Once you have a basic understanding of the policy possibility—what it says and what it doesn’t—the next step is to understand why someone might actually propose it. In order to do this, you will typically need to go beyond the… Read More »
Tag Archives: reasoning skills
How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility—Part 2
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, communication skills, creativity, deliberation, personal development Leave a comment
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How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility⎯Part 1
The first step, of course, is to understand the possibility: what it says and what it doesn’t. This almost inevitably means reading the description of the possibility, and the reasoning behind it, and paying attention to the words that describe… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged challenges, citizen discussions, communication skills, discussion process, Public Discussions Leave a comment
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False Dichotomies and the IF Discussion Process
While on a recent family vacation, I had the “opportunity” to watch a couple hours of cable TV news/commentary. By which I mean that I lost the coin toss with my spouse over which of us would accompany our over-excited… Read More »
Dealing With Difference
Difference is a fundamental fact of human life. There is similarity too. But difference is the reason why we need to have discussions about public policy. It is also the reason why they should occur face-to-face, over extended periods of… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged attitude, conversations, governance, personal development Leave a comment
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Student-Centered Discussion: Providing Structured Space for Critical Thinking
When many faculty hear the term “student-centered discussion,” they imagine students leading a “discussion” that is really just a bull session. In fact, this is typically the sort of discussion that happens when faculty allocate small-group discussion time in their… Read More »
Posted in Education, Perspectives Also tagged Classroom Discussions, developing questions, educational implications, higher education, student-centered discussion 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… Read More »
Why Spend Time in Public Discussion on “Concepts”?
A lot of people wonder why IF public discussions focus on conceptual possibilities. Instead of talking about abstract ideas, why not deal with something really practical? The short answer is that, from one perspective at least, nothing could be more… Read More »
Posted in Perspectives Also tagged citizen discussions, conceptual possibilities, Public Discussions Leave a comment
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Jobs and the Future of a College Education?
What is the future of a college education in the USA? The recent economic downturn seems to have sharpened the already well-known trend toward seeing a college education largely in terms of enhancing one’s economic security. And as our uncertain… Read More »
Posted in Education Also tagged communication skills, creativity, discussion process, educational implications, higher education Leave a comment
‘The Best-Laid Plans…’
“Quite often good things have hurtful consequences. There are instances of men
who have been ruined by their money or killed by their courage”
Aristotle
Actions have consequences. Whatever we do in both our private and public lives has… Read More »
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