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Civic Reflection News Update — March 2011

TRAININGS

Join Us in May

Our next open-call facilitation training will begin at noon on Thursday, May 19 and conclude at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20, 2011, at Columbia College Chicago.

January Training

Professors, scholars, and others in the field of higher education were well represented at our lively January training in Chicago. Educators described a range of plans for integrating civic reflection in their work: to implement a service reflection series at Rutgers University; to work with faculty, staff and scholarship students at Stetson University; to teach a Philanthropic Studies course at IUPUI. A doctoral student at the Institute of Development Studies in the United Kingdom plans to work with communities, universities and church groups in the rural American South. Other new facilitators will lead discussions with AmeriCorps members, participants in a leadership development program, women philanthropists, and nonprofit board members.

Mia Croyle of the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles came to the training to enhance her repertoire of skills as a coach, mentor, and professional development guide for health educators and others seeking to be agents of change in the healthcare system. She gave us permission to quote her post-workshop Facebook update: "The Project on Civic Reflection Facilitation Training bowled me over with the transformative power of reflective group discussion. My head and heart are humming with possibilities and connections. Wish I could bottle this feeling and sip a little every day."

Chicago Cultural Alliance: Museums as Centers of Civic Engagement

The Chicago Cultural Alliance (CCA) sponsored its second facilitation training workshop on January 10-11 at the Ukrainian National Museum in downtown Chicago. The workshop, designed for CCA's Core Members, focused on building museums as centers of civic engagement. The workshop included a new session, "Asking Good Questions," in which participants played the role of a facilitator trying to open up discussion of a particularly complex or difficult issue. The group shared the complicated issues for their own organizations and worked together to brainstorm reflective, as opposed to problem-solving, questions for discussion. While civic reflection cannot "solve" all the thorny issues people bring to public dialogues, it can open up a space in which people have the chance to think more deeply, to hear what others believe, and to consider, reflect and leave feeling more connected to others and themselves.

Participants in the CCA training will use the civic reflection model to frame similar public dialogues on numerous topics at their respective sites. In addition to providing facilitation trainings, the Project on Civic Reflection is engaged in ongoing consulting work with CCA and in creating a customized civic reflection toolkit.

Civic Reflection at The Ohio State University

PCR trainer and Illinois Humanities Council program officer Ryan Lewis conducted a facilitation workshop for staff and grantees at The Ohio State University's Center for Learning Excellence on December 20-21. The workshop centered on the themes of Motivation and Differences, and included poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, Anna Swir, Alden Nowlan and Langston Hughes, an essay by George Orwell, and a painting by Jamie Wyeth. Most participants were seasoned facilitators, some with 15-20 years' training, mediation, and coaching experience in educational and other learning communities, such as Boys and Girls Clubs.

Because of the depth of experience in the room, says Ryan Lewis, "We had a rich discussion of techniques and methods—especially because the focus of civic reflection is not on achieving a specific end product or goal. Having participants as the focus of conversation came as a revelation to them." Facilitators spoke of having learned techniques they could apply both in civic reflection and other settings. Lewis says he was nervous that the Christmas Week timing would make focus difficult, but the worry was unfounded: "Not only didn't they tune out, but the second day was more emotional and high-energy than the first—a testament to the quality of the participants."

The mission of the OSU Center for Learning Excellence is to support organizations and communities in effective collaboration. The Center provides coaching, training conferences and other forms of support for community policies and programs.

Meaning of Service Workshop in Montana

Adam Davis and Lowell Jaeger led a one-day Meaning of Service workshop at the Montana Historical Society in Helena, MT in mid-December. Sponsored by Humanities Montana, the workshop drew representatives from Montana Campus Compact, Montana Conservation Corps, the Governor's Office of Community Service, the Anaconda Family Resource Center, Jobs for Montana's Graduates Foundation, and the Montana Historical Society.

    • Learn more about Humanities Montana's Meaning of Service program.

SPOTLIGHT

Civic Reflection in California

In November 2010 the Project on Civic Reflection held back-to-back open call trainings in Northern California. We are grateful to our partners and site hosts, Cal Corps Public Service Center (Berkeley) and California Campus Compact (Daly City), for making these successful workshops possible.

Our new trainers, Cathy Avila-Linn of Santa Clara, CA and Kathleen Rice of Oakland, have been leading a series of regional civic reflection dialogues with community engagement leaders in the California State University network. According to Avila-Linn, the initial dialogue was "both extremely rich and highly participatory," with participants continuing to share positive feedback after the session closed. A second dialogue drew more participants and was equally successful. The dialogues will be followed by an online evaluation to assess their impact. Says Cathy Avila-Linn, "The workshops sponsored by the CSU Chancellor's Center for Community Engagement offered participants the opportunity to reflect on their values, experiences, and opportunities for inspiring and leading change on many levels, including individual, organizational, institutional, and societal. The dialogue encouraged participants to think, share, and listen carefully, in an effort to enhance their understanding of how and why they do what they do—and thereby improve how they do it."

Recently we spoke with a participant in the Daly City training, Andrea Wise, about her advocacy of civic reflection at the University of San Francisco. As the coordinator of community-based learning for the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good at USF. Wise works with ACEs (Advocates for Community Engagement), USF student leaders who coordinate service-learning projects at local nonprofits. One of the things ACEs do is lead reflective discussions to help the students connect their academic courses with their service and better understand the social justice issues impacting the organizations where they serve.

As part of their professional development, ACEs attend a retreat during Winter Break, where this year they were introduced to civic reflection. Wise and two co-facilitators, Star Moore and Angela Mucci, led the students through a civic reflection discussion of "The Lovers of the Poor" and then had them lead their own discussions of readings by Kafka, Henri Barbusse and Alden Nowlan. The retreat went so well that Wise plans to hold a civic reflection workshop annually or bi-annually from now on. She says, "The students loved the civic reflection model… It really helped them with general facilitation skills, and they liked using the readings as a way to discuss issues. Several of the students we trained plan to implement the civic reflection model during the upcoming semester."

But let the students speak for themselves:

From Brandon Oldham, a sophomore Environment Science major and ACE at Quesada Gardens Initiative:

    • I liked that civic reflection motivates people to work through the realization process on their own. At the same time, it motivates people to openly talk.

From Zannah Herridge-Meyer, a senior International Studies major, Pre-Med student and ACE at Project Open Hand:

    • I plan to use the civic reflection for my work regarding the discussion of disease, health, and service. I enjoyed how the articles used were timeless and could be used as a basis for discussion and also a way to redirect conversation, if needed. It is different from other types of reflections because there is no set direction the conversation needs to go in. It is helpful to set the atmosphere, have guiding ground rules and questions, and then watch the conversation unfold.

From Caroline Fruth, a senior Sociology major and ACE at Opportunity Impact:

    • I would like to use civic reflection to have real, honest, and engaging conversations with the students I work with.

From Noah Jennings, a senior International Studies major and ACE at De Marillac Academy:

    • Civic reflection is a great tactic to get people to engage in a conversation. The common reading gives people the ability to relate to one another and draw upon past experiences. The carefully constructed environment encourages interaction, sharing, and controversy with civility. I plan to use civic reflection with the service-learning students with whom I work as a means to discuss wider, important social issues.

From Carly Smith, a sophomore Communication Studies major and ACE at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship:

    • I found the retreat on civic reflection extremely beneficial. I am looking forward to leading future service-learning students in a civic reflection.

All of us at PCR are thrilled that the November facilitation workshops jump-started such rich and varied civic reflection activity in the Golden State. We hope facilitators will continue to share their experiences and let us know how we can support their important work.

NEWS & NOTES

Illinois Campus Compact / Project on Civic Reflection Pilot

We are excited to be partnering with Illinois Campus Compact (ILCC) this academic year on a Civic Reflection Pilot Project. Funded by the McCormick Foundation, the project is designed to deepen student reflection in service learning and community engagement, while also building the capacity of faculty and staff to lead civic reflection discussions. PCR is leading four one-day facilitation trainings for faculty, staff and VISTA leaders at ILCC member institutions and providing support as members integrate the practice into classrooms, service projects and other activities. Click here to see the Civic Reflection Team leading discussions at one participating institution, Governors State University.

The pilot's research and evaluation component will gather data on civic reflection as a form of faculty development and as a strategy for increasing student engagement and cultivating civic-minded graduates. The research project will conclude with a team presentation at the annual International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Conference, being held in Chicago in November 2011. Dr. Julie Hatcher, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), is providing evaluation and research support. With her colleague Dr. Robert Bringle, Executive Director of the Center for Service and Learning at IUPUI, Prof. Hatcher has done extensive research and writing on service learning, reflection, civic engagement, and the assessment of service-learning outcomes.

New Student Facilitators at Elmhurst College

Last fall, Kelli Covey and Ryan Lewis led a two-day facilitation workshop for student leaders at Elmhurst College in Illinois. The workshop prepared participants to plan and lead reflective discussions with students and faculty at Elmhurst. Recently we talked with student leader Amanda Ceaser about her experiences as a civic reflection facilitator. An advertising and public relations major with a minor in art, Amanda first attended a PCR facilitation workshop in January 2010, just days after returning from a study-abroad program in India. "I did not have much reflection time while in India," she said, "so coming together with this group of people to discuss why we all do the things we do gave me the chance to talk about my trip and reflect on all the sights, smells, and tastes I had experienced in the last month or so."

In March of last year, Amanda led her first off-campus conversations when she was tapped to be a site leader for the Elmhurst College Chapter of Habitat for Humanity on an Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans. Amanda led about 25 participants in reflection on Brecht's "A Bed for the Night". "Everyone was very involved with the piece and our conversation ended up lasting much longer than expected. They didn't want to stop." Encouraged by this start, Amanda became a frequent civic reflection facilitator. In fall 2010 she led reflective discussions for another Habitat for Humanity trip, this time to San Diego, CA. This winter she co-led a civic reflection retreat for student leaders at Elmhurst. And this spring, she is one of four facilitators leading discussions with 80 Habitat for Humanity volunteers at the college. Another facilitation workshop participant, Julie Provenza, has led discussions with the Greenjays, a student environmental organization, and with Elmhurst's Community Outreach Program.

"As we opened up the world of civic reflection to the Elmhurst College community and the student organizations," Amanda says, "people became much more aware of why we do all the things we do, as individuals and communities."

Loyola University Focus on Teaching Event

Adam Davis gave a keynote address titled "Deepening Teaching and Learning: Engaging Students Through Civic Reflection" at the Focus on Teaching event at Loyola University on January 13. After the key note and a question-and-answer period, Adam led two civic reflection breakout sessions with groups of faculty and staff members at Loyola University. Faculty and staff from departments and disciplines across the university—including nursing, law, business, literature, environmental science and experiential learning—participated in the discussions, which revolved around questions raised by Howard Nemerov's poem "Learning the Trees".

Texas State Service Commission Expands its Civic Reflection Program



This is the second year of the Project on Civic Reflection's partnership with the OneStar Foundation, the Texas state service commission. The focus of the civic reflection program this year is capacity-building, with experienced facilitators training and mentoring others. PCR has provided a train-the-trainer workshop, a regular facilitation workshop, and ongoing support in the form of newsletters, coaching, and conference calls. The eight new trainers who were trained last fall will be serving as peer mentors, training facilitators at regional and state conferences, and leading discussions at similar gatherings. Discussion series, including Spanish-language discussions, are being held this spring at eight sites statewide.

The evaluation plan includes a Civic Reflection Evaluation Survey distributed to all facilitators and participants. In addition, interviews will be conducted with new trainers and with facilitators who have participated in two or more trainings.

Teachers' Center for Democratic Inquiry

PCR's Adam Davis and Kelli Covey are collaborating on an exciting new venture, the development of a Teachers' Center for Democratic Inquiry (TCDI) in Chicago. The chief goal of the TCDI is to make teaching in Chicago sustainable work, both day-to-day and over the course of a career. Regarding teachers as leaders and stewards of democratic life, the Center will provide space for inquiry and opportunities for teachers to share voice, vision and practice. In early December 2010 the TCDI convened its first workshop, Educating: A Life, gathering educators from across Chicago to engage in reflective dialogue on teaching and to strategize as a group about the most essential components of the emerging Center. The inspiration participants brought to the vision included centers like Highland Folk Center, Teacher Curriculum Work Center, and Hull House; and processes like Critical Friends and Descriptive Review.

In addition to Adam and Kelli, the TCDI planning team includes Shanti Elliott, director of the Community Connections program at Francis Parker School in Chicago and a teacher of education and social policy at Northwestern University; Joseph "Joby" Gardner, an associate professor in DePaul University's School of Education with research interests in youth development and the support of teachers as agents of change; and Joan Bradbury, a retired elementary teacher with over 30 years' experience working with children and other teachers and reflecting on teaching practice.

A second TCDI workshop will be offered on Saturday, April 2 at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum. Chicago teachers interested in participating should contact Adam Davis at (312) 750-1760 or at civic.reflection@valpo.edu.

Photographer Uses Civic Reflection in Interview Project

Recently a participant who attended our October 2010 facilitation training blogged about using interviews, rather than literary texts, to launch reflective conversation. Since 2009, photographer John Noltner has been interviewing people of diverse backgrounds and experiences about their thoughts on peace. The interviews, accompanied by photographs of the subjects, will be used to produce an exhibit for use by community groups who seek to foster dialogue on conflict resolution, tolerance, diversity and civic responsibility. "Over time," Noltner says, "I hope to develop a workbook that others can use to lead these sorts of conversations based off of the interviews."

    • Read Noltner's posting about the project here.

NEW RESOURCES

New Discussion Plans

We've been hearing a lot of enthusiasm from facilitators for discussion plans on readings. Check out three new plans below!

Discussion plan for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "The Drum Major Instinct", used by Kelli Covey and Rebecca Sanders for an MLK Day discussion with staff at Project YES in Chicago in January 2011. Participants listened to an audio clip of King's sermon.

Discussion plan for Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "kitchenette building", used by YangYang Zong for a PCR staff meeting in December 2010.

Discussion plan for Naomi Shihab Nye's "Trying to Name What Doesn't Change", used by Cathy Avila-Linn and Kathleen Rice to facilitate a Civic Reflection Regional Dialogue sponsored by California State University's Center for Community Engagement in October 2010.

Check out other sample discussion plans from our Sample Materials page:

New in the Resource Library

"Trying to Name What Doesn't Change" by Naomi Shihab Nye

    • How do we lead in situations of threat, danger and insecurity?
    • What is change? Do people experience change differently?
    • Why do we fear change?

"kitchenette building" by Gwendolyn Brooks

    • How do we balance necessity and possibility?
    • What are our dreams? Do we have any responsibility toward them?
    • Which are more important, material or spiritual needs?

New in the Facilitators' Forum

    • AmeriCorps members working with community health centers use Henri Barbusse's story "The Eleventh" to talk about the challenges of adhering to their mission—providing healthcare to underserved populations—while at the same time establishing boundaries and avoiding burn-out.

Have you led a civic reflection discussion lately? Tell us about it!
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