Dialogue
‘Dialogue’ refers to a set of practices employed by facilitators to stimulate conversation that flows in non-linear ways and stands apart from more formal ways of engaging groups in conversation, such as debates or discussions. The word is much abused, especially at large conferences where various Big speakers come and take the platform for ‘High Level’ dialogues where no genuine form of listening or exchange appears to occur between them, let alone the vast majority of those in the room (the audience) excluded from the talk. In Egypt, during, the GCM programme we, encouraged by all of our grounding as facilitators in Freiran methodologies, encouraged participants to think and act dialogically. We also allocated a morning session to organise subject specific dialogues. To this end we employed a simple technique called the ‘Fishbowl’ whereby two circles of participants are formed, facing inward, with the outer remaining silent and observing the behaviour of those inside and the flow of the dialogue, to feed back on the process later. At periodic intervals the opportunity is given to change circles so that everyone who has something to say can do so and that as many people as possible can watch proceedings from the outside too. The facilitator floats between the two and can input questions or reflections to try and move the conversation forward if it reaches a sticking point and nothing new is being added. The intention is that participants gain insights on the how the process itself relates to their and how they articulate them.
We used a simple consensus based decision making tool to select three topics for the dialogues with the GCM group. Number one on the list once votes had been cast was the question ‘Israel/Palestine. Two State Solution. Yes/NO?’ Being volunteered (with full consent and enthusiasm) to facilitate the dialogue on Israel/Palestine was partially poetic justice. I, having encouraged the participants who had keenly raised the issue with me to put it in the ‘car park’ and take opportunities to raise it, was tasked with working the issue through to whatever conclusions our group of 15 or so could hope to draw in 60 minutes on so from such a monumentally complex, conflicted and emotive subject. I relished the opportunity, truth be told, and didn’t regret it for a second, even as my own thoughts and feelings twisted and turned relentlessly. Surfing the turmoil and trying to effect a degree of useful objectivity…following the fast, passionate discussion and keeping an air open for ad hoc translation, felt, if not good, certainly alive!
Whilst a passion for justice was clear in the discourse and some of the contributions were rooted in real experience of time spent on the West Bank, the conditioning that Arab societies cultivate to demonise Israel was evident in many of the contributions, but so was an awareness of the hypocrisy of Arab and Western politicians whose rhetoric and policy on this subject are often worlds apart. What was most worrying for me was the repeated assertion that either Jews have no real history to speak or that, perhaps even more shockingly, the individual talking did not know that history and did not think it important to discover. Ignorance of the other is a key enabling factor in maintaining fear and dehumanising ‘enemies’. Another worrying undercurrent, but not one that went uncontested within the discussion, related to the polarisation of Islam and Judaism. The use of language…’Our’…’Us’….’They’…is intriguing in its reflection of unspoken narratives. Many people speaking seemed to exactly equate Palestinians with Arabs with Muslims. And yet there are many Christian Palestinians and Palestinians are strongly, marginalised within many Arab societies. I wonder how the dynamics of the group would have changed if their had been young Israelis participating. The dynamics of exclusion within MENA countries was not often explicitly addressed as the other was there to take the weight of criticism. Also responsibility, as in ‘they have to this…’ was often assigned to an imaginary interlocutor. When asked to name who might be able to do this, participants mostly named the USA. To me this highlights the sense of isolation that surrounds Palestine, which in turn leads me to believe that solidarity efforts in the West are not working. More and deeper work is needed to support Palestinian and Israeli Civil Society activists to achieve justice for the Palestinian people. Then maybe the feeling of helplessness some of the activists in this dialogue expressed could be transformed into a disciplined, strategic optimism.
Another learning was the danger of terms without interrogating differing interpretations of them and giving space for participants to make clear the own underlying meanings they attributed to language, which often vary wildly and yet are all too rarely aired. Some participants rejected ‘peace’ as a useful or desirable term, finding in it implications of passivity or acquiescence, what I would term ‘the absence of violence; rather than the achievement of justice. The pride of seeing Palestine (and thus at some level all Arabs) standing up to a seemingly all powerful oppressor relies on a bold dream of victory achieved by some form of retributive justice that validates and glorifies all and any violence against Israel or Israelis.
Dialogue is about pushing imaginative and creative borders by making a safe space to talk about issues that often feel dangerous to get out in the open. To do so is to invite participants to invest certain of trust and emotion in the process. If they are expecting a concrete outcome external to their own perception of the situation then they are being set up to fail and to suffer some hurt. As a facilitator being sensitive to this is incredibly important and attempting to demonstrate such a process and allow adequate time to decompress, reflect and process one’s own emotions is incredibly important. Being alive to the energy and inputs of the group and trusting as much as possible that they will steer themselves to new areas of discussion is also something I will concentrate on cultivating for future dialogues.
Taking the above into account it was pleasant that the response to the introduction and the handling of the subject was overwhelmingly positive. I hope that participants derived something from the experience not only about the nature of the tool we used for facilitation, but more importantly about their own expression and interaction in such a setting.
The UK team involved in GCM MENA was in attendance to develop an online dialogue initiative and I look forward to seeing how it develops over time.
Resources
Introduction to Paulo Freire
http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-freir.htm
A fantastic report compiling reflections on different tools for dialogue.
http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/papers/pioneers_dialogue/00_all.pdf
A set of resources based on the work of Physicist David Bohm, a trailblazer in the field.
http://www.david-bohm.net/dialogue/
The Art of Powerful Questions
http://www.theworldcafe.com/articles/aopq.pdf
Friday 31 December 2010
Slight Return
After a significant hiatus from this blog, during which I have travelled quite a bit (South Africa, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Nigeria, Northern Ireland and Belgium) and kept up posting at httP://ideasnotbeliefs.blogspot.com a recent experience has prompted me to resume sharing some reflections, though by its nature this post is less about travel than it is work. Having had a powerful time in Cairo recently working with 3 fantastic colleagues and 45+ great participants I felt compelled to share some (trimmed) reflections I have been writing. Having had these notes grow and grow over time I’ve decided to put it out there and amend any massive errors, repetition later so apologies if in the mean time it doesn’t read particularly cleanly. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
I was part of a team of four facilitators commissioned to deliver a 5 Day training programme for over 40 young people from 9 different countries; Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait and the UK, as part of the British Council Global Changemakers programme. Convened at short notice by the British Youth Council, who were brought in at short notice after the assigned trainers dropped out, we had a very tight timeframe to pull together a working agenda for 4 days covering Leadership, Community Organising, Participation, Team Work, Dialogue and numerous other subjects. Having a full time job that meant I was participating two in residentials in the week immediately preceding this endeavour made life even more interesting? I’m rarely one to turn to down a challenge though…
I arrived at about 5AM at a generic hotel far from the centre of Cairo and didn’t get to leave it for my first 3 days working on the programme. This probably impacted negatively on my understanding of and feel for the process and the participants. I felt culturally dislocated in the environment as I literally had not seen Egypt and taken moments to acclimatise to the people, buildings, smells etc around me, all of the small things I appreciate in a new place. That said, just turning up and getting involved meant that I really didn’t have time to worry or get nervous beyond that useful well of nervous energy that accompanies all facilitation. Having come direct from another residential activity I felt ‘warmed up’ and could hit the ground running. The group was also very welcoming and throughout the week I was continually impressed by their energy, interest and response to the often challenging work we were inviting them to take on.
Working on the fly, being alert to possibilities and pitfalls as they emerge, and taking on some emotional weight and responsibility for the journey of the participants I am working with is at once energising and draining. Finding space and stillness, away from the noise and people, is a physical necessity at times, as sessions and ‘breaks’ bleed together. One wonders what we gain and lose from doing things this way. It certainly feels exhilarating.
There are words and concepts that the British Council and we as a team of external facilitators had given particular significance too by virtue of their inclusion on the programme: Participation, Power, Change, Campaigning, Advocacy, and Community Organising. These are both complex and charged, that’s what makes them valuable but also demands a great deal of consideration in introducing to participants, Being used to working with young people in a UK context, I entered the situation with an awareness of the need to tailor the work to draw upon the realities of the young Arabs rather than my own imposed assumptions.
These considerations were important on day one when I led a session of Participation in the afternoon, drawing upon Roger Hart’s infamous Ladder of Participation. Not everyone grasped the ideas immediately but proved to be a good way of drawing out both the diversity of projects the participants were involved in and some of their underlying thoughts and feelings about how much influence they had within them and the degree of initiative they were taking. The group was asked to map current or past initiatives by theme and by degree of youth participation (from tokenism to Youth Led, partnered with adults). From drug rehabilitation in Libya to Greening Cities in Jordan to building Libraries in Qatar, these young activists have a lot to be proud of and even bigger aspirations. One of the major challenges in the countries they work in is overcoming the divisions between haves and have nots to engage those less privileged in terms of economic and education opportunity, to be at the core of change, rather than passive recipients of well intentioned but potentially ill informed interventions. The sharing facilitated by this session was a modest step to prompting each individual and group to reflect on how they were involving the community in their work and to learn from one anothers experiences. We returned to this challenge repeatedly throughout the week, introducing new tools.
Later in the week I had to creating a campaigning workshop from scratch, having learnt from the previous sessions and thrown my formative plan out of the window I was able, in a matter of a hour or less, to pull together a session that balanced global examples with local considerations, gave key information and asked key questions, managed to use powerpoint (which I’m not a great fan of but some participants seemed less assured without in other sessions) and got them active. Challenging the group to implement their learning immediately gave the process a real anchor. There was also a thread of work throughout the week on dialogue, which I will address in a separate post.
What was brought home to me about the host country specifically during the week was how the National Myth of Egyptian Militarism and Independence draws heavily on the legacy of the 1967 war with Israel. No less so than the British identity revolves around the manufactured glory of the Second World War. This seems to partially enable the dominance and corruption of an undemocratic and often repressive military regime that is heavily reliant on the US for support and therefore a regional ally of Israel, just as the virulently anti Zionist Wahabi-Saud regime in Saudi Arabia is (and both are also of course in bed with the British government to varying degrees). The irony of this polygamous marriage of convenience was not lost on all participants as some contributions and later conversations showed. As soon as you talk about change, or power, or participation, you are talking politics, and that brings with it a degree of risk and responsibility. Many participants were far from means niave about the shortcomings of their leaders and are not waiting around for solutions to come from the old guard who have entrenched serious social problems.
What all of the ‘Changemakers’ held in common with their colleagues from other states, whether inspired by a Monarch, as in the case of Bahrain and Qatar, Musicians, politicians or activists or simply by the issues they observe in their societies all of these young activists are already acting to transform their worlds using their energy, ideas and passion, time tested methods and newer technologies like social media, and connecting regionally. If any way we supported them to think differently and enrich their work then that’s great. Otherwise the learning and pleasure from this week was all mine.
Other reflections….
On the wisdom of having 4 British facilitators who speak no Arabic lead 4 intensive days of discussion, dialogue and activity with 45+ energetic and opinionated young people from the Middle East and North Africa: Hmmmmm….
On the absolute beauty and utility of having committed, determined and talented colleagues volunteer their time, energy and expertise to help us paper over the cracks and pull together our programme using the adhesive of interpretation and translation: Yay!!
Presenting with the audiences varied linguistic capacities in mind one finds one self, eventually, beginning to articulate in a more concise, clear and simple manner and (hopefully) delivering the same information in a more universally accessible way without resorting to a didactic and inflexible style of delivery. I still want to learn Arabic and with imminent travel in Southern Sudan looming, the imperative to do so grows ever stronger (though I think I’ll need Dinka more!).
I’m excited about the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, having felt the tangible joy from the Qatari delegation about the opportunity to host the first Arab world cup.
GCM MENA
http://globalchangemakers-mena.net/
Egypt Workshop Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieHXYeK7Leg
Power analysis
http://www.powercube.net/analyse-power/
Harts Ladder
http://www.freechild.org/ladder.htm
I was part of a team of four facilitators commissioned to deliver a 5 Day training programme for over 40 young people from 9 different countries; Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Libya, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait and the UK, as part of the British Council Global Changemakers programme. Convened at short notice by the British Youth Council, who were brought in at short notice after the assigned trainers dropped out, we had a very tight timeframe to pull together a working agenda for 4 days covering Leadership, Community Organising, Participation, Team Work, Dialogue and numerous other subjects. Having a full time job that meant I was participating two in residentials in the week immediately preceding this endeavour made life even more interesting? I’m rarely one to turn to down a challenge though…
I arrived at about 5AM at a generic hotel far from the centre of Cairo and didn’t get to leave it for my first 3 days working on the programme. This probably impacted negatively on my understanding of and feel for the process and the participants. I felt culturally dislocated in the environment as I literally had not seen Egypt and taken moments to acclimatise to the people, buildings, smells etc around me, all of the small things I appreciate in a new place. That said, just turning up and getting involved meant that I really didn’t have time to worry or get nervous beyond that useful well of nervous energy that accompanies all facilitation. Having come direct from another residential activity I felt ‘warmed up’ and could hit the ground running. The group was also very welcoming and throughout the week I was continually impressed by their energy, interest and response to the often challenging work we were inviting them to take on.
Working on the fly, being alert to possibilities and pitfalls as they emerge, and taking on some emotional weight and responsibility for the journey of the participants I am working with is at once energising and draining. Finding space and stillness, away from the noise and people, is a physical necessity at times, as sessions and ‘breaks’ bleed together. One wonders what we gain and lose from doing things this way. It certainly feels exhilarating.
There are words and concepts that the British Council and we as a team of external facilitators had given particular significance too by virtue of their inclusion on the programme: Participation, Power, Change, Campaigning, Advocacy, and Community Organising. These are both complex and charged, that’s what makes them valuable but also demands a great deal of consideration in introducing to participants, Being used to working with young people in a UK context, I entered the situation with an awareness of the need to tailor the work to draw upon the realities of the young Arabs rather than my own imposed assumptions.
These considerations were important on day one when I led a session of Participation in the afternoon, drawing upon Roger Hart’s infamous Ladder of Participation. Not everyone grasped the ideas immediately but proved to be a good way of drawing out both the diversity of projects the participants were involved in and some of their underlying thoughts and feelings about how much influence they had within them and the degree of initiative they were taking. The group was asked to map current or past initiatives by theme and by degree of youth participation (from tokenism to Youth Led, partnered with adults). From drug rehabilitation in Libya to Greening Cities in Jordan to building Libraries in Qatar, these young activists have a lot to be proud of and even bigger aspirations. One of the major challenges in the countries they work in is overcoming the divisions between haves and have nots to engage those less privileged in terms of economic and education opportunity, to be at the core of change, rather than passive recipients of well intentioned but potentially ill informed interventions. The sharing facilitated by this session was a modest step to prompting each individual and group to reflect on how they were involving the community in their work and to learn from one anothers experiences. We returned to this challenge repeatedly throughout the week, introducing new tools.
Later in the week I had to creating a campaigning workshop from scratch, having learnt from the previous sessions and thrown my formative plan out of the window I was able, in a matter of a hour or less, to pull together a session that balanced global examples with local considerations, gave key information and asked key questions, managed to use powerpoint (which I’m not a great fan of but some participants seemed less assured without in other sessions) and got them active. Challenging the group to implement their learning immediately gave the process a real anchor. There was also a thread of work throughout the week on dialogue, which I will address in a separate post.
What was brought home to me about the host country specifically during the week was how the National Myth of Egyptian Militarism and Independence draws heavily on the legacy of the 1967 war with Israel. No less so than the British identity revolves around the manufactured glory of the Second World War. This seems to partially enable the dominance and corruption of an undemocratic and often repressive military regime that is heavily reliant on the US for support and therefore a regional ally of Israel, just as the virulently anti Zionist Wahabi-Saud regime in Saudi Arabia is (and both are also of course in bed with the British government to varying degrees). The irony of this polygamous marriage of convenience was not lost on all participants as some contributions and later conversations showed. As soon as you talk about change, or power, or participation, you are talking politics, and that brings with it a degree of risk and responsibility. Many participants were far from means niave about the shortcomings of their leaders and are not waiting around for solutions to come from the old guard who have entrenched serious social problems.
What all of the ‘Changemakers’ held in common with their colleagues from other states, whether inspired by a Monarch, as in the case of Bahrain and Qatar, Musicians, politicians or activists or simply by the issues they observe in their societies all of these young activists are already acting to transform their worlds using their energy, ideas and passion, time tested methods and newer technologies like social media, and connecting regionally. If any way we supported them to think differently and enrich their work then that’s great. Otherwise the learning and pleasure from this week was all mine.
Other reflections….
On the wisdom of having 4 British facilitators who speak no Arabic lead 4 intensive days of discussion, dialogue and activity with 45+ energetic and opinionated young people from the Middle East and North Africa: Hmmmmm….
On the absolute beauty and utility of having committed, determined and talented colleagues volunteer their time, energy and expertise to help us paper over the cracks and pull together our programme using the adhesive of interpretation and translation: Yay!!
Presenting with the audiences varied linguistic capacities in mind one finds one self, eventually, beginning to articulate in a more concise, clear and simple manner and (hopefully) delivering the same information in a more universally accessible way without resorting to a didactic and inflexible style of delivery. I still want to learn Arabic and with imminent travel in Southern Sudan looming, the imperative to do so grows ever stronger (though I think I’ll need Dinka more!).
I’m excited about the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, having felt the tangible joy from the Qatari delegation about the opportunity to host the first Arab world cup.
GCM MENA
http://globalchangemakers-mena.net/
Egypt Workshop Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieHXYeK7Leg
Power analysis
http://www.powercube.net/analyse-power/
Harts Ladder
http://www.freechild.org/ladder.htm
Sunday 26 December 2010
Upcoming Travels and Donating.
After 5 years working with NGOs in the UK, and having completed a postgraduate certificate in Conflict Resolution I have been invited to work in Mundri, in Southern Sudan, from early February to mid July, to undertake peace work with the Mundri Relief and Development Association.You can find out more about MRDA here http://mundridevelopment.org/. My volunteer role will come under the auspices of the new Centre for Peace and Democracy Studies being launched by MRDA. To read more about the context of this work please check out the post 'Why Sudan?' above.
Southern Sudan has a high and volatile cost of living which can shift at short notice, thus it is relatively difficult to budget for staying there. I will be working for almost half a year with no pay. Accomodation in Mundri, daily meals in Mundri and local travel will be provided by MRDA. I am covering all other costs including international travel, insurance, medication and other contingencies myself from my personal savings and am asking family, friends and benevolent parties who are in a position to do so to chip in and help lighten the strain on my bank account a little.
If you are able to and would like to contribute please use the button below or on the toolbar to do so. I will do my best to acknowledge and thank all contributors directly and include you in all correspondence bringing updates from my time with MRDA. If you do not wish to recieve further information please do let me know. Likewise if you can't help out but want to know more please do get in touch.
Thank you in advance for your support and generosity!
Derek Oakley
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