National
School
Reform
Faculty
Harmony
Education
Center
www.nsrfharmony.org
ThePaseo
orCirclesofIdentity
Resultofcollaborativeworkby:DebbiLaidleyoftheUCLASchoolManagementProgram,withDebbie
Bambino,DebbieMcIntyre,SteviQuateandJuliQuinn.CreatedattheNSRFWinterMeeting,December
2001,Houston,TX.
Purpose
Whenagroupwouldliketoexamineissuesofidentity,diversity,beliefsandvalues,andwouldliketo
beginmakingconnectionsbetweenwhoweareandhowthatshapesdecisionsandbehaviors,thePaseo
canbeatoolforinitiatingthedialogue.Itisessentiallyatwo-stepprocess,whichbeginswithindividual
reflectionandthenmovesintopersonalstorytelling.Thisisaflexibleprocess,inthatthethemeofthe
questionsandpromptscanbetailoredtomeettheobjectivesofthegroup.
(WehavebeentoldthatThePaseoisaprocessthathasbeenusedinMexicoandtheSouthwestUnited
Statesasawayofgettingacquaintedquickly.Traditionally,malesandfemalesofthecommunitywould
lineupinconcentriccircles,facingoneanother,andwouldmake“unpaseo,”orpassbyoneanother,
holdingeyecontactandhavingbriefopportunitiestomakeconnections.)
1. Eachparticipantmakes/drawsawebofcircles,roughlyresemblingthediagramofamolecule.(The
facilitatormaychartoneasamodel,witheachparticipantcreatinghisownonajournalpageornote
pad.)Thebasicdesignlookssomethinglikethis:
2. Withinthisdiagram,eachgroupmembershouldwritehisorhernameinthecentercircle.Each
additionalcircleshouldcontainawordorphrasethatcapturessomeelementofhisorheridentity.
Thismeansthosetermsordescriptorsthathavemosthelpedshapewhothepersonisandhows/he
interactsintheworld.(Somegroupswillmoverightintothis;otherswillprefertohavethefacilitator
modelwhatisintended.Forexample,onecirclemightcontaintheword“woman”,anothertheword
“black”,anotherthephrase“grewupinDeepSouth”,andsoon.)Asanadditionalstep,participants
maybeaskedtoincludewordsorphrasesthatotherpeopleusetoidentifythem.(Thismaybedonein
adifferentcolor,orinpencilratherthaninink.)
ProtocolsaremostpowerfulandeffectivewhenusedwithinanongoingprofessionallearningcommunitysuchasaCriticalFriendsGroup®andfacilitated
byaskilledcoach.Tolearnmoreaboutprofessionallearningcommunitiesandseminarsforneworexperiencedcoaches,pleasevisittheNationalSchool
ReformFacultywebsiteatwww.nsrfharmony.org.
3. Theentiregroupnowmovestostandinalargeopenarea,formingtwoconcentriccircles,in
preparationforthedialogueportionofthisprocess.Somegroupmemberswillprefertotaketheir
notepadswiththem.(Anevennumberofpeopleisnecessary,sincethedialoguetakesplaceinpairs.)
Theoutercirclefacesinwardwhiletheinnercirclefacesoutward.Thecirclesshouldlooksomething
likethis:
Thefacilitatorwillnowbegintoaskthegrouptothinkaboutandrespondtoaseriesofquestions.
Importantinstructionstoprovidebeforethequestioningstartsare:
• Oncethequestionhasbeenstated,everyonewillbeallowedoneminutetothinkabouthisorher
ownresponsetothequestion.Thisisintendedtoensurethateachpersonisfullylisteningtohis
orherpartnerduringthedialogueprocess,withoutbeingdistractedbyadesiretoplanaresponse
whenhisorherturntospeakbegins.
• Attheendoftheone-minutethinkingtime,thefacilitatorwillannouncethebeginningoftheround
ofdialogue.Eachpersonwilltaketurnsresponding,withoutinterruption,tothequestionorprompt,
withtwominutesallottedforeach.Ifthespeakerdoesnottaketwominutes,thefulltimeshouldbe
allowed,beingcomfortablewiththesilence.Thefacilitatorwillcalltimeatthetwo-minutepoint,
whenthepairsshouldmakesurethesecondpartnergetsachancetospeakforafulltwominutes,
withoutinterruption.
• Attheendofthesecondpartner’stime,thefacilitatorwillaskthegroupmemberstothanktheir
currentpartner,andsaygoodbye.Eithertheinnerortheoutercirclewillbeaskedtoshifttotheleft
orright.(Groupsmaywanttoshiftone,two,orthreepersonstotherightorleft,tomixthepartners
morequickly).Participantsshouldtakeamomenttogreettheirnewpartners.
• Thenextroundofdialoguewillbegin,withanewquestion,andwiththeoneminutethinkingtime.
Theprocesscontinuesthrougheachroundofquestionsorprompts.
4. Debrieftheprocess.Itisimportantnottoshortchangethisstep.Onewaytobeginthedebriefisto
askthegrouptotakeafewminutestodoaquick-writeonwhattheysaw,heardandfeltduringthis
process.Afterthequick-write,doaroundrobinsharing(30secondsorless)ofwhateachparticipant
observed.Askparticipantstothinkofthisasthe“literaldescription”roundofanAtlasprotocol.They
shouldprovide“justthefacts”withoutinference,interpretationorjudgment.Proceedfromtheretoa
moreopendebriefdiscussion.Possiblyclosethedebriefwithreflectiontimeononeofthefollowing
prompts:
• Whatwillyoudodifferentlyasaresultofengaginginthisdialogue?
• Howwillyouprocesstheemotionsthatsurfacedforyouasaresultofthisdialogue?
• Howmightyouadaptandusethisactivity?
ProtocolsaremostpowerfulandeffectivewhenusedwithinanongoingprofessionallearningcommunitysuchasaCriticalFriendsGroup®andfacilitated
byaskilledcoach.Tolearnmoreaboutprofessionallearningcommunitiesandseminarsforneworexperiencedcoaches,pleasevisittheNationalSchool
ReformFacultywebsiteatwww.nsrfharmony.org.
Suggestedquestionsorpromptsforstep3.(Orderofquestionsshouldbecarefullyconsidered.Since
thepromptsfocusonpersonalexperiences,theemotionsinitiallytiedtothoseexperiencesarelikely
toresurface.It’sgenerallyagoodideatovarythedepthofthequestioning,andtoneverstartwiththe
deepestpossiblequestions.)
• Withwhichdescriptorsdoyouidentifymoststrongly?Whyisthat?
• Withwhichdescriptorsdoothersidentifyyoumoststrongly?Howdoyoufeelaboutthat?
• Describeatimewhenoneoftheelementsofyouridentitydefinitelyworkedtoyouradvantage,either
inyoureducationalexperienceorinotherareasofyourlife.
• Describeatimewhenoneoftheelementsofyouridentityappearedtoholdyouback,eitherinyour
educationalexperienceorinotherareasofyourlife.
• Talkaboutatimewhenyourperceptionsofastudent’sidentitycausedyoutodosomethingthatheld
her/himback.
• Talkaboutatimewhenyourperceptionsofastudent’sidentitycausedyoutodosomethingthatmoved
her/himforward.
• Talkaboutatimewhenyounoticedaninequity,wishedyouhadsaidordonesomething,butdidnot.
• Talkaboutatimewhenyounoticedaninequityandsaidordidsomethingtoaddressit.
Someideastoconsider:
• Beforestartingthequestioning,decideifyouwanttoincludeaninstructionthatsaysthatpeople
shouldchoosetoshareeitherthemostsignificantmemorythatcomestomind,oramemorythat,
thoughperhapslesssignificant,theyfeelmorecomfortablesharing.(Someparticipantshaveexpressed
apreferenceforhearingthisinstruction;othershavesaidthattheydidthatkindofinternalediting
themselvesquitenaturally.)
• Participantsshouldnotpass!
• Decideifyouwanttoincludeanyinstructionsregardingthedemeanorofthelistener.Forexample:
whetherornotclarifyingquestionsareokay;whetherornotthelistenershouldprovideaffirmative
sounds,bodylanguageandothercues,orshouldlistenassimplyamirror—devoidofreaction.Your
intent,andyourknowledgeofthegroup,willguidethis.
• Beveryawareoftheemotionalandphysicalenergylevelofthegroup.Becauseeachroundtakesabout
6minutes,mostgroupscannotsustainthisactivityformorethan6-7questions.Somepeoplemay
needachairstationedwithinthecirclethatdoesn’tmove.
• Decidetheamountofrotationyouwilluse.Forsomepurposes,youmaywanttohavepeoplestaywith
thesamepartnerforapairofquestions.Sometimesitmaymakesensetomovemorethanoneperson
totheright,ortomoveboththeinnerandoutercircleatthesametime,indifferentdirections.
ProtocolsaremostpowerfulandeffectivewhenusedwithinanongoingprofessionallearningcommunitysuchasaCriticalFriendsGroup®andfacilitated
byaskilledcoach.Tolearnmoreaboutprofessionallearningcommunitiesandseminarsforneworexperiencedcoaches,pleasevisittheNationalSchool
ReformFacultywebsiteatwww.nsrfharmony.org.