WORDS OF ENGAGEMENT (WE):
AN INTERGROUP DIALOGUE PROGRAM
Facilitator Orientation & Development
Ms. Gloria Bouis, Associate Director
Mr. Mark Brimhall-Vargas, Assistant Director
Dr. Christine Clark, Executive Director
Ms. Sivagami Subbaraman, Assistant Director
Materials for Selected Slides from Nagda and Zúñiga
Practice
• Story About Your Name(s)
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Definition
Intergroup dialogue is a facilitated, face-to-face encounter that
strives to create new levels of understanding, relating, action
between two or more social identity groups who have a history
of conflict or potential conflict.
(From Nagda & Zúñiga)
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Definition
A face-to-face meeting between members from two (or more)
different social groups that have a history of conflict or
potential conflict. The groups are broadly defined by race,
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, socioeconomic class and other social group identities. Participants
engage in a semi-structured process to explore commonalities
and differences, intergroup conflicts and possibilities for alliance
and coalition building for social justice action. The dialogues
occur over an extended period of time and are facilitated by
trained peers.
(From Nagda)
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Definition
A social justice approach to dialogue foregrounds both societal
power relations of domination- subordination, and the creative
possibilities for engaging and working with and across these
differences. Cultural differences are contextualized in historical
and existent social power relations. The approach aims to
move beyond seeing these differences as divisive, and to
collectively generate newer ways of being powerful without
perpetuating social inequalities, and building bridges for social
change.
Such an approach, therefore, can be used in mixed groups that
are not defined along any particular social identities but allows
for a consideration of different social positionalities.
(From Nagda)
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Formats
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Intergroup/Intragroup
Issue Specific/Group Specific
Emergent Theme
Story Circles
Other Names (Study Circle, Culture
Circle, Bi-Communal Dialogues)
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Discussion and Debate
• Debate
• Listening to gain advantage
• Discussion
• Serial Monologuing
• Dialogue
• Listening for understanding
Feedback
• What Students Want
Practice
• Hopes and Fears Facilitation/CoFacilitation Skills Development Activities
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Models
• Democracy
• Finding common ground vs. Orchestrating a
collective understanding
• Social Justice
• Impact of model on content vs. process
• Power and privilege vs. Privileging of oppression over
everything
• Synthesis with a social justice PRACTICE focus
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Stages
• Consciousness Raising—Relationship &
Knowledge Building
• Sustained Dialogue—Support &
Challenge
• Transformation—Conflict Negotiation
• Building Community—Collective Social
Action
INTEGRATING STAGES OF DIALOGUE INTO A
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Conceptual Framework
 Nurturing dialogue and building
relationships across differences
 Raising awareness about cultural
differences, socialization and roles
in systems of privilege and
oppression
 Bridging differences and working
constructively with conflicts
 Envisioning change, building
alliances and taking action for
social justice
(From Nagda)
Corresponding Stages
Stage One
Group Beginnings
Stage Two
Exploring Commonalities &
Differences in Experiences
Stage Three
Working with Controversial Issues &
Intergroup Conflicts
Stage Four
Envisioning Change & Taking
Action
INTERGROUP DIALOGUE
Ground Rules
• Pre-conceived ideas
• What the research with our students
taught us
Mindset
• Why ID—Why do we do ID?
• What is the philosophy that underlies
motivation to do ID?
• Connection between head and
heart
Mindset
• Self Awareness and Self Control
• Knowing self and community
• Motivation, values, beliefs
• Personal, cultural, political norms —>
• Stereotyping vs. Characterizing
• Detachment
• Facilitating vs. Teaching
• Judgement and Assumptions
Mindset
• Facilitator as Catalyst
• Orchestrating a collective
understanding vs. Reaching common
ground
• Humility vs. Center of Attention
• Possibilities offered by ID
• ID vs. Serial Monologues
Mindset
• Possibilities offered by ID
• Inherent opportunities manifest in…
• Discussion—> Transformation —>
Dialogue
• Agency and empowerment
• Creating and connecting a collective
consciousness
• Facilitation as the connecting of dots
balanced with self-exploration
Mindset
• Possibilities offered by ID
• How a facilitator’s
feelings/assumptions impact listening
and other facilitation skills
Mindset
• Be at a stage of personal identity
development in relationship to the social
identity salient to the dialogue that affords
you the ability to skillfully challenge and
affirm participants who are members of both
your own and other identity groups in
appropriate measure
Mindset
• Be tuned into issues related to the
dialogue you are facilitating that are
highly charged “triggers” or
“flashpoints” for you so they can
effectively manage your reactions to
those issues in ways that enhance the
participants dialogic learning experience
Mindset
• Possess an appreciation of student
development theories and how
students’ development in relationship to
those theories may manifest in their
dialogue participation and/or learning
experiences
Mindset
• Possess an appreciation for the
similarities across and the differences
between dialogue facilitation and
classroom teaching
Skills
• Content area knowledge
• Levels of knowledge and impact on
manner of facilitation
• Content vs. Process
• Dialogic communication
• Listening—Active Listening—
Silence/Inner Chatter
Skills
• Positionality of facilitator and
participants
• Support vs. Challenge (personal,
academic, political)
• Create 3rd space
• Conflict negotiation
• Reframing/Summarizing
Texture
• Suspending Judgment
• Explaining vs. Owning
• Intent vs. Impact
• Holding
Texture
• Creating “Third” Space
• a place where participants bring “first
space” or personal knowledge, ideas,
and opinions and talk about them
using “second space” or group
knowledge, norms, and etiquette
Logistics
• Handouts & General Administrivia
Logistics
• Program Evaluation & Assessment
Logistics
• Syllabus/First Day “Cheat Sheet”
Review
• Grading Concerns
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WITH Co-Facilitator
How
What
Alternative Assignments
Holidays
Logistics
• Online Registration System
Login/Interface
Logistics
• Credits
• Online Registration & Testudo
Registration
• Social Justice from Classroom to
Community
• Class Time Conflicts
• Other
Practice
• Simulated Dialogues
• Race
• Gender/Sex
• Religion, Spirituality, Faith, Secularity
• Sexual Orientation
Practice
• Simulated Co-Facilitation
Challenges
• “Air Time”
• Sharing Work Load/Grading
• Knowledge Base/Power
Dynamics/Developmental Stage
• Activities