February 2020, Newsletter

We have long been asked by key partners, “Where can I study to get a masters or a PhD in the Compassionate Systems framework?” Many participants from our introductory workshops who have started re-orienting themselves in their ways of being educators, and are on the path of becoming Compassionate Systems leaders in their own work and lives, have been requesting “more” for several years. Last year, we were delighted to announce to these partners that we were setting up a Master Practitioners for Compassionate Systems certification program in association with MIT, a year-long intensive training in systems awareness delivered in a blended learning model with 3 in-person meetings of 15 days total and monthly 3-hour virtual meetings throughout the year.

The program to date has been a great space for development. Each practitioner is working on a project that they are continuously documenting in personalized e-portfolios, working within the framework of the mandala for systems change. Collectively, this body of work will significantly contribute to the store of curricula, tools, and application stories with learners of all ages and in very diverse contexts accessible to practitioners around the world. Part of the certification has also been creating new contemplative practices of systems awareness, led by faculty member Hanneli Aagotsdatter. In the second half of the year, we look forward to how this work will continue to expand the critical mass at each global site.

The second cohort will start on June 28, 2020, and application for the next cycle is now open. As with the first cohort, our priorities are educators from one of the existing hubs or sites, and many will come as additional partners to teams established in the first cohort.  This is important to assure that all participants have partners and a rich ‘practice field’ for putting ideas and tools into use. But we will also consider new teams of practitioners looking to develop new sites in the budding global community of Compassionate Systems. Space will be limited to about 30-40 in total.