The classroom is an opportune place
for students to build relationships and trust through Dialogue, beginning
with compassionate listening to one another's personal stories.
In May, 2003, three participants from a
Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group were invited to model and
facilitate a new kind of school experience for a Senior Seminar in
Communication at Notre Dame de Namur University.
That day in Belmont, Calif. revealed a way in which a
rarely-experienced depth of human relationship could be achieved in a classroom
of students from diverse backgrounds in a rather short time, even 2-1/2 hours.
Such an event is only a beginning, of course, for
Dialogue must be Sustained Dialogue to truly transform relationships.
Yet, two students who had been alienated all school
year did drift back together at the end of the class period, and others were
moved -- some to tears -- from experiencing this contrast to how little we
usually settle for in daily human interaction.
Photos are on the Web at https://pix.sfly.com/XPsrOusQ
.
We hope this helps you to introduce Dialogue into any
situation where it could help people connect.
Below is the flow of the morning. It will
remain on the Web at http://traubman.igc.org/class.htm .
--
L&L
Story as entry to relationship transformation
A 2-1/2 hour classroom experience of Dialogue
8:00-8:05 a.m. -- Course instructor
Welcome the class.
Present an overview of the morning.
Introduce the Dialogue facilitator fully.
8:05-8:15 a.m. -- Dialogue facilitator from the Jewish-Palestinian Living
Room Dialogue Group
Describe the history, contemporary context, and
principles and qualities of Dialogue.
Introduce the Palestinian and Jewish exemplars.
8:15-8:40 a.m. -- Palestinian, Jewish exemplars
The Palestinian and the Jew listen to one
another's life story, in about six minutes each.
Each expresses back to the other the essence of the
story she or he heard.
Each describes what she or he "realized" by
listening with new ears to the other's narrative.
8:40-9:00 a.m. -- Class, with Facilitator
Dialogue and interact with the exemplars and one
another.
Reflect on how you experienced the exemplars.
What did you realize and observe? What are your
questions or statements?
9:00-9:35 a.m. -- Class, with Facilitator guiding and timing
Pair yourselves in twos, perhaps with another you're
not likely to choose on campus.
Listen to each other's stories -- 15 minutes each.
Allow ten minutes of
uninterrupted speaking, then five minutes responding to the listener's
questions.
"This interests
me. Can you say more about it?"
9:35-9:55 a.m. -- Class, with Facilitator
Gather the class into the full group.
"What did you "realize" from the
experience and the story you heard?"
"What did you see about 'unheard stories' in
general?"
9:55-10:20 a.m. -- Two students, with some Facilitator encouragement
Ask for one of the student pairs to volunteer to
be exemplars in front of the class.
Ask them to introduce one another to the class by
repeating the stories they heard.
Each partner "fills in" missing parts to
illustrate what's unheard, misunderstood, or forgotten.
10:20-10:25 a.m. -- Dialogue facilitator
Point out principles, using charts, to ground in
theory and visuals what the class just experienced.
Point out that this is how everyone in schools, homes,
businesses, and regions in conflict could relate.
Until now, we've settled for far too little in our
relationships.
We are learning to humanize our relationships and
conflicts.
10:25-10:30 a.m. -- Instructor, class, facilitator, and Dialogue exemplars
Close with a circle and affirmation of each other
and the day, if appropriate.
A WNYC-Radio online streaming audio example of
reflecting personal stories back to one another is at:
http://thedialogueproject.org/audio/4_4_02b.mp3?file=realimpact/wnyc/raotl/bordersc.ra
More streaming audio and video examples of sharing stories and finding
shared meaning are online at:
http://traubman.igc.org/stream.htm