Creating connected community
Council is a way of supporting group interaction, conflict resolution, storytelling, decision-making, co-visioning, and informed action. It provides a tool for building connected, compassionate communities. Its roots are found in many indigenous, earth-cherishing cultures around the world, as well as in classical Greek culture. Increasingly, councils are being used in a variety of settings, such as communities, schools, prisons, churches, groups of healing professionals, families, couples, and businesses. It provides a context for exploring both differences and commonalities without the pressure to come to agreement or even consensus.
Council offers a partnership model for group action, rather than one based on hierarchy or dominance. It evokes a state of devout, non-judgmental listening and authentic sharing that encourages sensitivity, patience, and empathy. In Council, we learn to release the egotistical sense of having to “do it all” ourselves, without abdicating our individual responsibility and power to do “what is ours to do” and to step forward or back depending on the needs of the group. Over time, the practice of Council gives rise to a sense of “interbeing,” as we come to appreciate that we are ourselves and, at the same time, we are each other.
Abridged from Ojai Foundation
Council Training
Council facilitation- for individuals, couples and groups in person and online
Didactic council
Zoom based council facilitation
Group facilitated council to introduce the council for groups on site or online
Business council for meeting, team building, group dynamics
Council for maintenance, mediating, conflict resolution and restorative practices
Workshops- for schools, businesses and organisations both in person and online
Introduction to council for groups on site, in nature or online
Facilitated council to introduce the council form to a group or organisation
Council in committed relationship
Circle based pedagogy for literacy and oracy skills.
Trainings- on line with trainers with 30+ years experience of council in education
Online council training for educators level 1
Restorative justice practices training for educators level 2
Whole school CPD for implementing council to the whole school
In person introduction to council training level 1
Compassion circles for organisations
Supervision and coaching- for facilitators, educators and organisation leaders
Staff coaching –onsite assistance with implementation of council in the classroom
Remote coaching - online assistance for teachers, administrators and counsellors
Youth Council support - training for youth leaders
Youth retreat - retreats and training focusing on council, nature connection, community and mentoring
Peer lead Parent groups - Coaching to set up and facilitate parents support council
Mentors -mentoring and supervision for young adults and elders to participate in youth council in the classroom or youth councils.
Nature connection council- connecting council for the natural world
Circle ways Training
Circle Ways is a California Limited Liability Company that brings circle-based pedagogy and restorative practices to schools to build healthy, resilient communities and promote social-emotional and academic learning.
Circle Ways has more than 30 years of experience bringing community-building circles, restorative justice practices, and conflict resolution services to schools, families, organisations, and communities.
Circle Ways partners with schools and educators in the United States and internationally. Establishing a sustainable, systemic, responsive, independent school program is a 3-6 year process involving three levels of foundational Circle Ways training, ongoing professional development, individualised coaching, and consulting.
Testimonials
I was deeply inspired by this training. It was an extraordinary rich and deep and informative experience. I feel privileged to have been participated in this hot scent of course which is based on a huge amount of experience in this field.
I’ve come away from the training with a passion for holding councils, this work feel so important and I’m very grateful to be involved.
There was such knowledge and experience so that every session I came away feeling inspired and confident about what I was going to undertake. There was no judgement but plenty of encouragement, deep listening and many ideas to get us going. Joes expertise experience and passion is infectious and provides the ideal foundation for others to explore and develop counselling their own settings environments. A wealth of ideas but also evidence and theory to support alongside. A great training thank you
Having spent over 40 years attending many training groups in various psychotherapeutic and healing techniques,I would like to say that Joe Provisor's course, which I am currently attending, is, quite simply, excellent.He is a wonderful teacher and the content of his course is both profound and inspirational.I highly recommend it.
David Barnett
I have been doing a form of ‘circle’ work for many years as a teacher in some shape or form and with many age groups . However being part of Joe Provisor’s council training course has given me a wide range of excellent tools, original resources and profound thought provoking structures to take my work to another level. It is a truly inspirational course and I would highly recommend it to any one wishing to bring council into their setting.
Ali