The Little Book of Dialogue for Difficult Subjects by Lisa Schirch

Author:Lisa Schirch
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Good Books
Published: 2006-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

For example, as a first question in a dialogue about race relations, asking “What did your parents teach you about race?” is generally more helpful than asking “What did your parents teach you about racial oppression?” The question about racial oppression might encourage the group who has experienced racial oppression to share their stories, and may inhibit those who have not experienced racial oppression. The phrasing of the question itself suggests that certain people in the room have experiences that are more real and/or relevant to the topic than other participants.

Phrasing questions with a perceived bias has numerous negative consequences for the group. First, it reinforces stereotypes rather than helps people think beyond them. Group members who feel that their experiences are not valued may withdraw from participating, either by leaving the group altogether or by “checking out” psychologically. Once this happens, those who chose to share their experiences may feel that they were “put on display” by the process and become resentful themselves.

Clearly, these dynamics can become destructive to individuals and to the group. To maximize dialogue’s potential, each member of the group must feel like he or she has something valuable to contribute.

Adding Analysis to Sharing Experiences

One risk during this stage is that some participants will begin to add their analysis or opinions of a problem when they share their personal experiences. Facilitators can encourage participants to stay focused on describing their own experiences while listening and asking questions of other participants’ experiences. Yet the facilitator does not want to shut down the discussions. Such comments are part of the overall education of each participant.

If this phase is handled well, participants recognize how experiences shape perceptions or opinions of the issue at hand. Some participants might resist this idea. A few will blame or doubt others whose experiences have led to different opinions than their own. Phase 3 gives participants a chance to explore why people have different experiences and perceptions.

Phase 3: Exploring Diversity and Commonalities

Once participants have had a chance to share their experiences, the dialogue then moves to helping participants identify the underlying conditions that account for their different experiences and perceptions. People tend to see their own perspectives and experiences as “the truth” and other’s perspectives as “wrong.” In Phase 3, participants collectively examine, “Why are our experiences and perceptions so different?”

Hopefully by this point the participants share an emotional bond with each other, and are less inclined to dismiss each other’s perspectives about divisive issues. If the dialogue has gone well, the participants heard perspectives that do not fit easily into their preconceived notions, and are willing to join others in finding a larger understanding of the truth.

This phase focuses on helping people reexamine everyone’s experiences in a larger context. In Phase 2, the central question was “What was your experience?” In Phase 3, the central question is “What factors cause us to have different experiences and different perspectives?”

Sample questions, such as the ones below help participants recognize differences and similarities between individuals and subgroups within a dialogue.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.