The Ripple Effect

The Voice of TEAM  Number 23  FALL 2003

(The SPRING 2004 issue of The Ripple Effect will be available online only.)
The Path to Peace

by Dan Creely, Jr.

"Passive violence is the root cause of all physical violence."  Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mohatma Gandhi, has shared those words during each of his three visits to the Northeastern campus.  I have reflected on his words often during the last seven years since I first heard them in February, 1997.  The process  we utilize in teambuilding programs eliminates passive violence, such as name calling, put downs, and bullying, and I believe, without question, is  "a path to peace."

What is the real value beyond the fun, group initiatives, sense of community, and personal growth in adventure/challenge programs?  Can these programs positively change behavior, language, and attitudes of students?  A series of experiences with the Freshman Teachers Cohort at Northeastern Illinois University during the Spring Semester 2003 validated what I have believed and felt for a long time.

Our new Freshman Teachers Cohort is designed to identify incoming students who want to pursue a teaching career and group them in a cohort for the first two years of school. The second year of the program had forty students enrolled.  One of the courses they take as part of this program is an Adventure/Challenge Education Curriculum Design Class.   The three credit course was facilitated by Maureen  "Mo" Kelty and Drew Tessler, from our Chicago Teachers Center.  Mo and Drew are excellent facilitators.  They provided a rich and meaningful semester of experiences that demonstrated to these students how these concepts could be applied in their own life, and then how they could be applied in a classroom. 
Drew, Amena, and Mo.  Amena Iftikhar
My first experience with the students was outside at our Peace Fire Circle.  The class voted to go outside, in February, to the Fire Circle even though it was a cloudy, wet, soggy, snow-covering-the-ground Chicago day.  To start the fire the students needed to create a fire coal using  a community bow drill that requires 8-10 people to work cooperatively together.  The dismal weather posed quite a challenge to this cohort, but they never wavered in their efforts or determination.  Labored breathing and perspiration replaced the damp cold that was present in their bodies only moments before.  Rotating like migrating geese, they effortlessly fell into a pattern of helping where they were needed.  It took a long time, but the entire class was involved by the time the fire coal was finally produced. A real sense of teamwork and satisfaction occurred when the fire coal was placed into the waiting tinder structure and the fire ignited. As the fire structure shifted from a smoke signal to a clean burning yellow flame, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds as an affirmation to their accomplishment. I believed I also witnessed a bit of the fire and determination these young educators will bring into their classroom. 

Northeastern is the most culturally diverse university in the Midwest.  In this class of thirty students twenty-nine different cultures were represented in the circle that cold February morning.  We modeled how a traditional talking circle could be used in their classroom. One person speaks at a time without being interrupted until they are finished.  When they are done speaking the person simply says, "Thank you."  The group responds by saying, "Thank you."  This simple process validates the person speaking and develops a respect for listening. There are no  side conversations or questions during the circle. You just listen until it is your turn to share. If you choose not to talk, you just say "Thank you."

The students were asked to speak about their culture, their families, and how they could promote peace.  The next hour went by in a heartbeat, and the cold on the outside was replaced by the warmth from the fire and the sincerity of the emotions and words that surfaced from their hearts.  Sally Komicki commented, "The circle really made me reflect how I could bring more peace to the cohort and the world by just changing some of my actions."  The talking circle, out at the fire, was just one of the many positive experiences Mo and Drew provided to the students over the course of the semester. 

Two months later I was asked to help with the cohort at our climbing wall and I witnessed once again the power in this "peace process."  It also showed me how Adventure/Challenge Education can truly cross all cultural, and all social barriers, if we give it a chance. A young student, Amena Iftikhar, dressed in her traditional Muslim clothing with a full skirt and head scarf said, "I want to climb! I cannot take off any of my clothes, but give me the rope. I will feed it through the top of my dress and tie it onto the harness I have over my jeans.  I can just put the helmet over my scarf."  I knew before she left the ground she would make it to the top of the wall.  She climbed like Spiderman.  Standing next to her was Jesus Hernandez who said, "I want to climb too."  He was unable at this time to make it to the top of the wall, but he did not really seem to care.  The students made him feel physically and emotionally safe the entire time.  His determination and attitude were amazing. 

Amena Iftikhar climbs in "FULL" gear 

During the wall climbing experience I heard and witnessed great support and encouragement. The most support was for the students who were struggling and did not make it to the top. It was genuine and nonjudgmental. It did not matter what race, sex, or religion you were; the students in the cohort only saw a friend and colleague struggling. The students later reflected and shared how powerful it was to feel the support and encouragement of ALL their classmates. Students also indicated how they have changed the manner in which they talk with, as well as deal with, others as a result of what they are learning in the cohort.

Jesus Hernandez climbs 

Arun Gandhi was right: peace is a process.  Adventure/Challenge Education programs can change the way students think.  If it changes the way they think, it can lead to a change in their language and physical behavior.  Then the process itself becomes "a path to peace." If we can stop the passive violence in schools, we are creating future adults who will have that understanding ingrained into their words and actions. Teambuilding and Adventure/Challenge Education programs are one of the tools that can accomplish that task 

Maureen "Mo" Kelty and Drew Tessler are full time facilitators at our Chicago Teacher's Center. They are involved with year long programs of integrating Experiential and Adventure/Challenge programs into schools.  Mo, Drew and the Teacher's Center are doing some amazing work. You can reach them at: 312-733-7330. You cn e-mail Mo at mokelty@hotmail.com and Drew at D-Tessler@neiu.edu. 

Drew Tessler, Jesus Hernandez, "Mo" Kelty", and Julie