Talk: Distance as a value
Channel: Theory of Democratic Schools
Date: 2021-11-26

In the context of democratic education, emotional connection and closeness are often considered desirable, while distance and detachment are not highly valued. We will explore different styles of how to run a democratic meeting and examine why distance and detachement are important creative and peace-building values.

00:00 - Intro
00:22 - Different perspectives on the value of distance
01:59 - Meetings in a democratic school
03:51 - Three different styles of how to run a school meeting
04:16 - Sudbury Style Meeting
05:48 - Summerhill Style Meeting
08:33 - Sociocratic Style Circle
11:52 - Some criticisms of highly formalized meetings
14:21 - The topic of this talk
19:14 - Robert's Rules of Order
22:40 - Debate issues, not personalities
24:02 - Formalities that avoid personalities
25:17 - Some backround information on Robert's Rules of Order
26:17 - Reflection on Robert's Rules of Order
33:26 - What happens if a meeting is run according to Robert's Rules of Order?
36:34 - The idea of distancing a motion from the people
38:23 - What about intrinsic motivation?
39:04 - It's about ideas (not interests)
41:18 - How are motions discussed?
42:47 - It's about ideas (not people)
43:10 - Different tools for different situations
46:17 - Working on pressing problems and big questions
52:22 - How it works in sociocratic circles
56:40 - Not beeing identified vs. intrinsic motivation?
58:39 - Making decisions step by step
59:54 - Closing words and farewell