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ES 375: Ecosocial Advocacy
STUDENT LEAD DISCUSSIONS
ACTIVIST MEETING FACILITATION GROUPS
Agenda
Each group should produce an agenda for the class. The agenda could be on a piece of paper you hand out, or written on the board or on a flip chart. The agenda should include
>> List of all items you will or at least may deal with.
>> Time allotted for each item. Usually the total time for the activist meeting will be 40 minutes.
>> List of goals or outcomes for the meeting.
Leadership
Decide on roles for each participant. In general, it makes sense for a three person group to have two co-facilitators and one recorder. If you have more than one facilitator, you should be clear how you will share that role. One of you can also be a timekeeper, or you can ask someone in the class to serve that role. Each group should have two opportunities to lead discussion, and a student who takes notes should be a facilitator in the second session.
The point
Keep in mind that the point of the meeting is to move the group toward activism, which may well involve sharing essential information. At the same time, meetings ideally should be an opportunity to develop the unity of the group, for the group to bond more.
THEORETICAL READING DISCUSSION GROUPS
Study questions
I encourage you to make up study questions to guide the students’ reading and prepare them for discussion. There are different kinds of study questions, including
>> Ones that highlight what you consider a key point and ask the students (for example) what the author means, what the significance of the point is, and whether the student agrees
>> Ones that raise more general questions that the reading suggests: for example, how the students respond to Alinsky’s general approach to morality in political activism.
>> Ones that give a quote (usually a complex or controversial one) and ask the student to analyze and respond critically to it.
>> Ones that compare points in the reading with earlier readings.
>> Ones that ask the student to reflect on aspects of the reading from the standpoint of her or his experience.
Structure
It is often helpful to briefly (no more than 5 minutes) review the basic points or main sections of the reading, doing so in a way that leads into issues and questions. The rest of the time should be a group discussion of the reading.
Silence
When you get no response to a question, don’t give up. Pause a moment, and if there is still no response, try to rephrase the question. If there is still no response, one of the other discussion leaders could offer her thoughts and then ask what the students think of her ideas. But this is a seminar, and the assumption is that everyone will actively participate.
Distribution
Keep track of who is speaking often and who is not, and gently invite the quieter ones to join in. In a few cases, you may need to intentionally not recognize someone who wants to speak if he has already spoken very often. Also, be sure that every one of the discussion leaders participates equally.
Ethos
One of the responsibilities of the discussion leaders is to set the tone, atmosphere, or ethos of the discussion. The point of the discussion is not to gather information but to probe deeply the reading and its relationship to activism. Keep two things in mind. First, we live in a world full of problems we need to take seriously. Second, the reading is undoubtedly full of complexities, ambiguities, and problems, to which we need to apply critical thinking. Be open to various viewpoints and approaches -- while keeping in mind that you need to take specific political stances as an activist engaged with social problems and possibilities. Be open to befuddlement and insight, outrage and enlightenment!
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