Comments to: crs@uvm.eduReviewed as of 4/20/98
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UNIT 10--THE INTEGRATION OF LEARNING AND LIFE
Reentry Skills: The Integration of Learning and Life
Workshops for learning and growth can be powerful, invigorat-
ing experiences, and chances are you will look to such environments
for learning throughout your life. One final set of skills for
creating personal power, therefore, is the ability to integrate
what we have learned with our lives "back home." Some have called
these reentry skills, borrowing from the vocabulary of the early
U.S. space program to describe the descent of a rocket back into
earth's atmosphere. When we have been in the ethereal stratosphere
of a good workshop, we surely need to take time and thought in our
reentry to our normal setting. What follows are some thoughts for
taking care of yourself and others in this process.
> Taking Time
Reentry happens during the transition from one profound or
unusal experience back to more normal experience, and it can
involve both quiet reflection on the experience that happened, as
well as quiet preparation for the activities to come. Often the
preparation will involve something that has just been learned. For
example, after a class, you may want to take some time to digest
the experiences that happened in class and form some questions
before joining other students. After a weekend conference, you may
want to spend a quiet day at home unpacking and getting adjusted to
your usual routines before you jump back to work. These are all
examples of reentry.
Reentry is important because it allows you to make your
transitions completely and cleanly. By thinking over and
processing an experience, you are getting the most out of that ex-
perience. You are also acknowledging that it's finished, and that
you must go on to other things. As a leader, you know how
important it is to put your attention fully to the tasks at hand.
Conscious reentry ensures that you learned what you needed, and
that you have your full attention to whatever comes next.
People who don't allow themselves adequate reentry time
between events may find that they feel disoriented and as if they
aren't completely present. You can probably think of a time when
you rushed from one event to another, and felt dissatisfied and
unfinished about the first event. How much time would you have
needed to make the transition more effectively. Different people
need different amounts of time; the more intense the experience,
the more reentry time you'll need. Get familiar with the lengths
of time you need to move between events, and plan this time into
your schedule.
REENTRY SUGGESTIONS
Here are some thoughts about taking time for yourself in
reentry:
For you:
þ Slow down. Rest.
þ Give yourself a treat. Do something nice for you,
because anytime you've done personal growth work,
it's hard work.
þ Integrate old and new. Take what you've learned
and add it to the good you already had.
þ You will not have said or done it all. Let go of
what you didn't say or do.
þ Continue to use your journal as a way to capture
your thoughts and feelings.
þ You will miss the group.
þ Know that many things that have happened here will
take days and weeks and months to unfold.
þ Be gentle with yourself.
þ Be careful about planning to immediately make a
major change in your life. We can make new starts
and major changes. It is important and most
effective however when changes are made with
reflection, planning, and support. Support is
crucial, it is often the key element in helping us
reach our goals, so this is important--a key way to
help us change.
For others:
þ Recognize that any new language will be newer still
to folks back home.
þ Touch down where they are--those who you are
closest to and those who took over your
responsibilities while you were gone. Recognize
that what they did over the weekend was important,
too. Check in with how the weekend went for them.
Express your appreciation to them for covering for
you.
þ Ask for time--a good time--to share what your
weekend was like. Talk about what happened, what
the learning was for you, what was meaningful to
you.
þ Be careful about sharing things out of context that
would distort the perception and cause mistrust,
like "We talked to flowers" or "We pretended our
heads opened up like a funnel."
þ Relating the weekend and what you learned to
everyday life and work will make the experience
more meaningful to others and to you, too.
þ "Do you still like/love me? is the question others
will have of you.
Kathy M. Lippert and W. Brenden Reddy have written an
excellent article that appears in the 1982 NTL Reading Book for
Human Relations Training titled Re-Entry, or You Can Go Home Again,
Appropriately. (Companion pieces in this curriculum are Charles
Seashore's piece on developing personal support systems in Unit 9
and Larry Porter's article on feedback in Unit 6.)
We've included Lippert and Reddy's re-entry guidelines below:
1. The workshop, conference, or group experience was just a
beginning; cognitive connections and everyday applications must be
made by you.
2. If your experience was intense, you might have some brief period
of mild to moderate distress, such as the "blues," physical and
mental fatigue, a "high," feelings of anxiety, or dissatisfaction
with the status quo.
3. If your experience was not intense, it does not mean you are a
failure or that you did not learn anything. Conversely, intensity
does not guarantee success or learning.
4. Do not be surprised if you have an increase in dreams or if you
dream about the experience itself.
5. Do not make major decisions--family, work, or social--as soon as
you arrive home. Give yourself some time and distance from the
experience.
6. Changes should be made with planning, collaboration, and
support.
7. Remember what you have learned about giving feedback--
appropriateness, timing, and the other person's needs and readiness
in the situation.
8. The culture of the laboratory is not the culture of your world
back home, nor should it be, necessarily.
9. Describe the laboratory experience to others in concrete terms:
its objectives, methodology, skills, and learnings.
10. If you are tempted to focus on the unusual, remember that
anecdotes out of context only misrepresent the laboratory. They
add to the myths regarding experimental training.
11. Proselytizing or preaching turns people off and converts few.
12. Practice, practice, practice what you have learned! It is the
major factor that will make a difference in the long run.
13. When you return home, if any distress, anxiety, or symptoms you
experience seem to increase or persist, consult a qualified
professional! If possible, contact one who is familiar with
laboratory learning and has likewise been a participant.
14. Experiential learning in a laboratory setting is an exciting,
powerful, and important methodology. But it is temporary and a
beginning. To apply the learnings to the "back-home" setting of
work, marriage, family, and society, requires commitment, planning,
work, and practice.
Finally, recall the lessons from Unit 9, on building personal
support. One place to start is to look for colleagues in your
workshop experience with whom you can "process" the workshop and
prepare for reentry. Good luck!
Comments to: crs@uvm.edu
Reviewed as of 4/20/98