Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing and the future: training leaders

[Martin Schafer (schafer]

> Message author: Rob Sandelin <robsan [at] microsoft.com>
> Posted by the COHOUSING-L sysop.
> 
> I had a very interesting and stimulating discussion last night at 
> community dinner with a visitor who is a student of sociology.  One of 
> the things that came out in our discussion that I had never thought 
> about before was the idea of Cohousing as leadership training.  As this 
> discussion rolled around our common eating area several members noted 
> that in virtually every organization, and  also within their work 
> environment they tend to end up in leadership roles. We are not 
> actually leaders in terms of being governors, or presidents of things, 
> we are leaders with a small l, running the PTA, the local pre-school 
> board, the local democratic caucus, etc.
> 

This fits in perfectly with what I have learned from my public 
affairs courses.  Public skills, like any skills, are learned
and improve with practice.  In modern American society there are
entirely too few oppurtunities for people act publicly.  Creating
and living in a cohousing housing group involves the sort of 
public action that is crucial to a full sense of citizenship.
I recommend reading almost anything by Harry S. Boyte.  He 
fully developes this notion of public action, public spaces,
and citizenship.

Martin