Hello, Pine.
Filip already addressed some points, so I'll add some food for thought
(I'll try to keep it concise, since as you well noted, I'm very busy these
days):
* Yes, a lot of effort is going into setting up the Education User Group,
but these are not only my efforts; rather it's a group effort.
As the chosen chair, I can only hope I'm doing a good job facilitating,
bringing people together, and most importantly, setting a good example, but
in no scenario am I the focus -- the work we do globally is the focus, and
many people deserve credit for making this a reality. The efforts invested
in the group are yet another testament to the actual need and to the fact
that many people in the movement, especially volunteers, see the value of
its existence.
* While our User Group has been officially recognized only in October 2018,
we have been around for quite some time now.
The application process to AffCom took over a year (which is outrageous in
itself, but besides the point here), and was a result of a work done by a
group called the Wiki Education Collaborative (which has been around since
2014, and that has since dissolved in order to set up the UG).
So you see, we have actually been very consistent in our work and lived
through the many (many!) changes in the WMF Education team.
I, personally, have been doing EDUWiki work since 2011, before the Collab,
as did many of our members. This is why I believe that your concerns of
"sustainability" should be directed elsewhere.
* The WMF EDU team consists of 3-4 people. No matter how good they are,
they cannot, simply cannot, attend to the needs of the whole EDUWiki
community. In fact, they never did.The Education activity in our movement
is simply too vast for such a small team to handle, especially considering
their very limited resources (which is not their entire fault, but that's
the way it is for now). This is why they have always joined forced with
local affiliates, later with the Collab, and now with our User Group. We
keep our fingers crossed for Nichole and hope she will be able to build a
more sustainable team. We also hope that the work she & Ben are doing
inside the WMF universe, will yield some fruits and will help Education get
the place it deserves in our movement, in terms of acknowledgement of
contribution and resource allocation.
* The UG is instrumental in giving a voice to the people on the ground,
especially the volunteers around the world. Having a voice is key to
achieving our global goals and attending to our international needs. It is
also needed as sometimes that WMF has its own agenda and goals, and they
could be different from what the community wants and needs. This is one of
the main reasons we created the UG in the first place.
But again -- we do not work in an isolated way; rather, this is an
ecosystem, of WMF, UG, Chapters and stakeholders outside of our movement.
We are aiming to be a force that strengthens these ties and helps this
network evolve, within and outside our movement.
So it really isn't about me or the work that I personally do; it's about
the community and about joining forces, which is why it is a sustainable
model of operation and also why I said there are many people that are
making this happen. If it was just me, I would be failing my role as a
leader, as I perceive it.
* Yes, I'm currently officially serving as chairperson of 2 affiliates and
am involved in many projects. If you've been following my work since
joining in 2011, that was pretty much the case from the get go. I'm simply
the type of person I am - one with many interests, a variety of expertise,
a passion for free knowledge, a flare for the international and a strategic
thinking. Armed with my practical POV, my feminist lenses and my
Israeli Chutzpah,
I have been known to get things done and have been involved in a variety of
projects (rather than concentrating on just one). BUT -- I'm hardly special
because of that. Even if I'm the only one in the movement who is chair of
two affiliates (not sure if I am, but for the sake of the argument, say
that I am), many of my Wiki-friends are as involved in various aspects of
the movement, run multiple initiatives and projects, some much more than
me. In fact, all of our board members have other official hats as
volunteers, with half of them being chairs themselves of other affiliates.
This is all to say that I'm not sure what I did to deserve this "special
treatment" by becoming the focus of your concerns. Sustainability, burnout
and community health are general issues that certainly do not apply only to
me and should be therefore discussed more broadly.
* Finally, talking and thinking about sustainability, burnout and community
health is a very important and welcome topic. In fact, I wish people in our
movement invested more time discussing and acting on that; but in my humble
opinion, in order to achieve your goal of creating a proper discussion
about this topic, it should be framed differently than the way you chose to
frame it in your email. Here are some points to consider:
* When discussing general topics such as sustainability, burnout and
community health, it is more productive to focus on the community rather
than on one individual, especially in a public discussion. Helps people
remain more objective and to the point.
* It is advisable to know the history and the context of the example you
use.
* It is seldom a good idea to project from one's own experience onto others.
* It's rarely perceived a positive and benevolent move to target an
individual (which is why Filip -- but not only him -- found your message
offensive). As in point 1, it deflects from the main topic. It is
especially true when the individual happens to be a woman. There are still
too few of them in the movement, and they should be celebrated for their
achievements and for overcoming all the obstacles and harassment women face
by participating in the Wikiverse.
* In general, it is more productive to empower people and encourage them to
continue their good work, rather than be concerned that they are unable to
properly manage their schedule and other life commitments, or that they
will soon not be able to handle what they have committed to doing. I'm sure
when put like that you can appreciate how this may be perceived as
demeaning or a complete disrespect of their intelligence.
Hey, I think we have a learning pattern here! :) But, seriously, Pine,
while I personally don't question your good intentions in your email, it
was important for me to offer you my perspective on how your email was
perceived by many, in addition to addressing your concerns. Mostly, though,
I'm hoping that you'll take this as a personal invitation to join us in the
coming monthly open meetings. In other words -- don't take my word for it;
become involved and see for yourself. I do think you have a lot to offer
and that we can learn from your experience in both running partnerships and
governance.
Respectfully,
Shani.
-----------------------------------------------
*Shani Evenstein Sigalov*
EdTech Innovation Strategist, NY/American Medical Program, Sackler School
of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.
PhD Candidate, School of Education, Tel Aviv University.
Lecturer, Tel Aviv University.
Chairperson, WikiProject Medicine Foundation
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Project_Med>.
Chairperson, Wikipedia & Education User Group
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_%26_Education_User_Group>.
Chairperson, The Hebrew Literature Digitization Society
<http://www.israelgives.org/amuta/580428621>.
Chief Editor, Project Ben-Yehuda <http://bybe.benyehuda.org>.
*+972-525640648*
On Wed, Jan 30, 2019 at 11:33 PM Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
:) OK, it sounds like the group is happy with how
things are going.
I think that, for long term endeavors like setting up a new organization
which may be active over a time range of months to decades. thinking about
sustainability is a good idea. I intended the questions to be benevolent
and not hostile. I hope that this makes sense.
Pine
(
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
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