[Dialogue] [top-trainers] Facilitation challenge

[Lawrence Philbrook]

Dear Jim

What a great conversation.

My experience is similar to others.  Often in villages the writers would 
be the students and we would assign one to each group but basically do 
the process in the same way.

Now I find that each element of process I have to stop and think how to 
involve all within this specific context & content.  The literacy piece 
is a significant part but we also have to take into account all the 
other elements that may block this group from accessing their own wisdom 
- cultural patterns, gender, age, geography etc.  More time and small 
groups are excellent ideas especially in brainstorming and action 
dialogues.

How to support consensus forming and symbolize its declaration?  Large 
group dialogue with up to 70 people can be a powerful formation and 
declarative form,yet it takes time for the group to share and innovation 
in documenting the consensus.

I have done storytelling with groups to surface values in which each 
person is sharing and creates a picture & phrase to hold their story.  
In trios they share and select one to carry to a larger group, which in 
turn shares and selects one to carry to the whole at which point they 
enact a dramatic presentation.  All of the pictures are available for 
the whole group.

With respect, Larry