For reasons you all know by now, this summary of our last meeting will be brief. i encourage those of you with two functioning arms :0) to elaborate on any of the areas i neglect in this post.
We began the meeting with a discussion of the research design, which i have been working on based on the various conditions in which the dialogs will be conducted. Any ideas/help is welcomed.
1. Facilitators will need to facilitate/attend a *minimum* of three two hour dialogue sessions. We have scheduled two dates for each session, to accomodate course and work schedules. The dates for the orientation session and three dialogues will be:
Orientation.
Sept 21 and 24 from noon to 1:00. P's will fill out informed consent, take a brief survey and we will give an overview of subsequent sessions. facilitators may attend but is not required.
Oct. 22 and 23 First dialog session. Two hours in staggered sessions, noon-2, 2-4 and 4-6.
November 19 and 20. 2nd dialog/Affinity group session. Again, noon-2, 2-4 and 4-6.
December 3 and 4. Same deal
The first and third sessions will be videorecorded.
2. Needed: research assistant and videographer. Both positions can be taken for credit and a small stipend.
3. All facilitators will receive a $200 stipend, and perhsps more down the road. Participants will get a catered meal and a small gift certificate, in addition to fulfilling course asignments. They also can register for a one credit indep. study.
4. Faciliators have been divided into teams of three. We did some work around faciliators' styles and needs. From here on,co-faciliators will need to plan their approach to each of the phases of the dialog.
5. A basic framework for our dialogues was discussed, with options for each stage. We went through an introduction, discussion of goals, terms and ideas that form the basis of our work together (e.g. learning community, dialog and/or debate, racial identities, etc.).
6. NEXT steps. The last meeting before the semester will take place at UMass on Sept 3rd or 4th at 1:15. Please let me know your preferences. This meeting is optional, and will end at 4:00. Topics will include facilitation techniques around discomfort and risk-taking--and methods such as forum theatre and learning circles.
Please feel free to call or email me with questions.
Leda
