Tag Archives: participation

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, facilitation, Public Discussions, recruiting | Leave a comment

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Recruiting for Public Discussions: Use Groups, Don’t Create Them

By: Adolf Gundersen

It’s time to declare individual recruiting a dead-end approach. The results of upwards of 60 IF public discussions are clear: group-based recruiting is superior. Whether thought of in terms of “’efficiency” or “sustainability,” its advantages over individual recruiting are now patently obvious—or whatever is more obvious than that. It’s time we stop trying to create Read more »

Posted in Perspectives | Also tagged challenges, conversations, Public Discussions, recruiting | Leave a comment

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September 11, 2009

Dealing with Personalities

By: mgettings

I’m into week two of my IF-oriented course, and I’ m learning more everyday. On Tuesday we had our first official IF-style discussion. I had to bite my tongue often as I suspected, and allow them to generate ideas. I could think of half a dozen objections to each of the ideas they proposed, and I Read more »

Posted in Education | Also tagged art, conceptual possibilities, generating possibilities, shy participants | 5 Comments

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September 4, 2009

Day One

By: mgettings

Hi everyone, Back in that first week of August, when it seemed we all the time in the world to reflect on our teaching, our courses, and the IF process, I volunteered to blog weekly about my Fall course. The reality of the semester has hit, but it looks like Friday afternoons might be the Read more »

Posted in Education | Also tagged Classroom Discussions, facilitation, first year seminar, pedagogy | 1 Comment

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July 28, 2009

Lauren's Story

By: Jeff Prudhomme

The entry below is another story from my colleague Jack Byrd about student experiences with a student-centered discussion class. It might help you think about the ways that discussion facilitation differs from making an oral presentation. You might also think about the ways that this could help students who don’t normally excel in a typical Read more »

Posted in Education | Also tagged educational implications, facilitation, personal development, shy participants, student success | Leave a comment

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July 26, 2009

Diversifying Social Skills, Ryan's Story

By: Jeff Prudhomme

Here’s another story about student experiences with discussion facilitation from my colleague Jack Byrd (you can find his first entry on developing social confidence here). This story focuses on some of the ways students might expand their social skills by participating in a student-centered discussion course. –Jeff Prudhomme One of the things that often happens Read more »

Posted in Education | Also tagged personal development, student success | Leave a comment

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