What is the Matrix Model System? |
Background The Matrix Model System was pioneered by the DuPage Interfaith Resource Network, founded in Metropolitan Chicago by Deborah Levine in 1991. Following this 4-year experiment, a thematic approach to knowledge management and cross-cultural communication was first published in Religious Diversity in Our Schools in 1997. The methodology was expanded as “Beyond Diversity” training for the WOMEN'S COUNCIL ON DIVERSITY. The Women's Council is a coalition of women from diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds whose purpose is to develop educational programming and community-building networks. The “Beyond Diversity” workshops were the organizing principal underlying the Council's coalition. The Matrix Model System that emerged from these workshops is a sophisticated, yet user-friendly system that can be adapted to a wide variety of uses and cultures.
While the System creates a nurturing environment, it also challenges participants to create a common mode of expression. Benefits of the System include improved cross-cultural communication, story-making tools to categorize and assess comfort zones and conflict behaviors, and organizational tools to maximize individual and group wisdom for decision-making across cultural boundaries.
The Matrix Model System is an interactive system that can manage large amounts of information and themes. Unlike traditional diversity training, the System adjusts for a virtually limitless variety of populations and issues.
 SECTION I:
Creating a common language using the Matrix Model and storytelling techniques. Learn a vocabulary for a common mode of expression that can be used across cultural and personal boundaries. Organize information into the basic themes of cultural anthropology using the Matrix Model including Social Geography and Belief systems. Access your ability to create “stories” and open Culture Windows.
SECTION II:
Assessing Comfort Zones & Conflict Levels. Learn to identify and quantify various degrees of comfort and discomfort. Integrate your comfort zones with different conflict behaviors. Expand your Matrix vocabulary that assists the skills transition from individual perceptions to group interaction/team development. Anticipate when some conflicts can be managed or avoided and others can be resolved. Identify when seemingly non-negotiable belief/value system issues are involved and create a road map through possible responses.
SECTION III:
Wisdom Maps & Constructs: Learn the basic elements of wise decisions. The Wisdom Map answers the question “why” we do things and allows us to consciously access decision-making tools that we often take for granted. Participants practice applying Wisdom Maps to their own organizations. |
