Tag Archives: facilitation
Being a River Guide
I have often struggled to better explain how the Interactivity Foundation conceives of the role and function of a facilitator in our discussion projects. My incoherence probably derives from a couple reasons (at least and in addition to my usual cognitive limitations). First, “facilitation” is at best a general term and a skill that encompasses Read more »
What Is A Non-Participating Yet ‘Strong’ Facilitator?
One of the core aspects of IF is that our sanctuary projects have non-participating yet ‘strong’ facilitators for their discussions. But what, exactly, is a non-participating yet ‘strong’ facilitator? The non-participating part is relatively easy. IF facilitators facilitate their panelists’ discussions by asking questions, by managing the flow of the discussion, and by seeing that Read more »
Managing Anger in Public Discussion
IF public discussions provide participants with opportunities to discuss contrasting policy possibilities in neutral, non-partisan settings. Because these possibilities are meant to be anticipatory of possible policy approaches that allow participants to “re-imagine” how society handles issues, our discussions are generally “hopeful”. That does not mean that every participant agrees with each possibility (those possibilities Read more »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged attitude, challenges, citizen discussions, discussion process, Public Discussions Leave a comment
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Connecting IF Reports to Current Issues in Public Discussions
A recent Frontline episode (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/vaccines/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=bigimage&utm_source=bigimage_) exploring the vaccine controversy was fascinating and suggests several openings by which a couple of our less discussed reports might find some legs. Both the Regulation and Science reports connect nicely to this current controversy and help to make a visceral political debate much more depersonalized by getting to the Read more »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged civic engagement, conceptual possibilities, conversations, discussion process Leave a comment
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Exercising the Civic Muscle
Colleague Jeff Prudhomme and I spent this last weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Central States Communication Association Conference at the invitation of 2009 Summer Institute participant Professor Laura Black. We were there to participate in a “beyond the town hall” discussion, with a focus on “best practices” in civic engagement. We gave them a Read more »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged civic engagement, communication skills, discussion process, learning by doing, personal development Leave a comment
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The Right Stuff
The raucous debate last month (March, 2010) over the health care bill was hardly unexpected. For more than one hundred years, efforts to provide better access to decent health care for all Americans have been thwarted. And, in fact, when universal health care was being debated in Canada decades ago, there was similar vitriol by Read more »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, civic engagement, discussion process, participation, Public Discussions, recruiting Leave a comment
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Exploration, Development, and Debate
One of the primary tasks of an IF facilitator is to ensure that his panels’ discussions keep to the task of exploring and developing possibilities, and do not degenerate into debates. But isn’t debating the validity and utility of ideas a way of exploring their differences? Doesn’t it help us to recognize the weaknesses of Read more »
Practical Tips for Citizen Discussion of Possibilities: Part III-Managing and Wrapping Up a Discussion
Two previous installments in this practical tips series have attempted to glean wisdom from the facilitators who have led dozens of discussions on IF reports. We have looked at some of the issues involved in putting behinds in the seats and jump-starting conceptual discussion of the possibilities in our reports as key areas to focus Read more »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, conceptual possibilities, discussion process, Public Discussions Leave a comment
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Practical Tips for Citizen Discussion of Possibilities: Part II- Starting the Discussion
In my previous installment on practical tips I looked at recruitment of citizen groups. The who, what, and where of that first step of gathering the bodies exerts considerable influence on how you might want to initiate discussion of policy possibilities. We will start with the assumption that you want to engage the participants, make Read more »
JFDP Scholar Uses the IF Discussion Process in the Classroom in Tbilisi, Georgia
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