The Art of Focused Conversation is the quintessential theoretical and practical guide to group communication and participatory decision-making. Incorporating over 60 years of meticulous research and collaborative development, this perennial, international bestseller is an indispensable addition to any facilitator’s toolkit.
The Focused Conversation Method at the heart of The Art of Focused Conversation is a core component of the Technology of Participation (ToP) methodology developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs. The original book is widely regarded as a key resource for designing and leading useful and effective conversations and fostering consensus and collaboration. This fully updated and revised edition includes:
Preparation and guidelines for discussing challenging topics and facilitating a focused conversation
A comprehensive overview of the ORID framework, made up of Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, and Decisional questions which guide a group to wise decisions
In-depth analysis of how the underlying structure of ToP is based on applied phenomenology and is supported by the latest findings in neuroscience and social psychology
New sections on diversity, equity, and inclusion; work-life balance; conflict resolution; and guiding focused conversations online
125 sample conversations that can be adapted to any situation.
Invigorate and elevate your group process with this invaluable resource—required reading for facilitators, leaders, educators, and anyone who wants to think clearly and guide thoughtful conversations.
About the Authors
R. Brian Stanfield was an educator, researcher, and Director of Publications at the Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs. Editor of the first edition of The Art of Focused Conversation and The Workshop Book and author of The Courage to Lead, Brian made a lasting contribution to the use of participatory practices in facilitation. He died in 2006.
Jo Nelson worked with the Institute of Cultural Affairs for 50 years, leading participatory development projects and designing and teaching ToP facilitator training programs. She was a contributor to the first edition of The Art of Focused Conversation and is author of The Art of Focused Conversation for Schools and Getting to the Bottom of ToP.
Pre-ordering is available at a discount until September 10. Order from
Dialogue to Heal an Adversarial Worldview by Jo Nelson, CTF, IAF-CPF Emeritus From <The Power of Dialogue- Conversations with Masters> series
Dialogue to Heal an Adversarial Worldview by Jo Nelson, CTF, IAF-CPF Emeritus From <The Power of Dialogue- Conversations with Masters> series
Graphic Recording by Grace Wang, 圖像記錄: 王寧 Written by Kimberly Bain, IAF- CPF/M
This session was part of the CP Yen Foundation Workshop series on the Power of Dialogue and featured Jo Nelson, CPF Emeritus on the topic of the use of dialogue to heal an adversarial worldview. “Once a society loses this capacity [for dialogue] all that is left is a cacophony of voices battling it out to see who wins and who loses. There is no capacity to go deeper, to find a deeper meaning that transcends individual views and self-interest.” Peter Senge
On March 19th, 2024, 43 people joined together to consider how dialogue can be used to help heal an adversarial worldview. Jorie Wu, from CP Yen Foundation started the session with this quote by Peter Senge and encouraged everyone to be fully present, engage in and enjoy the mutual learning and be prepared to be surprised. She then introduced Jo Nelson as “an iconic figure in the profession of facilitation”. With over 50 years facilitating, teaching, mentoring and writing about facilitation, Jo has been inducted into the International Facilitators’ Hall of Fame and is currently working on the 2nd edition of Focused Conversations, scheduled for publication release in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Jo started the session with her belief that everyone on this planet wants to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, and that everyone has wisdom that can affect those decisions in a very positive way when asked and listened to. Her concern is that there is an underlying image that reality only has two sides and that this worldview that is intensifying in the 21st century. This two-sided worldview – right/wrong, for/against, us/them, left/right, good/bad, friend/enemy – does not allow for or acknowledge a middle ground and prevents the development of thoughtful shared solutions to problems. Jo explained that a two-sided worldview is not all bad, after all the computer was developed from Is and 0s and turns off and on, but this view is currently blocking us from entering into authentic dialogues to find solutions to create a better future. When the underlying assumption is that reality only has two sides, it leads us to see alternative views as either with us or against us and stops us from considering a third way. Rumi is quoted as saying, “between right and wrong there is a field and I will meet you there.” Jo referred to this as the ethical space between different views. She talked about two people sitting on opposite ends of a park bench and viewing the scene in front of them in very different ways. Both people are seeing the same thing but viewing it very differently. The ethical space is the space on the bench between them. Like Rumi’s field, the ethical space is the open space between the different views, it is the space where we can explore options, opportunities, commonalities and differences, the space where we can find solutions. Jo reminded us that it is important to create a comfortable space (that mythical field or park bench) to hold the dialogue and that to address the adversarial mindset we should work from a place of curiosity. We need to ask questions like, ‘what if’, ‘I’d like to better understand your ideas’, ‘what information or thinking brought you to that idea’, ‘tell me more about your experiences’, ‘what do we have in common’, ‘where do we differ, ‘what might be a perspective on this that is different from either of ours’, ‘what can we learn from each other’, ‘what are we going to think about further after this conversation, given what we have said’. Holding authentic dialogues to explore the differences between views allows for a deepening of understanding and opens the way for exploration of a middle ground. Jo provided the image of a diamond, the more facets a diamond has the more valuable it is. Authentic dialogues are like a multi faceted diamond. The more facets or perspectives that are brought into the conversation the richer the dialogue and the better the results.
After this thought-provoking introduction and imagery, participants went into small groups to discuss examples of where they have experienced an adversarial worldview. The groups were asked to discuss some things that in their experience sustain an adversarial worldview and block authentic dialogue and things we can do to address these blocks and increase our ability to have healing dialogues. The groups then shared their insights and thoughts and engaged in a reflective exercise to explore our collective learning. Some of the blocks identified by the groups were culture, core values, power and politics. It was suggested that these blockages are often deeply rooted, are often hard to remove and continue to sprout new growth, keeping the argumentative two-sided worldview alive. It was suggested that language often frames the conflict and establishes the patterns, assumptions and emotions around a conflict. One participant said, “naming something gives it power”. To address and remove the blockages we need to set a clear intention of curiosity. We need to be kind to ourselves and others. We need to share stories, not opinions. We need to carefully consider the language we are using. And most importantly we need to BREATHE – ask then breathe, listen then breathe, consider then breathe, respond then breathe. Sometimes all it takes is a calming breath before responding and continuously repeating the mantra I am curious to move an argument into a dialogue.
The session concluded with participants sharing their insights and take-aways. We discussed the importance of remembering that we are all human and we need to continuously learn what it means to be a human being. We need to remember that dialogue is always available. As human beings we have more in common than we do differences, and we need to dare to speak and welcome those differences. Humanizing our dialogues, rather than demonizing each other is key. It is important to separate arrival from the conversation, we often enter a dialogue thinking we need to arrive at a decision, rather than deepening understanding. If we focus on expanding understanding rather than making a decision we can engage in a more authentic dialogue and move away from the adversarial worldview.
I was honoured to be interviewed by Myriam Hadnes for a podcast about my experience of facilitation in May. The podcast was posted in mid-August. The overview:
This link is to the podcast itself (note: it is about 80 minutes long….). There are important nuggets in it about the development of the field of facilitation, my experience and learnings, and some very practical tools. https://workshops.work/podcast/229/
Recently a colleague asked me if I would do a presentation for a webinar. I reluctantly agreed, but this is the memory that the request brought up.
I once was asked to do a keynote speech at a conference of people who ran community museums in Saskatchewan. I told the organizer that I don’t do speeches, because I don’t like to be talked at so I don’t want to inflict that on others. I asked them to pay me a whole day’s fee for a 1-hour speech, hoping that they would say no. But they still wanted me to do it!
So I decided to do a “keynote event” instead of a speech. There were about 100 people, all lined up in folding chairs facing the speaker. The first thing I did was have them pull their chairs into small groups of about 6 people each. Since they were museums people, I put the questions for a focused conversation on the flipchart about their past experience with their museums, and had them share following the questions in their small groups. There was a short opportunity for each small group to share something with the whole group. Then I gave a short talk about the present times. After that I had them go back into their small groups and follow focused conversation questions to share about their futures. The buzz of all those small conversations was amazing. I gave them another opportunity to share something from their group with the whole body.
When the participants rated the “keynote” event, the participatory sharing parts rated very high, and the presentation part was much lower. I was not surprised. Participation and sharing are much more fun than being talked at!
More recently, I was asked to do an Zoom conference presentation to several hundred facilitators from Korea. I don’t speak any Korean, and most participants did not have much English. There was simultaneous translation for my presentation, for which I used a slide show with images as well as key summary statements. People then went to breakout groups to have a conversation about what they had heard and their own experience, with guidance for the sequence of questions. When the group came back, there were some profound questions for me as a speaker that went deeper than the usual Q and A session.
Those who know me know that I am not averse to telling stories — in fact, that is what I just did in this post! But when people have a chance to share their own stories and experiences with others who listen, then they learn more and experience that their own knowledge and experience are valuable.
I suspect that this story catalyzed memories from your own experience that you might like to share. I invite you to share them in the comments on this post!
Wayne and I were included in a project by Jim Wiegel to interview colleagues on video about their experiences some years ago.
When Wayne died in 2014, Jim extracted 3 short clips from the interview of Wayne telling stories of our experiences. There is a memorial page for Wayne on the ICA Archives site, (https://icaglobalarchives.org/) where the stories had been uploaded, and recently the links were updated. I was able to view these clips. They communicate some of Wayne’s passions for phenomenology and participatory community development, and his ability to laugh at himself.
Here are the direct links to the clips on YouTube:
I’m reposting this in response to events in Ukraine and other current events. It was originally designed in response to the Columbine high school shootings, and used with a group of facilitators a few days after 9/11. It has been translated into French, Chinese, and Urdu.
We would like to offer this conversation to people to use with colleagues, friends and family to begin to process traumatic situations and respond to them productively. This conversation is adapted from a conversation in Jo Nelson’s book “The Art of Focused Conversation for Schools“, first published in May, 2001 by New Society Publishersand The Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs, p. 155.The third edition was published by iUniverse in 2013.
A group member can help the group guide its thinking with the following questions. The sequence of questions is designed to gradually move from surface observation through personal reflection, thoughtful interpretation, and resolution.
Debriefing a Traumatic Event Aims of the conversation: To talk about personal experiences of the trauma To face reality and begin to deal with it productively To move from shock to beginning to come to terms with the situation
Opening: This event has shaken all of us. Let’s take a little time to reflect on what’s happened, so we can come to terms with it. I’m going to ask some questions that will help us gradually process what happened. I would like you to let everyone have their own answers – no interrupting, arguing, or judging what anyone says. Objective Questions: Imagine you were a video camera recording what you have seen and heard happening since the first events. What actions, words, phrases, objects, and scenes are recorded on your tape? Let’s get everything out – the first events, then everything that has happened since — so we all have as full a picture as possible of what has happened to this point. Reflective Questions: What were your first reactions? What shocked or frightened you most about this incident? What images or previous experiences were triggered for you? How else did you find yourself reacting? Interpretive Questions: What impact has this had on you personally? How are you different now? How we different as a group or as a society as a result of these events? How has our view of the world changed? What might have been some contributing factors to why this happened? What might be some of the underlying issues behind all of this? What might we learn from this? Decisional Questions: What can we do to deal with the situation in the short term? What are some things we can do to begin to deal with the underlying issues and prevent events like this from happening again? What can we do to help each other? Closing We will undoubtedly continue to reflect on this. If you need help, please be sure to ask for it.
Hints: Some of these questions are difficult to answer, so if there are few spoken answers, don’t worry. The very fact of raising these questions and following this flow allows deeper reflection later. It may be helpful to print out the questions for people to take with them for later reflection.
The Art of Focused Conversation for Schools: Over 100 Ways to Guide Clear Thinking and Promote Learning has nearly 200 sample conversations for parents, teachers, staff, and parents. It can be ordered through the publisher, iUniverse.com
These stories were originally published in Edges Magazine, Volume 4, #1, in 1991. The theme of the magazine issue was “The Fusion of Nature and Culture”.They are based on my experience with my family living and working with participatory community development in Murrin Bridge, NSW, from 1981-1983. I tell them in gratitude for the learning I gained from members of the community.
Auntie Lena
Auntie Lena was one of the last Ngyiampaa women to have spent her childhood in the bush in her own country between the Lachlan and the Darling Rivers, in New South Wales. In the 1930’s the government intervened and moved the Ngiyampaa people off their ancestral land onto first one reserve and then to another. Since for Aboriginal Australians, the land and all of its life forms play out a drama that provides people with their essential life patterns, things fell apart. Auntie Lena, however, had gained a foundational sense of who she was as a person in growing up on the land. She witnessed her own children flounder in the vacuum of meaninglessness, and saw her grandchildren hungry from neglect.
Yet years later, when we met Auntie Lena, she maintained a centeredness, a sense of humour, a non-judgemental attitude, and an ability to reach out in the midst of all the chaos of the disrupted society, I remember her delighted laughter and dry comments, as she sat on a broken chair in a yard glittering with bits of broken glass. She was one of the elders who put together a book and went into the schools to teach Ngiyampaa language and culture to the children, both black and white. It took a lot of courage and self-respect to go into the school when she had never learned to read and write. Later she asked me to teach her. I have a wonderful photograph of her learning to write her name at age 80, something she had yearned to do for 60 years.
A week after the photograph she had a stroke, was in a coma for a month, and was never the same again. She lived for another year, somewhat confused about time and place, but still an emotional and symbolic anchor for her family and the community.
The Black Superman
The children in an Aboriginal Australian community are generally left pretty much to their own devices. They are watched to see what they’re going to grow into, but they’re not moulded into their parents’ image. In the old traditions, the mythology of the people, intimately connected with the ancestral land, was the Law. The words “story” and “law” are often used interchangeably. The Law provided for order and stability in the community. Sometimes the consequences looked like something swooping down out of the sky and taking you away if you got out of line or did dangerous things. Children’s behaviour was governed by the Law more than by parents’ rules and punishments. At puberty children were initiated into deeper meanings of the Law, which changed them into adults. They then assumed all the responsibilities and roles of adults.
When the Ngiyampaa people were moved off their ancestral land in the 1930’s, the Law lost its foundation, and the initiation rites went out of existence. Since that time, the people have been without a symbolic transition to responsibility. By the 1980’s, children and young people were operating without mythic patterns to guide behaviour. Adults were worried but had no way to deal with it.
Uncle Bushy understood at some level that mythology was the key to managing behaviour in the community. He invented the Black Superman, a terrifying creature who lurked in the bushes. It made sense to the kids, because it bridged the mythology of modern life they got from television and their own sense of natural limits. Bushy told the kids that if they went out after dark down near the river, the Black Superman was going to get them. It worked wonderfully. Kids would come over to visit and we’d have to walk them home after dark because no kid was going to go out where the Black Superman might get them. For that aboriginal community, the Black Superman story became part of the Law, a story about life which shaped the way people behaved.
Healing Drama
When the Ngiyampaa people were moved off their ancestral land, they lost contact with their mythology, In this “foreign” environment, their story had no meaning. The centre of life became a black hole. As this happened, self-respect eroded and order dissolved. Some of the manifestations were family breakdowns, drinking, breaking things up, and fighting – classic symptoms of lives without meaning.
There was no way to recover the myths, the old symbols, the ancient depth stories of the Ngiyampaa people. The last initiation – a ritual involving depth communication of the mythology – took place in 1914. One initiated man was left in that community, but he had no one to share the mythology with. He could not share with anyone who was not initiated, and it took several initiated ones to re-enact the rituals.
The people didn’t live on the ancestral land so the patterns of the mythology made limited sense. For the younger people who had never lived on their ancestral land, the old stories did not hold together, so they seemed silly. But after a couple of generations of living without meaning, people began, in small ways, to recover the heritage, the depth story, and a new myth and identity for themselves as Aboriginal people.
One of the things they did was to take an Aboriginal myth from another tribe and act it out as a play. Then they acted out their own recent history, how they had been moved in the cattle trucks to one reserve after another, put their own lives into the story. The children acted these stories out in the school, giving them dignity and meaning and significance.
When they began putting the “storying” into their present being, there was a change in the community. This is not to say that abusive behaviour disappeared. But things shifted measurably so incidents of alcohol-related violence dropped dramatically. Even white people in town said, “Things are different. People meet us differently on the street.”
For Aboriginal people, life and mythology are much more a unity than can be expressed in the English language or can be understood by the Western mind. The Ngiyampaa people are now in a time of recreating their mythology after a long time of silence. As the dramas are rewoven, essential life patterns are being reborn. Self-respect and meaning are returning.
A healthy baby boy was born to the family on January 9, 2022. Donated baby clothes and equipment were delivered to the house before he arrived home from the hospital. Joy continues…..
In these uncertain and dark times, I think we need a story of joy and hope. Interestingly, it has resonance with the story of the Christmas season. I tell this story with deep gratitude. It is shared without names, photos or precise locations for privacy and safety reasons.
August
An Afghan family has educated all of its children, including 7 girls, and 5 of the children, now adults, are in the Western world. Their oldest son is a lawyer and supports his parents, his wife and children. The Taliban offensive targets their regional city, killing a lawyer. They threaten his friend, the oldest son of this family, and his family, with death.
The lawyer flees the regional city for Kabul, leaving his pregnant wife and 2 small children with her family in a nearby village, and his elderly parents in the house he built for them.
The Taliban try to burn down the house of the parents, who hide for several days, fearing they will come back. Finally they gather their daughter-in-law and the children, and decide to brave the dangerous road to Kabul to join their son rather than wait for certain death in their city.
They escape Kabul just after the airport bombing at the end of August on a flight chartered by a non-profit group, with only their backpacks of documents and a few clothes.
For the next 4 months they are shuttled from refugee camp to refugee camp, from Doha, to Frankfurt, to Pennsylvania, to New Mexico, to Michigan, homeless but relatively safe.
December
On the last day of November, the whole family are admitted to Canada as refugee claimants. An immigration official stages their papers compassionately so that each becomes an anchor person for the next, allowing them all to enter immediately.
They reunite with their youngest son, who is already in Canada, but have to stay in a motel for 3 weeks because there is no available place to rent. The cost is astronomical for a family of 6 with no income.
Friends (including a young real estate agent) and the family work frantically to find rental housing for a family of 4 adults and 2 children. Several landlords refuse to rent to a family with only inadequate government support. One landlord has a vacant house for rent, but then decides that he is not going to rent. He plans to sell the house in January.
A family friend who has tutored one of the daughters and has known the family for more than 10 years appeals for donations for household goods, clothes, and children’s toys, and many generous people, neighbours, family, and friends of friends respond. One family shares the request with their young children, who go through their toys and clothes and donate several boxes, while a pregnant woman donates baby things that she has herself been given.
Finally a wise man, a friend of the family friend, decides to break the logjam. He works with the real estate agent, and within 36 hours, he has signed an agreement with the landlord/seller to buy the vacant house with the condition of immediate occupancy. The next day the family gets the key and moves in. The collected household goods, clothing, and children’s books and toys are delivered by the family friend, and 2 days later the rental agreement is signed.
The baby, due in a few weeks, will not have to be born in a stable, or in a refugee camp. The family does not have to fear bombs or Taliban, and is safe and secure in Canada. They can go on to establish themselves here, with continued support for the first year.
The family is overcome with gratitude.
Everyone who contributed as well as the family itself is feeling the joy of the season. Prayers of gratitude have been offered up in several religious traditions.
Script of a presentation given on Zoom to a group of teachers and facilitators in China on June 29, 2021
Preparation
I grew up on a farm in Iowa.
I was a teacher from childhood – I taught my sister to read when I was 6 and she was 4. And I used to gather all the neighbourhood kids to do science experiments.
My mother was a teacher, my father had a strong global awareness – both shared these with us.
I have a BA Degree in Education and Anthropology from the University of Iowa.
I joined ICA the same year I started teaching school, right after graduation.
Washington, DC – 1970
How to be respectful and fair, yet firm
This was my first experience in a culture not my own – Black inner-city, grade 3.
Given the history of blacks and whites in the US, I struggled with how to do fair and respectful discipline in my classroom. If the kids were disruptive, I didn’t know how to be firm and respectful at the same time.
Eventually I was given an ultimatum from the principal: manage your class or you are fired– my transformation was the same afternoon. I couldn’t afford to be fired!
That year I discovered learning from the students – there were 2 boys named Emmanuel.
They were in Grade 3 and neither could read
I developed a way of learning to read adapted from Sylvia Ashton-Warner’s work with Maori kids in New Zealand.
They asked for words they wanted to read,
I wrote them on cards,
They traced them, said them out loud, wrote them.
The next day, if they remembered the word on the card, they could keep it.
If they didn’t, we threw it away, and said it was the wrong word, not that the child was wrong for not remembering.
After a few words, we built sentences.
Chicago, 1971-2
Forming curriculum around what the students need – facilitating their voices
Black inner-city, grade 7-8 – 7 classes of 30 kids every day – taller than me
Assigned to teach music – kids needed to learn to read
First year – disaster – kids out of control – again a principal gave me an ultimatum to improve
Second year – on the first day, I had each student make a private 10-year life plan.
Name?
How old are you now?
How old will you be in 10 years?
What do you want to be or be doing in 10 years?
What are 10 things you need to do to get where you want to be in 10 years?
What are 10 things you need to do this year to get to where you want to be?
And finally, what do you need from my class?
Their plans were private – the only thing I asked them to share was what they needed from my class. I wrote every one of them on the blackboard and had someone copy it. Then I clustered it all together along with the curriculum I was given, and what I knew they needed – to learn to read and believe in themselves.
This foundation became the creation of Black Music History course – I learned a lot!
Transformation of kids – they were eager participants in my class
Transformation of me – I realized that I was successful when I could relate what I was teaching to what the students needed for their own lives
Commendation from the principal
Grade 6 Rite of Passage Journey, Summer 1974
Transforming children into youth
35 6th graders, children of staff and colleagues
Camping in tents for 6 weeks, mostly in the wilderness
Intention was to provide a rite of passage from childhood to youth, with greater responsibility
Challenging activities, such as a week-long hike, carrying all camping gear
An overnight solitary vigil for each student, with some questions to ponder
Watching the Northern Lights one night until very late – awesome
Peoria, 1974-6
Facilitating mutual learning
Group facilitation started to be known – we started to use it in facilitating community planning meetings
From facilitation and my experience in Chicago, I stood in respect for the students – they learned from me and I learned from them.
Lesson plans became session plans – a way of putting an agenda together
Egypt, 1975-78
The long-term value of building on what the community needs, creating personal and community transformation
Facilitated community planning – including all villagers
Community wanted good education in the village
Started the preschool – facilitating young non-literate village women to plan and teach
Demonstrated how to build curriculum and lead conversations
Encouraged the teachers to take literacy classes
The next year – community teachers running the preschool
Kids on the first day in the public school were not afraid
45 years later there is still a village-run preschool in the village
There are university graduates from the community, and several still doing participatory community development
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Texas, 1979-81
Facilitating as creating bridges of understanding between groups in a community
Two cultures not my own simultaneously – Mexican and Texan
In the school I did informal facilitation – creating bridges of understanding between cultures
Facilitating on-going community planning
I built the remedial reading curriculum on what kids needed – testing, talking with them – addressing underlying contradictions where they were blocked rather than creating a set lesson plan
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Murrin Bridge 1981-83
Facilitating as cultural reconciliation
I took aboriginal elders into the schools – since I was neither black or white Australian, both sides trusted me and I was a liaison between the teachers and the Aboriginal elders
The community wanted to preserve language and culture – the elders were the only ones who spoke the language – they taught black and white kids together to create self-confidence and respect.
When we did this, I facilitated conversations on what students were learning
My work was to create bridges of understanding between cultures
Chicago, 1984
Supporting youth to thrive
Student house – place where Grade 7-8 students lived while their parents were working overseas
Jamaica, 1984-86
Supporting local leadership
Worked with village preschool teachers again, and trained school teachers on request
Canada, 1986 – 2021
Facilitation as a way to change school systems
Regina Public Schools
I trained 10% of the teachers and principals in facilitation – Focused Conversation and Consensus Workshop Method. Many of them used the methods in their classrooms and in teacher’s meetings. They also facilitated input into a school reorganization plan.
Eeeyou Istchee (James Bay Cree) School Board – Quebec
I facilitated strategic planning for the schools in 10 remote indigenous communities.
Then I facilitated the leadership team to bring the plans from the communities together for the whole indigenous school board.
This created a school board plan that held indigenous values.
This plan guided the school board’s decisions for more than 5 years.
Treaty 4 Education – Saskatchewan
I facilitated a strategic plan with the school board and leadership (several indigenous communities).
This facilitation included community consultations.
They created a school board that met their values as an indigenous board.
I continue to do follow-up and train staff in facilitation.
They use facilitation in all their interactions with community.
OISE – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
OISE is the education department at the University of Toronto
The new dean wanted participation in decision-making, not something often done in universities.
500 people – faculty, staff, administration, and students participated in small groups to create values, vision, obstacles and strategies, and then representatives of those groups clustered all the results together to make one strategic plan for the department. For each strategy, there was an action planning team to make plans for how to move forward on the strategies.
This project won an IAF Facilitation Impact Award.
The university provost commended the department for its planning, and suggested that other departments do something similar.
Jofacilitator 