Dialogue Programs
Dialogue is a process in which people or groups involved in serious conflict share information in order to create better understanding. Dialogue programs used in schools, usually in high schools, teach the dialogue process to students to help them talk through contentious issues like interracial or interethnic conflicts among groups of students. The goal of dialogue is a transformation of the relationship or system of communication in which parties are engaged. In dialogue students may not change opinions, but may undergo a radical shift in how they view self, other, and the relationship.
In order for dialogue to be effective, it has to be well facilitated to create a safe and respectful place for talk. It assumes that participants will learn and use effective listening skills. Many dialogue programs use guidelines for the process including the following:
• We will speak for ourselves and from our own experience
• We will not criticize the views of other participants or attempt to persuade them
• We will listen with resilience, hanging in when it is hard to hear
• We will participate within the time frames suggested by the facilitator
• We will not interrupt
• We will pass if we do not wish to speak
Related Videos of Possible Interest
Related Catalog Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk | Document summarizing Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's work of the same title, with instructions to increase listening skills, help children deal with feelings, provide praise and use alternatives to punishment, with role playing exercises. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| VOV activities: Understanding the value of dialog, grades 7-12 | 13-page PDF document with a number of activities to aid secondary students in improving communication skills. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| VOV activities: Strengthening your sense of self-identity, grades 7-12 | 8-page PDF document with activities for 7-12 graders to build communication skills and self-esteem. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Place to work things out, A | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 2, Number 4, (July 2002), which presents the idea of personal narrative model of mediation and the work at Oberlin College using this model. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Issues under the hat | Web-based interactive resource which presents a scenario that "will weigh a school policy in this case disallowing students to wear hats in the classroom against good reasons why in some situations a hat could be allowable. At one point during the scenario, [the participant] will be asked to choose of three available options that might lead to a...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Tolerance: the threshold of peace: A teaching/learning guide for education for peace, human rights | 42-page PDF document which was "prepared to serve as an introductory resource material, to provide some understanding of what is involved in and required of education for tolerance. It provides a statement of the problems of intolerance, a rationale for teaching toward the goal of tolerance, and concepts and descriptions for identifying both the...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Role play for nonverbal involvement activity | Word document presenting a role play exercise in nonverbal communication. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Setting up a dialogue session | One page diagram of the steps involved in setting up a dialogue session. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Integrated lessons: Collection from the National Curriculum Integration Project | Pdf document presenting a series of lessons for both language arts and social studies classes which examine conflict, explore positive solutions and examine how issues of culture and bias, social and emotional learning and law related education impact conflict and its resolution. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Math teacher's perspective on infusion: "Let the kids do the talking" | Pdf document with personal experience of teacher helping students discuss and share solution strategies to mathematical problems. Written above title on document: NCIP (National Curriculum Integration Project). | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| I Painted Peace: Handbook on Peace Building with and for Children and Young People | This 72-page illustrated handbook has been designed and developed together with children and young people for children and young people. It is, however, also meant to be of use and interest to adults. The children and young people involved in the production of this handbook would like to promote, build and sustain peace in their local communities,...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Role play : The power of dialogue fact sheet | Pdf document that presents a role play dialogue between the parent of a middle school child, a middle school teacher and a principle, with background information on characters and a case overview. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Conversation buddies | One page conversation sign up sheet. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Diving In: A Handbook for Improving Race Relations on College Campuses | A how-to guide for setting up a Sustained Dialogue process on a campus. The authors draw on their experiences developing a program at Princeton University using a model developed by Harold Saunders. From the introduction: "Sustained Dialogue is a process for improving relationships within a community that are strained along racial or ethnic...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Ways of Peace - URI Youth 4 Unity Brochure | This illustrated foldable brochure was created by the youth wing of the United Religions Initiative (URI) Peacemakers' Circle CC in the Philippines - Youth 4 Unity - as a way to share expressions of the Golden Rule in different religions, spiritual expressions and indigenous traditions. It also shares simple ways to practice inner peace, harmony...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Teaching and learning in circle | Pdf article from Conflict Management in Higher Education Report, Volume 3, Number 2, (February 2003), which "explores the impact of teaching using a circle format, both at the high school and college level." | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Managing interethnic relations manual | 104-page manual whose purpose is to fill the informational and methodological gap in addressing interethnic relations, it also intends to combat the passive attitudes held by many regarding the improvement of interethnic relations in Georgia, the book is meant for all specialists working on the issue of interethnic relations or those intending to...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| STOP: On-the-spot bullying intervention | Word document presenting actions and statements for on-the-spot intervention of bullying behavior. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Kids Working It Out Resource Appendix | A listing of books, publications and websites provided in the appendix to Tricia S. Jones and Randy O. Compton (Eds.) 2003 book Kids Working It Out: Stories and Strategies for Making Peace in Our Schools. | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
| Promoting SEAL through circle time | 7-page PDF document promoting Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning through circle time for secondary students. "Circle time sessions provide a potential vehicle for the classroom delivery of the SEAL curriculum. Circle time is a time set aside each week when a whole class of young people and their teacher sit in a circle and explicitly engage...(see more) | Catalog Listing Direct Link to Resource View in Browser |
