IDM 2011 Summer Course

TAKE A STEP TOWARD DIALECTICAL THINKING: The First IDM Summer Course in Gloucester, MA, USA, August 15 to 19, 2011

Course Focus

The first IDM Summer Course on dialectical thinking will be a 5-day event combining study and vacation in the oldest fishing port in the United States, Gloucester, Massachusetts, USA, in a location near the town of Rockport.

Listen to audio recording of April 1 infosession “IDM Summer Course”

The course will focus on how to strengthen one’s dialectical thinking, using a multi-media approach. We extend an invitation to cognitive coaches, managers in organizations (profit or non-profit), managers in public administration, mediators, psychotherapists, and all those who presently do not make a cognitive assessment of their clients based on a structured interview.

The presenter and practice-leader will be Otto Laske, IDM Director of Education. Marcelo Ponce, Sao Paulo, Brazil, a 2010 IDM graduate of Program II, will be the Assistant. (If at least 5 people sign up for the two proposed additional work sessions by August 1st, 2011 [see below], Marcelo will also direct these separately priced sessions.)

Following short presentations on the history and theory of dialectical thinking, the course will be practice oriented. Practice sessions will focus on learning pertinent skills and techniques, including:

• reflecting on your cognitive stance toward the world
• informally perceiving the lack of dialectical thinking in others
• learning principles of cognitive interviewing
• learning principles of structure-focused interview evaluation
• giving feedback to clients on cognitive assessment findings
• building coaching plans or consulting to clients based on cognitive assessment findings

The Interdevelopmental Institute

At IDM our mandate is to bring better thinking into the world, based on a higher than usual level of awareness of your own thinking, its inherent dynamic, and its present limitations relative to what you “could be thinking”. We believe that cognitive development has barely begun at age 25, and that it is up to the individual to become an observer of his/her own mind’s dynamic.

We see the core activity needed for this enterprise in making constructive sense of the world conceptually, not in meaning making, however multi-perspectival it may be. We assume that social-emotional and epistemic “stance” and cognitive “tools” go together, and thus, that the two lines of adult development mutually enhance each other. As we see it, it is the individual’s *thinking* that determines world view and approach to work, options seen and opportunities envisioned.

Target Audience

AT IDM we work with individuals who are accomplished professionals in their field (coaching, management consulting, management practice, change management, mediation, psychotherapy) and who are eager to benefit from the resources of the Institute in terms of the hands-on practice of methods otherwise only referred to but not used or mastered.

We will admit up to ten professionals as participants.

Academic and/or Professional Preconditions

There are no pre-requisites other than well-developed logical thinking and openness to witnessing the dynamics of one's own mind.

Study Schedule

We plan to hold the workshop course daily from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm ET and leave the rest of the day open for attendees to follow their own wishes.

For those who want to intensify their learning outside of the morning sessions, we offer two afternoon or evening workshops (on Day 2 and 3), directed by Marcelo Ponce. We recommend that you consider these optional learning opportunities which are priced separately (see below).

Attendees will have breakfast in their lodgings, and are free to join each other for dinner in the many eating places in Rockport and/or Gloucester. Lunch will be handled upon request: pre-ordered or on your own, from day to day. As to transportation, we count on those coming by car to share their transportation resources.

Outcomes for Participants

Participants will receive the IDM Certificate of Exercising Dialectical Thinking — the first of its kind — worth 50 CEUs along the ICF Portfolio Track.

After attending the summer course, attendees will:

• understand the differences between conventional and dialectical consciousness
• understand the fallacies conventional — non-dialectical — thinking is prone to
• have an understanding of what will facilitate their own cognitive development, including adoption of a new cognitive stance toward the world
• be schooled to discern implications and assumptions of thinking in others presently not obvious to them
• have an elementary ability to administer a cognitive interview
• have become aware of limitations in their own style of communication due to a lack of dialectical thought forms
• have a good ability to discern classes of dialectical thought forms by which to structure conversations and challenge partners-in-conversation
• be energized to become more observant to the dynamic of their own thinking both in and by themselves and with others.

Course Materials

All participants receive a free print copy of volume 2 of Measuring Hidden Dimensions, focused on adult cognitive development and work in organizations.

Session Content and Time Table:

Day 1:

1. Theory: A big picture of cognitive development as an independent line from Common Sense to Understanding and on to Reason and Practical Wisdom, in its relationship to social-emotional (Kegan) and epistemic development (King & Kitchener), with an emphasis on corresponding Inquiring Systems used by adults
2. Reference: Measuring Hidden Dimensions, volume 2, chapters 4-5
3. Practice: Evaluation of selected cognitive interview fragments in light of the transition from logical Understanding to dialectical Reason
4. Practice material: A volunteer will record and transcribe a short cognitive interview modeled by the instructor at the end of the first day session and will distribute the transcription to participants for discussion the following day.

Day 2:

1. Theory: Introduction to the Four Quadrants of Dialectic as a metaphor able to capture the core dynamics of the adult mind, with references to Baskhar (1993), Basseches (1984), and Hegel (1812; Houlgate 2006)
2. Reference: Measuring Hidden Dimensions, volume 2, chapter 6
3. In-Session Practice: In-depth discussion of a few selected interview fragments transcribed by the volunteer, guided by the instructor. Subsequently, attendees rehearse cognitive interviewing among each other in small groups and then discuss in the plenum afterwards — "what happened for you?", "what did you observe your own mind doing?", "what could have been done better?"
4. Afternoon or Evening Practice (Marcelo Ponce): In dyads or trios, attendees practice distinguishing the four classes of thought forms and offer assessments of selected interview segments in order to prepare for work during the coming day (2 hrs).

Day 3:

1. Theory: Discourse I on the mind-opening potential of dialectical thought forms in situations such as coaching, negotiation, mediation, psychotherapy
2. Reference: Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms, volume 2, Sections A1 and A3
3. In-Session Practice: Participants use critical thinking — Process and Relationship thought forms — in order to engage in dialog with an individual or group, based on homework
4. Afternoon or Evening Practice (Marcelo Ponce): Using pencil drawings of different color and/or photographs they have taken in their exploration of Cape Ann sites (coves, beaches, harbors), attendees look for ways of associating thought forms with images and learning them through images (2 hrs.)

Day 4:

1. Theory: Discourse II on the mind-opening potential of dialectical thought forms in situations such as coaching, negotiation, mediation, and psychotherapy
2. Reference: Manual of Dialectical Thought Forms, volume 2, Sections A2 and A4
3. Practice: Participants use constructive thinking — Context and Transformational Systems thought forms — in order to engage with an individual or group, based on homework.

Day 5:

1. Practice: In groups of 3, attendees do cognitive interviewing focused on eliciting all four classes of thought forms
2. Theory: Review and Summary — "What have we learned?"
3. Reference: Homework based on selected papers by Otto Laske and, alternatively, on participants' own drawings and photographs in previous days.

Scholarship

If 10 people sign up for the course, one scholarship will be provided on a lottery basis. The scholarship will cover tuition only. Attendees will be informed of the winner of the scholarship once the course cohort has assembled.

The Venue

Folly Cove is one of the many coves found on Cape Ann, in both Rockport and Gloucester, MA. The Folly Cove area is known for its wildness and beauty, and for its many opportunities for vacationing near the ocean (diving, swimming, kayaking, sailing, etc.) as well as hiking.

The venue, 50 Woodbury St., Gloucester, lies at the end of a short dead-end street coming up from the ocean that leads into miles of conservation land called the “Dogtown Commons”. From the venue, one can walk for miles into Rockport through the woods. The Folly Cove area contains many granite quarries and invites long walks, both along the ocean and through the woods. It is inhabited by many visual and other artists, and is often thought of as an artist colony.

How to Get to IDM

The closest international is Logan Airport in Boston, MA. IDM is located about 1 hour north of the airport by car or taxi. (It is best to avoid late-afternoon traffic.)

A train connection between Boston North Station and Rockport (end of the line) also exists. Directions to Folly Cove by car or taxi will be mailed in good time.

Lodging

While Rockport is a resort, Gloucester is a small city built around the oldest fishing port in the United States. Inns, hotels, motels, bed and breakfast places abound in the area and are distributed over the entire range from modest and economic to expensive and luxurious. Focusing on the middle price range, we suggest checking out the following establishments, from modest to expensive, all of them in Rockport (which is closest to IDM):

Focusing on the middle price range, we suggest checking out the following establishments, from modest to expensive, all of them in Rockport (which is closest to IDM):

Hotel, Inn, and Bed & Breakfast Establishments in Rockport, MA 01966, USA

* Emerson Inn by the Sea, www.emersoninnbythesea.com, 978-546-6321, 800-964-5550 [at the Atlantic Ocean]

Yankee Clipper Inn, www.yankeeclipperinn.com (978) 546-3407 [at the Atlantic Ocean]

* Old Farm at Halibut Point, www.oldfarminn.com, 978-546-3237 [near the outer tip of Cape Ann in walking distance to IDM]

* The Tuck Inn Bed and Breakfast, www.tuckinn.com, 978-546-7260; 800-789-7260 [in Rockport]

Lanes Cove House, www.lanescovehouse.com, 978-282-4647; before April 15: 941-484-0918 [25 min. walk to IDM]

* Listings of establishments inclined to give a discount for multiple sign-ups in connection with the IDM Summer Courses are preceded by "*" (star). In light of the busy tourist season in Rockport, the owners advise to book rooms by the end of April or early May 2011.

For more general information, go to the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, www.capeannchamber.com, or call 978-283-1601.

Registration and Tuition

Registration opens March 1 and closes August 10, 2011. ** Reserve your place by July 15 and save $400 **

After July 15 the regular tuition for the 5-day Intensive is USD$1,875.00.

The charge for taking two 2-hr afternoon or evening workshops on Day 2 and 3 is $240.00.

Register for the 2011 IDM Summer Course on Dialectical Thinking

Reserve Your Spot Now (balance due by July 15):

Pay via credit card USD $650.00

Payment in Full - North American Participants:

Pay via credit card USD $1,475.00

Payment in Full - Outside North America:

Pay via credit card USD $1,375.00

Register for the 2011 Additional Summer Course Workshop Intensives:

Pay via credit card USD $240.00

If you prefer to pay by check, money order or bank wire, please contact us.

Inquiries

Kindly direct inquiries to . We will respond as soon as possible.