Community - Peter Block

There were several portions of this book that truly resonated with me. I have many quotes I pulled from his language that I will use going forward with my staff. He caused me to think deeply about the environment and set-up of the room and what this communicates to staff, parents, and students as they enter.

Building and valuing community matters greatly. Truly listening to what those present are saying without developing a response or judging statements made will help to build trust among those who are speaking to of their concerns.



Blocks commentary on transformation opened my thinking wide. I've made statements about admiring the past previously, but have found the group members who are involved in the admiration of what once was are quite challenged to move forward to what is or could be. I will use the suggestions he's made to move staff and parents forward encouraging them to envision a new future of what could be. Helping people realize they are closely tied to their past stories due to in-completion and constraints of their listening will help them to move forward. Linking this with envisioning a different future truly allows for the creation of a new situation.

"How will the world be different as a result of our meeting today?" I love how this statement lends purpose to each meeting held. This demands commitment and respect, hard work and positive change. Using small groups within a larger group allows for, even demands, relationship and commitment to others.

It will take time to change the "Stuck" culture of some of the staff, but if we change the way communities gather, shift the context within which they gather and change the methodology of the gathering, we can create our new future.

Through the development of a restorative community, where relatedness, healing, and belonging are valued, citizens become accountable rather than entitled.  Establishing this through the removal of all judgment, openness to new ideas, and truly listening culture will be shifted and a new way of being will develop.

"The future is brought into the present when citizens engage each other through questions of possibility, dissent, commitment and gifts." p. 101.  Excellent. using the questions provided over the next few chapters and carefully creating our own will lead to the new future vision.  While Block does not take into any action steps or planning, this is directly where we would want to end up.

Finally, the statement about honoring gifts was incredible.  Ending each meeting by asking small group partners to recognize a gift in another person and to share how that gift enriched their life is positively powerful. This forces people out of negativity as they are now required to share something positive and to be positive as well.