Peer reflection entering the funky door 240417

First presented: 14 April 2023 (EP)

About

This lesson covers the funky door assignment. Students continue the conversation about the funky door by sharing their artwork or photos taken of doors. The lesson is facilitated by Dr Elmo Pienaar. The metaphor / image was developed by Dr Elmo Pienaar and first presented in the narrative community of Coram Deo in 2023.

Outcome

Engage in peer-reflection but do so by entering the funky door in small groups or breakout rooms.

• Recap the funky door concept
• Revisiting (forced) metaphors / activities used in narrative therapy
• Revisiting the funky door as scope of practice (where God is at work)
• Sharing and generative learning from the funky door of participants

Discussion conclusion

These may be part of the recordings. Alternatively see how many ideas can be generated that relates to the image of a door/s (it’s semantic field).

• Start by discussing/reflecting on door’s in your physical environment where you live or work. Which of those doors stay open, remain closed, and when are they opened closed.
• How does the metaphor open in the counselling or any helping-practitioner context (see ‘questions below under ‘assignment.’
• Discuss the cross and or resurrection as funky door
• Discuss grace and or forgiveness as funky door

Assignment

The assignment is not graded. The funky door assignment was introduced in the second lecture of the year when speaking about pastoral care and the scope of pastoral counselling. The funky door was said to be the angle that pastoral counselling takes in counselling. Broadly speaking it guides practitioners in what can be considered their scope of practice.

The assignment requires students to ‘create.’ Creating can be any visual representation, be it a picture drawn, a photo taken, and actual door at home, a new door. The task then requires to engage the door by any number of things (the student’s choice): write on it, or paint on it, carve from it, hang on it or wherever funkiness takes you.

Students won’t do a formal presentation. The group will show their creations but then talk about as narrators in peer-reflection. In closing the metaphor of the funky door will be discussed as well as the influence our own funky doors have in being the interviewers and active listeners for the exercise. In the end we reflect on the value of this metaphor in counselling.

The questions that the narrator might consider asking include but is not limited to (use these to prepare for class):

The language of ‘opening’

• What were important doors that opened for you in your life, and where did that lead?
• What doors did you bash in to open?
• Who were the butlers in your life? For which experiences? For which characters traits? For which values?

The language of ‘closing’

• What were opportunities that you had hoped for but doors were closed? Why were they important?
• Looking back today what door do you maybe consider to be better that it remained closed or that you exited and then closed?

To do

Post-class work: During the class the following notions of doors were mentioned (The ecosystem or semantic field of the image ‘door.’) See if you can add to the list and share ideas in the forum discussion of what kind of questions they might lead to in practice. Make sure to follow along during this section of the recording.

Ecosystem or semantic field (i.e., word or image associations) of the word ‘door’

• Ways to open and close doors (slide, push, close, slap)
• Doors with keys
• Keeping things out or in (purpose of doors)
• Doors divide or unite/keep together
• Doors are there for safety (what do you keep in out/put in or outside)
• Door handles (how / what is the handle – what do we need to open a story)
• Passages that lead to doors / from doors
• What are doors made of (wood, steel, some easier to break down, some doors have glass in it/ see through or not)
• One door can be closed with a lock / different spaces to enter / some doors split in two or more parts
• Castle gate as doors / garage doors

Forum discussion

This is the forum for the same lesson on a previous occasion. Do still submit any reflection. The forum date will be updated.