What is a Whole Dojo

Some of you may know that I have begun a new, and exciting utilization of my Wholistic Problem Solving method called the Whole Dojo. The Whole Dojo uses metacognitive principles to breakdown and examine a subject in a fun and sometimes raucous way. The theory is that these metacognitive discussions have the capacity to draw together and maintain learning communities that support  self-regulating and initiated learning.
Last week we held a Whole Dojo on brainwashing, which is part of a broader series on the very relevant topic of manipulation and radicalization in the world. This series of Dojos speak to subject matter that requires metacognitive thought to comprehend. I also believe these dojo's may provide a degree of inoculation against the forms of brainwashing and manipulation discussed.
Next week our subject will be fake news.
Right now I would like to use some highlights from the brainwashing dojo to point out a few things about the Whole Dojo process. The learning theory behind Whole Dojo is that reflecting back on a subject making a conscious effort to utilize all the major cognitive components of problem solving leads to deeper understanding and promotes self- regulated learning .
The first phase of Wholistic Problem Solving is the input phase. It is made of three parts, but this is  basically where a problem gets identified and defined. The brainwashing subject was fun to define because there is a definite continuum to brainwashing ranging from outright violence to subtle forms of persuasion. So it was hard to nail down a definitive definition. Here is a snip of us settling on the definition for brain washing.

So we had an interesting problem getting to a clear definition. However, this is actually one of the benefits of the Whole Dojo technique. It really pushes participants to think deeply on a subject and challenge existing beliefs.

Next is the processing phase. This is were we analyze and relate the issue to other ideas. Many ideas were shared during this phase of the dojo. Here is one that stood out.

The output phase of the dojo also consists of three stages. The first stage is judgment stage. Things got really interesting at this stage when it was proposed that we in America were not only brain washed, but possibly even radicalized.

The final stage of a dojo is the Truth and Sense Making stage. During this stage the dojo reflects on what has been discussed and tries to distill the subject down to its most important ideas

So, if you were interested in knowing how a Whole Dojo worked, now you know.  
​                  Thank you to everyone who participated.