Updates
Learning Histories
Between November 2008 and May 2009, the organisations involved in Interchange (Watershed, Spike Island, Arnolfini, The Architecture Centre and Picture This), evaluated the project using the Learning Histories model.
Mentored by consultants Katie Venner and Dawn Langley, eleven ‘learning historians’, drawn from the permanent staff and freelance associates of the five creative organisations, and one consultant ‘learning historian’, undertook 44 interviews with colleagues who were involved with (or had been involved with) the Interchange project.
To begin the process, last autumn, Katie Venner and Dawn Langley discussed with the directors of the five organisations what it was they wanted to find out. The group recognised that the project was a complex collaboration; it had been challenging to participate in, and yet there was a strong sense that, in spite of the difficulties, learning between the organisations had taken place, and that this as yet, had not been captured. The focus for the learning history therefore became an inquiry into participants’ experience of the collaboration and learning from Interchange.
The Learning History is a living document, which is the result of a process that involved the learning historians collaboratively reviewing the 44 interviews, and identifying key themes and responses to the inquiry questions. Common strands were grouped together – highlighting both convergent and divergent experiences. Sharing the data sparked further reflection and sense making. This collaborative exercise provided the framework the consultant learning historians used to organise the data into the Learning History document.
The Learning History is therefore the sum of many voices, fed back to all the project participants, with the intention of starting another conversation; about the experience of learning about others’ perspectives; about the meaning you make; and about how that might influence what you do next.
Today, the learning historians fed back on the common strands to the wider group. The conversations that took place (prompted by the document), were a key part of the learning history process.
The meeting began with an overview of the process from Katie and Dawn. This was followed by a series of short reflections from the learning historian’s, about their personal experience of the process.
As learning historian’s, we felt there were five key learning points that became apparent from the learning history:
1. We didn’t introduce ourselves very well to each other in the beginning.
2. We don’t know what we’re all doing and what the crossovers could be.
3. We all have different ways of learning, communicating and relating.
4. It’s up to us to make it work, nobody’s going to tell us what to do.
5. We think it could be rich – we shouldn’t underestimate the potential of what we have.
The meeting focused on addressing these points, beginning with an ‘audit’ of skills and connections made throughout the project - we’re aiming to draw together a visual map of the connections that were made between individuals, the skills that were shared, and the skills people are willing to continue to share. Hopefully, if people need help with things in the future, this should provide info about who is out there.
Following this, we discussed and shared our thoughts from the position of knowing what we know now. Imagining we were offering advice to another group of organisations like us, embarking on a similar collaborative project in the future, we discussed what advice or wisdom we would offer them.
This is what the two groups came up with (in no particular order) …
- Collaboration is hard work – it requires commitment
- Clarify expectations and desired outcomes
- Connect people on all levels eg. Organisational skills mapping audit, looking at what skills people have to share, and what skills they’d like help with
- Collaboration can hold a mirror up to your organisation and/or free individuals from perceived restraints of organisation
- Consider neutral administration of the project i.e. fixed-term contract project manager, not related to any particular organisation
- Use experience to change direction/pace/partnerships/reflect
- Be willing to adapt to inevitable changes. Give permission to take risks and fail.
- Be honest about areas of competition and conflict
- Establish and open and honest culture right from the start. Talk about fears at the beginning.
- Do things.
Other discussion centred around defining clear starting points; celebrating difference and conflict; trust and trusting; being prepared to listen, look afresh and concede; focusing on areas of shared interest; being prepared that it won’t be plain sailing; and getting everyone’s buy in, from the start.
Learning Histories is an interesting process. It rooted out the stories and exposed the rich texture of the vast project that is Interchange. Where we as organisations, and as a group of individuals go from here is up to us. Personally, I think it’s really important that we recognise the crossovers between our organisations; we recognise how it has changed the way we operate as organisations; we recognise the skills and expertise offered by the individuals within our organisations; and find continued ways to work together – to help and support each other in the future, whether that be within collaborative projects or on one-to-one basis.