Traditional Circle

In my last AGPP class on December 13th I co-kept a circle with Professor Lukens. Prof. Lukens and I met twice before the circle to review the opening, questions, and closing of the circle. She had a talking piece picked out and we borrowed a piece of cloth to use as a centerpiece. Using some notes from the training I attended with Kay Pranis, I created a handout with a description of what a balanced circle looks like (i.e. getting acquainted, building relationships, addressing issues, developing action plans) the various types of circles, and the traditional circle outline. We sat on opposite sides of the room and began with a short description about what circles are and the type of circle that we would be using. I officially opened the circle reading a quote. The first and only main question of the circle that I asked was “what is your passion, specifically regarding being a social worker?” Prof. Lukens and I decided that one of us should …show more content…
Lukens informed me during our first meeting that due to other class activities, it was going to a relatively short circle. Despite the circle only being about 50 minutes, it took more planning beforehand than I expected. Prof. Lukens and I went back and forth about what type of question we should ask, and finally settled on asking about passions because it is something that is personal but not too deep given the short amount of time we had. It was decided that I would answer the question first in order to model the type and length of answer that we were seeking. It was also decided that I would go first as opposed to Prof. Lukens since I am a student and we felt that it might be more comfortable and allow for my fellow classmates to be more vulnerable with their answers. Overall, I believe our technique worked. Everyone had a unique answer. Having spent a semester with my classmates, it was unique to hear what everyone was passionate about and to find common themes but also explore how we all have different goals in