The workshop design was prepared by the Confronting Concerns youth coordinators and this was presented to four youth groups from January 2010 through mid May. The groups participating in the workshops were invited to then prepare a workshop and to present their workshop at a Youth Conference held in mid May 2010. In addition the Network staff used the participants’ evaluation and feedback in developing the entire program for the Youth Conference.
Introduction by Network for Peace facilitators
Why are we here? The Network wants to reach out to groups of young people actively working in their communities to make a change. The reason for this is that we believe that youth are using innovative ways of talking to each other and of talking about important issues in order to help make their schools, communities, and world better. We are here, at your organization because you all have been doing some important work around issues you are concerned about. And we want to learn about those. We also want to help you build some skills around listening to one another so that you are able to truly understand others' perspective and clarify your own. In addition to this, we are having a conference in May with youth groups from around the city who are engaging in talking about important issues and working towards change.
So today we want to:
- Introduce you to some of the basics of dialogue
- Use 'dialogue' to address some of the issues you are working on in your group
- Think about what you would like to learn more about relating to dialogue as a means to peace
Before we start we'd like to just offer up some quick guidelines for our workshop today-- first, one mic. Respect is the other guideline. We'll be having discussion about issues people have different opinions about so it is important to respect others' opinions. Do you all have guidelines that you use here at your organization that you would like to add?
Defining Dialogue and Peace
We want to start by clarifying what we all mean when we talk about "dialogue." What do we think of when we hear about dialogue? The Network for Peace understands dialogue as a tool for making peace between individuals and communities that involves sharing their views on issues they are concerned about and listening openly and attentively to what others have to say. Dialogue is a bridge between people in which they recognize one another as human and make an effort to understand where others are coming from.
We want to learn about how you define dialogue and how you use it to address the issues that you are working here in your organization.
Group Discussion:
Questions for all groups: "What is dialogue? What is peace?"
Other questions:
- How are we currently using dialogue in our own lives and in our communities?
- Where do we see dialogue taking place nationally and globally?
- How does dialogue help create peace?
- Is there such a thing as 'youth dialogue'
Speak Out: Go-round in which each group shares 2+ definitions for "dialogue" and "peace", followed by each group sharing responses to their question
Parking lot to put up/address any questions people have/want to examine further?
Dialogue Skills:
Building on what you all have said, we want to give you the opportunity to think about what dialogue involves, and what skills we need when we use it. What skills do you use in your work as mediators, facilitators, etc.?
Over the past few years, the Network for Peace has been working with youth in Harlem through the Leadership Institute. The young people involved have used dialogue to address issues including sex, drugs, and violence and to work for change in their schools and neighborhoods. We want to work together on the skills they worked on practicing which were important in talking with youth and adults about how to make their communities better.
Hand out copies (High Quality Dialogue)…. popcorn read:
High Quality Dialogue
Expressing opinions honestly in response to what others have said:
- Participants acknowledge that they are expressing their own opinion, rather than expressing an opinion that is true for everyone.
- Participants are able to relate a feeling or story to what has been said.
- Participants express their opinions in a positive and constructive way.
Listening attentively to what other have said and responding empathetically:
- Participants state in their own words the point of view of those who have a different opinion.
- Participants ask questions to get clarity about another’s point of view.
- Participants make statements that recognize how other people feel.
Responding in ways that show an effort to understand others:
- Participants respond to the insights of others with questions, agreements or respectful disagreement.
- Participants do not try to convince others to change their point of view.
Responding in ways that shows openness and a willingness to learn:
- Participants identify and recognize their own assumptions.
- Participants acknowledge any changes in their own points of view.
- Participants state what they have learned from others.
Discussion questions:
- How were these skills used in your groups?
- Which skill do you think is the most important? Why?
- What other skills can we use to help with dialogue?
- Where are other places/situations in which we can use these skills in order to promote
peace?
Role Plays
We want to give everyone a chance to practice using what they have learned about dialogue and connect it with the topics that you guys are talking about in your group. Has anyone ever done a role play?
In this particular role play, we start out with a set of characters and the audience. As the workshop progresses, the audience has three options for taking part in the workshop-- you can:
- put your hand on a character's shoulder in order to share what you think they might be thinking at that point,
- tap character twice to replace them in the role play or
- stop the role play momentarily and offer which dialogue skill a character may be using.
There can be no more than 3 interruptions per role play-- so be thoughtful about where you jump in.
Role Play # 1: Two students who were in a fight in the lunchroom are sitting with a peer mediator. As the conversation unfolds, it comes out that one of the students has been bullied by the other, and the bullied student is sick of it.
Role Play # 2: A mother finds a bag of condoms in her daughters room- she assumes she is having sex.
Role Play # 3: A student who has recently tried stopped using drugs is talking to a peer about struggling to quit when all his friends are still using.
Discussion Questions:
- How realistic do you think these role plays were?
- What enabled dialogue to happen in these different role plays?
- What were some of the obstacles the characters faced in trying to have a dialogue?
- Can dialogue be a part of a larger process that a group of people are going through? How so?
- Why is dialogue important?
- Do you think culture and background have an affect on the way that people think about and engage in dialogue?
- A lot of times, a dialogue may not end in a 'solution' to a problem-- is it still useful? Why or why not?
Art Wall:
We want to think about what you want to learn more about at the May conference, and how you want to use dialogue in the future. The May conference will bring together youth from throughout New York City to meet and talk about how they are working to address important issues. We hope that you all will be willing to present the work you are doing to other youth groups, and share how you are talking with one another and working to address issues here in the Bronx.
This workshop is an opportunity to learn from you what you would like to learn about relating to dialogue at the conference, as well how you are thinking to use dialogue in your work at EARS and in other areas of your lives.
Questions (on flip chart paper, hand out markers/pens to the group, debrief by asking people to share their responses to the group)
- Why is dialogue important?
- What would we like to learn more about relating to dialogue?
- What would we like to see happen at the conference?
- Where else would we like to see dialogue take place?
- Who would be involved?
EVALUATION
Dialogue Workshop Evaluation
1) How much did you enjoy the workshop?
__ Very much __ I enjoyed it __ No opinion __ Not much __ Not at all
2) Please list 3 or more things you learned today.
3) How can you use dialogue in your own life?
4) What do you want to learn from people at the May 15th conference?
