“We wanted to find the lightest structure that would help correct what goes awry in so many contemporary forms of meeting.” ~ Christina Baldwin, Ann Linnea, authors of The Circle Way

 

The Circle Way

A Four Week Online Class

To Introduce and Nuance The Components Wheel

& Application in Online Circles

 

Amanda + Tenneson aren’t offering any learning events in 2022. Please see the global offerings at thecircleway.net or those offered with Tenneson Woolf.

This was a thoughtful, curious and connected dive into The Circle Way - and an illuminating look at hosting conversations and building connection in a digital space. I feel more confident with the components or The Circle Way, and very much appreciated the emphasis on using pieces of them and using them together. I see a multitude of ways that I can integrate elements of the practice, if not the whole thing, into professional and personal areas of my life.
— Previous participant - The Circle Way - A Four Week Online Class

Many of us are eager to radically shift the way that we are together. With our colleagues, families, communities, and teams. We want the presence that comes from more authentic speaking, attentive listening, and meaningful actions. We know it it in ourselves. We see more evidence daily of a world in need.

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The Circle Way provides a foundation, a tool beneath all tools, for collaboration and conversation. It is a way to tap our greatest strengths, individually and together. It is essential held space to take on so much of what is escalating — the need for innovation, and the grief of letting go.

The components wheel is the invisible steering wheel of The Circle Way. When understood, it brings simplicity and vitality and strength to the practice of circle.

Our intent in this class:

  • Lift out the beauty, art, integrity, and strength of The Circle Way components in practice, with extra attention to hosting circle online

  • Learn circle by doing circle to experience its depth and potential

  • Create further access to and with a global learning community, including welcoming guest teachers and storytellers during several of our classes

The themes + flow of each week:

  • Week 1: Leadership in the Circle (host, guardian + centre)

  • Week 2: Sharing Responsibility in the Circle (check-in + check-out, three principles + three practices)

  • Week 3: Preparing for the Circle (outer rim, circle meeting planner + creating questions)

  • Week 4: Integrating the Practice of Circle (self-organized small circles)

Each class includes a start-point and check-in, some framing and insights to further nuance particular components of The Circle Way, small circles on questions connected to that week's theme, check-out and end-point. Weeks 2 + 3 also include a guest storyteller who brings additional circle story and wisdom. There is a small amount of preparation for each week’s class (approximately 15 to 30 minutes), and after each class we share resources related to that week’s theme + components.

Gratitude for the balance of gentle hosting and informing leadership of Amanda and Tenneson. I appreciated both the content and container. It was a very adept adaptation of Circle into the virtual world — not always an easy leap to make. Thank you for offering this space together.
— Previous participant, The Circle Way - A Four Week Online Class
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DETAILS

COST AND MORE

 

Cost: 

  • $225 USD Supported By Community

  • $275 USD Regular

  • $325 USD Supporting Community

A note about the costs: This is our version of a sliding scale of price - more of an intent and energy than a strict financial formula. It means that the pricing we are anticipating from most is $275. We are trusting that the $325 (Supporting Community) will balance the $225 (Supported By Community).

To further support financial access, some grants for participants who are Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color are available through The Circle Way non-profit.

Where: 

  • Video Conference for Whole Group and Small Groups (Zoom).

  • Private Online Learning Space (Basecamp).

  • You'll need a computer or tablet with access to the internet to join the Zoom calls and the Basecamp learning space.

Hosts: Amanda Fenton and Tenneson Woolf, along with some guest teachers and storytellers

Meet Tenneson and Amanda here


Guest Storytellers

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Joining us on October 13th: Chantilly Mers-Pickett (she/hers) is a Pasifika minister, justice educator, and circle practitioner. Born and raised in Maui, Hawaii, a daughter of immigrants, she moved to New York City to study Theology and the Arts at Union Theological Seminary. Today she co-leads a beautiful faith community, Common Ground Church, in Manhattan and collaborates with What’s Next Now? a team of racial equity consultants. She is passionate about reclaiming ordinary spaces for emergence and radical togetherness. A learner of living systems, permaculture, and Indigenous wisdom, Chantilly lives and tends a garden in Bloomfield, NJ (Lenape Land) with her multigenerational ‘ohana made up of her parents, spouse, two daughters, and their 7 tropical plants. Learn more about her at kindomcollective.com

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Joining us on October 20th: Bianca Edwards, MSW has over 15 years of combined experience in social work, trauma therapy and community organizing. Her focus as a facilitator, politicized healer, coach and trainer is in nurturing individual and collective divine wisdom, honoring the brilliance/medicine in every body, deconstructing internalized colonialism and intentionally transforming embodied trauma. She has experience co-creating space with a wide range of communities and is committed to delving into curiosity so we can nurture truth telling from a beloved perspective. She holds a Master’s in Social Work, certification in Capacitar and BOLD (Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity; Director’s and Leads) and is currently working through a certification in Trauma and Resiliency - Bodywork. Bianca has served as a panelist for the Gretchen Carlson Leadership Initiative, Community Change/Action’s ECE Summit, Cincinnati’s Community Wage Forum, The Cincinnati Project Symposium and others. Bianca is a Board member for Hope Springs, Hamilton County Elderly Services. Learn more about Bianca at www.sacredapothecary513.com

One insight from this class is how interrupting habitual cultural norms can create new ways of being and even help transform oppressive systems into new more inclusive ones. I really appreciated learning about the role of each component, the impact that it has and so why it is important.
— Previous participant - The Circle Way - A Four Week Online Class

Who this is for

This online class invites a range of experience level from those who are very new to circle to experienced practitioners ready to lean into the nuancing of the components.

Everyone who cares for the quality of conversations and the quality of relationships is warmly invited to participate. 

We welcome global participants. This class will be held in English.

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This circle practice particularly supports people...

  • Who are ready to discover a new culture of communication,

  • Who are looking for better solutions and for the capacity to allow collective intelligence to emerge,

  • Who want to explore the “Leader in Every Chair” approach in order to achieve more commitment, ownership, joy and sustainable solutions and decisions.

 

What is The Circle Way?

This online class is based on the book The Circle Way, A Leader in Every Chair by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea. The Circle Way gathers people into a circular shape with participants at the rim and the purpose in the centre. Each person has a voice and everyone can see and hear one another. Social agreements and practices help facilitate respectful conversation. Circle supports a leader in every chair. Learn more about the process here.

 

How do I sign up?

Once registration opens, complete the registration form at the link below and click "Submit Registration". 

After you click "Submit Registration", you will be redirected to PayPal where you can pay via credit card or PayPal account (or check, money order, or Interac e-Transfer within Canada).

Your spot in the online class is confirmed when payment is received.

Cancellation Policy


If greater than 15 days from the start of the event, $25 Administration Fee. If within 15 days of the start of the event, no refund, or subject to receiving a replacement registration.

This was guided so thoughtfully by Amanda and Tenneson. The two-hours flew by each week. The attention to the Basecamp helped make the resources easily available and the participants available to each other. A very positive experience.
— Previous participant, The Circle Way - A Four Week Online Class

To be notified of future online classes, please subscribe to our mailing list here.


CREATING POWERFUL CONVERSATIONS

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION

LEADERS IN EVERY CHAIR