MU DIFFICULT DIALOGUES PROGRAM
Dialogue Guidelines
Difficult Dialogues: Controversial Subjects in Higher Education
(Establish ground rules that everyone agrees to)
- No one or two dominate
- Be patient and give others a chance to express themselves.
- Please do not interrupt.
- Please do not make speeches (limit comments to no more than 1-2 minutes).
- Frame your comments to allow opportunities for interaction.
- Generally, once you have spoken, depending on the size of the group, wait for 3-5 other people to speak before speaking again.
- Respecting opinions
- Listen to each other with respect and an open mind, that is, listen to understand.
- We are not here to convince others to adopt our positions.
- Disagreement is okay.
- The goal is not consensus.
- All perspectives are valued.
- Everyone is encouraged to participate
- Please don’t allow your thoughts and opinions to go unheard.
- It’s okay to change the subject
- Usually moderators are facilitators not participants; however, in the context of a classroom difficult dialogue, the instructor is usually also known as an expert.
- As facilitators, we most often help sustain the dialogue and tend not to provide data or information.
- As instructors, we may need to balance our roles as facilitators and experts in deciding when and how to engage impartially in the dialogue.
- Highly skilled difficult dialogue facilitators should be able to fluidly move between expert and facilitator roles.
- Sometimes our best thinking comes after reflection
- If there is a point you wanted to make, but didn’t have an opportunity, please contact us by e-mail after the forum.
- Reflection helps bring psychological closure to a dialogue
How has your thinking about an issue changed?
How has your thinking about other people’s views changed? - Construct statements that reflect the common ground of the group.
