Generative Scribing – Explore and Reflect

An eight-session online course about Generative Scribing focused on practice, reflection and feedback
19th March - 16th April 2021

photo: Valentin Heyde

Listening to the Unspoken

Did you ever experience a meeting where the most telling part was not the factual content but the way a group behaved, the atmosphere during a discussion, or the way everybody held their breath after an emotional statement?
Did you find yourself thinking that the thing people are arguing about is just a symptom of the real issue? That there is something unspoken in the room that would be worth putting into the focus?
Or that a new solution, a new way of looking at things is almost tangible in the room during a gathering but that as participants part it’s lost and you can’t quite remember what it was – you only remember that you felt like you had a solution?

These are the situations in which Generative Scribing is a valuable tool. It’s a visual practice developed by scribe Kelvy Bird who describes it as follows:

„Scribing – visually representing ideas while people talk – is a distinct social art form that facilitates group learning and cultural memory. Scribes listen and draw simultaneously, ­creating large pictures that integrate content, prompt insight, and aid with decision-making.
‚Generative scribing‘ extends this art by ­attending to the field of energy and relation between people, and to the emerging ­potential of a system.“
– Kelvy Bird, author of „Generative Scribing: A Social Art of the 21st Century“ and originator of the Generative Scribing method

photo: Valentin Heyde

This different form of scribing was developed in the context of Theory U and is closely connected to the 4 levels of listening - from factual to generative - and the concept of presencing: a blending of presence and sensing.

Are you interested to explore this visual method helping groups to see their highest future potential? Then this course is for you!

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An Eight-Session Online Course

This online course will

• provide the theoretical basics on Generative scribing
  
• allow you to practice in real live situations
  
• create a room to reflect on your experience with fellow students who scribed the same session.

To make that possible we are partnering with the organization ISCAN who will be running a Sociodrama course at the same time. As a student of this Generative Scribing course, you will scribe during three of their online sociodrama sessions. Our reflection sessions allow you to reflect and learn from these live experiences. Since we will be a small group, there will be room to address all questions that might occur along the way. You will get feedback on your work and direct access to me, Marie-Pascale, and my experience. It's a completely new course concept designed to maximize your learning and development.

I aim to support everyone's individual learning journey therefore the group size is limited to a maximum of 12 participants.

Generative Scribing Meets Sociodrama

Over the last three years, my colleagues Jörg Jelden and Valentin Heyde from komfortzonen.de and I have experimented with the combination of sociodrama and Generative Scribing. As the two dived deeper into directing and enacting sociodramas I learned more and more about scribing. In combination – we found – both approaches get stronger. During a sociodrama a group explores a topic or problem through embodiment and enacting. Slipping into self-created roles they get to experience a situation instead of discussing it. For a scribe, this offers rich material in emotion, dynamics, and atmosphere because they are played out instead of swallowed or swept under the carpet. 
For the participants of the sociodrama the generative scribing offers great value because it mirrors back their patterns and dynamics and thus enables them to discuss them in their reflection.
In this course, we want to harness this fruitful combination. If you take part in the Generative Scribing track you will scribe three sociodramatic sessions and therefore get to know the method of sociodrama as a bonus.

What You’ll Learn

You will

• get to know exercises to prepare yourselves before Scribing and bring yourself to an open state of mind
• learn about deeper levels of listening and experiment with them, shifting your attention from reported events to patterns, structures, and  mental models.
  
• examine your own mental models and beliefs.
• sense what is happening in the group beneath the surface.
• tune in with your whole body and observe how it reacts to what is happening.
• try out new levels of scribing for those new levels of listening.
• develop an abstract visual vocabulary to draw what you sensed, visualizing the intangible
  
• try out ways to balance out the conversation of a group by choosing what to draw
• experience how a group can be supported with generative scribing
• explore and co-create emerging future possibilities with the group
  
• gain experience with all the little technical and organizational details that go into scribing a live session online

... and as a bonus experience three sociodramas and get to know sociodrama as a tool for group work.

Session Overview

Session 1 - Foundation

19th March 2021, 14:00 - 17:00 CET
In session one we’ll get to know each other and cover the basic theoretic elements of generative scribing.

Session 2 - 7 Practice and Reflection

After session one, we will alternate between two kinds of sessions: practice and reflection sessions.

practice sessions
Live scribing of a sociodrama directed and performed by the students of the sociodrama class.

reflection sessions

• feedback on your work from the preceding practice session
• exchange on your experience during the practice
• questions and answers
• theoretical input according to the need of the group

Session 2
24th March 2021, 13:00 - 15:15h CET – practice

Session 3
26th March 2021, 14:00 - 16:00 CET – reflection

Session 4
31st March 2021, 13:00 - 15:15h CET – practice

Session 5
2nd April 2021, 14:00 - 16:00 CET – reflection

Session 6
7th April 2021, 13:00 - 15:15h CET – practice

Session 7
9th April 2021, 14:00 - 16:00 CET – reflection

Session 8 – Wrap Up

16th April 2021, 14:00 - 16:00 CET
Session eight will be all about stepping out of the training and into serving groups in real life:

• how to communicate with potential clients
• suitable settings
• pricing etc. according to the needs of the group.

The sessions can not be booked individually.
Every participant gets a certificate after completion.

All sessions will take place on zoom. You will need a quiet workplace, a computer, a webcam, a microphone, headphones or speakers (those integrated in your laptop will be sufficient) and, a stable internet connection.

To follow the sociodrama sessions you need to understand English. The other sessions will be in English too unless all participants should happen to speak German. In that case, we might switch to German.

Why I Am Offering This Course

1. I want to carry generative scribing into the world. In many of the current challenges like climate change, we are aware that more facts and more knowledge won't solve the problem. We need to make people experience and feel their situation and acknowledge these emotions to finally act on what they already know. Generative scribing is a visual tool that can support these insights.
   Therefore I want to enable more people to use it to help bring the change we all need.
   
   
2. I see people engaging with generative scribing, reading the book, maybe taking a course but never putting their new won abilities into action. And I get it: It is a very different thing to draw in a training situation during a course or during a real live event. Practice opportunities aren't that easily found either. You can't just pull up any Ted talk on YouTube and scribble away as you might do to practice graphic recording or sketchnoting. 
   I created this course to bridge the three, to offer a training setting with a real group interaction to scribe, which is safe enough to experiment without any risk and is at the same time similar enough to a situation with a client to ease you into working with groups independently.
   

Who Is This Course For?

• Beginners who want to get a good overview of the basics, how Generative Scribing is used in a real group setting, and make their first steps scribing themselves
  
• Scribes who have already taken a course with Kelvy Bird and want to deepen their practice to make the step and use their Generative Scribing in public
  
• Experienced Graphic Recorders and scribes who want to explore deeper levels of scribing
• Facilitators that want to use visual means to reach the full potential of the groups they are working with

photo: Xenia Bluhm

Who Will Be Teaching?

My name is Marie-Pascale Gafinen and I’m an illustrator focussing on communicating sustainability topics. I have been working as a Graphic Recorder for 5 years. In 2018 I took my first course on Generative Scribing with Kelvy Bird. More courses followed in 2019 and 2020. Since then I have supported 28 sessions with generative scribings, both digital and analog. Many of them with my colleagues Jörg Jelden and Valentin Heyde, who are part of the trainer team running the sociodrama course but also during the GAIA sessions in the DACH region which were part of a worldwide series of online events initiated by the Presencing Institute.
As a passionate lifelong learner, I consider myself both a student and a teacher at the same time.
So far I’ve taught Visual Thinking and Visual Facilitation – the latter with a focus  on intercultural settings. I worked with all kinds of target groups from school teachers to managers, from art students to climate scientists. Creating a container for all my students to thrive is very dear to my heart!

How Much Are the Eight Sessions?

I would like to open this course for everyone and welcome participants from all corners of the earth. It’s clear that not everyone will be able to pay the same price. The global pandemic has only magnified these inequalities and some of us are struggling to have a means of livelihood while others can rely on a stable income. Therefore I decided to offer the course on a pay-as-you-can-basis. I am trusting in the solidarity of the group: Some will be able to pay more, leveling out participants that can only pay a reduced price.
This course encompasses 18 hours in total and is thus equivalent to a full three-day seminar. To give you an orientation, a professional course in graphic facilitation, visual thinking, etc. of the same duration would regularly cost around 1500€. I ask you to consider your financial situation and level of privilege and to choose your ticket price accordingly.

Registration is open now!
There will be twelve spots available.

Get your ticket!

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Q&A

I’m a beginner and don’t know much about Generative Scribing. Is this course suitable for me?
In my opinion, Generative scribing is at least as much about doing and experiencing as it is about knowing. We’ll cover the basics in the first session and that should be sufficient to start practicing. If you wish to go deeper into theory I suggest that you do some additional reading over the 4 weeks. During sessions 2 - 4 there will be enough time to discuss any questions you might have.

I already took a course with Kelvy Bird. Will I still learn something new during the course?
If you already took a course, some of the things we talk about in session one will be a repetition to you, which should be helpful to get back into the practice. The biggest part of the course will focus on practice and feedback which will help you progress on every stage of your journey.

I can’t draw. Can I take part in the training?
We will work visually in this training, so you have to be willing to give drawing a try. But in scribing, we work a lot more with simple abstract forms and writing than with elaborate figurative drawings. Therefore a lack of drawing practice should be no obstacle.

I’m not a scribe / Graphic Recorder. Can I still participate?
During the course, we will focus on scribing but if you are interested in facilitating groups with drawings this course will be helpful no matter whether you do so as a scribe, in the role of a facilitator, or any other role.

Do Generative Scribing and sociodrama work online?
When Covid hit and we all had to stay at home Jörg took the sociodramas to online and I scribed online. I was suprised how well both of it worked in the digital space. I would even say that Generative Scribing is more important then ever because it gives participants an additional visual layer to relate to.

I'm unsure about the online format. Will I be able to ask questions?
Although „Generative Scribing – Explore & Reflect“ is an online course, don’t expect any old webinar, where you listen while chopping the vegetables for dinner and are only asked to react via chat every once in a while. We will be a small group of 12 participants and the course is designed around your active participation. You will scribe during live sessions, get feedback on your work, answers to your question and direct access to me, Marie-Pascale, and my experience.

Which equipment will I need to participate?
There are several options. If you have an empty wall and can get hold of large paper, working large scale can help you to work with your whole body and not just your head and your hand. This is especially helpful if you are only starting out. But working on smaller paper or digital drawing devices is an option as well. I will give you some information about possible materials before we get started.

I can’t take part in one of the practice sessions. Will there be a recording?
Sociodrama needs a secure private setting. Therefore the sociodrama sessions will likely not be recorded. If you miss one of the practice sessions I’ll give my best to assist you in finding an alternative - either recorded or live. In any case, practicing is an essential part of this course and should not be skipped.

I can’t take part in one of the feedback sessions. Will there be a recording?
Yes, the feedback sessions will be recorded and you can hand in your work and questions beforehand.

I don't know how much I should pay. What would be a reasonable financial contribution?
I can't tell you what's appropriate for you since that depends on your bank account, your income, and your general financial situation. What I can tell you is that the regular price for an 18-hour course would be around 1500€. If you're not able to pay that, please feel free to choose a price that is doable for you. Please keep in my mind that to level out participants who pay less, others have to pay more than that.

I'm an employee and my employer will pay for the training but can't handle the pay-as-you-can system. Is it possible to buy a ticket at a fixed price?
Please contact me via kontakt@gafinen.com to solve that issue.

Further Questions?

Please contact me via kontakt@gafinen.com