference calls thus centered around how to go forward, and not until about March was the decision finalized that we would go forward under the banner of Next Step Integral, but we would utilize all of the I-I talent and AQAL knowledge we could, to make this seminar as close to Integral theory as possible.

One gift to us was the addition of Stephan Martineau to the sangha, Miriam's incredible husband, for whom I have no adequate words.  He waas able to devote countless hours organizing what we had spent 3 years theorizing and dreaming under a coherent and feasible formula.

It seems as though this seminar just whipped itself into being, and i cannot account for the many many hours that Steph worked on this, but at last it was time to pack for our pre-seminar retreat, fly across the country again, and rejoin our colleagues.

We were blessed to have Diane Musho Hamilton and my BUDDY!!!  Clint Fuhs with us for 2 days to set the AQAL and spiritual tone that we so desired, plus to have these two integral stars with us creates a container of all 4 quadrants, and advances states evocation beyond many folks' previous experience.

Stephan and Miriam with Adonia, now a gorgeous moppet of 4, were joined by Jonathan Reams, a neighbor, along with Abigail, plus John, Nancy, Terri, me, and Patricia, in a luxurious B & B on Whidbey with a memorable view across Puget Sound.  Our seminar was sold out,and new people were showing up, it seemed, daily to see if we still had space for them.

Two days flew with physical preparations and daily meetings concerning creating and holding a 2nd tier container every moment that we were together.  Our team began to operate as one collective consciousness from the beginning, with great humor, cooperation, creativity, and cooperation.  Then Sunday ayt 12:15 our entire troup became mobile and drove to the whidbey Institute, with a bare few minutes to set ourselves up before our first participants arrived; indeed, Dennis had already arrived, and we were ON!
more later....I can tell that what wants to emerge is much different than what i intended.....