BeComing: Women's Circles, Women's Lives (DVD)

Stephanie Ryan and Sarita Chawla.

BeComing is an unscripted documentary which offers a rare opportunity to witness what transpires in the privacy of women's circles. The ten women filmed are multi-cultural and cross-generational, with an age span from thirty to eighty. BeComing takes an experiential look at a woman's circle and the women who create it. By joining their circle over a two-year period, we see first-hand what it is to build and be a part of a community, a part of our society which has been lost to some of us. The women speak of their process of creating and sustaining circle, as well as the effects of the circle in their daily lives.

Resource Link: http://www.becoming-womenscircles.com/ordering.html

Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture

Christina Baldwin, Peer Spirit. Bantam, 1998.

The original small-press edition of Calling the Circle has become one of the key resources for the rapidly-growing 'circle' movement. This newly revised edition brings Baldwin's work to an even broader audience ranging from women's spirituality groups to corporate development teams. Includes detailed instructions and suggestions for getting started, setting goals, and solving disagreements safely and respectfully.

Resource Link: http://www.peerspirit.com

From the Four Directions Circle Starter Kit

A leader is anyone who wants to help, anyone who is willing to step forward to help create change in their world. Change begins with conversation. From the Four Directions, an initiative of the Berkana Institute, offers a simple, yet powerful way for people to be in meaningful conversations.

Resource Link: http://www.fromthefourdirections.org

Peacemaking Circles: From Crime to Community

Kay Pranis, Barry Stuart and Mark Wedge, Peacebuilders International. Living Justice Press: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2003.

This book provides an overview of how peacemaking circles can be used with the justice system as a form of restorative justice. Includes numerous stories and guidelines to support the work that many pioneering community members and criminal justice professionals are doing around the world to explore a more healing, constructive response to crime.

Resource Link: http://www.peacebuildersinternational.com

Samoan Circle

The Samoan circle is a leaderless meeting intended to help negotiations in controversial issues. While there is no leader, a professional facilitator can welcome participants and explain the seating arrangements, rules, timelines and the process. As with the Fishbowl process, the Samoan circle has people seated in a circle within a circle, however only those in the inner circle are allowed to speak. The inner circle should represent all the different viewpoints present, and all others must remain silent. The process offers others a chance to speak only if they join the inner circle.

Talking Circle

Talking Circle is a different kind of meeting than most modern people are used to. The focus is on deepening, exploring and learning together, not on getting things done or completing an agenda. It is possible, with expert facilitation and savvy participation, to do both linear and circular modes in one meeting. Talking Circles are also referred to as Talking Stick Circles, Listening Circles, Wisdom Circles, and the Council Process.

The Art of Hosting and Convening Meaningful Conversations

The Art of Hosting and Convening Conversations is a practice retreat for all who aspire to learn and find new ways for working with others to create innovative and comprehensive solutions. We are a growing community of practitioners, supporting each other to explore and accomplish what we most care about. The hosts of the Art of Hosting invite you to explore the practise of hosting conversations that matter with us, to enhance your own practices of inviting, designing, opening and holding inspired and meaningful spaces in new places in your work, communities and life.

Resource Link: http://www.artofhosting.org

The Little Book of Circle Processes: A New/Old Approach to Peacemaking

Kay Pranis. Good Books, 2005.

Our ancestors gathered around a fire in a circle, families gather around their kitchen tables in circles, and now we are gathering in circles as communities to solve problems. The practice draws on the ancient Native American tradition of a talking piece and combines that with concepts of democracy and inclusivity. Peacemaking Circles are used in neighborhoods to provide support for those harmed by crime and to decide sentences for those who commit crime, in schools to create positive classroom climates and resolve behavior problems, in the workplace to deal with conflict, and in social services to develop more organic support systems for people struggling to get their lives together. The Circle process hinges on storytelling.

Resource Link: http://goodbooks.com/titlepage.asp?ISBN=156148461X

Wisdom Circles: A Guide to Self-Discovery and Community Building in Small Groups

Charles Garfield, Cindy Spring and Sedonia Cahill. New York, NY: Hyperion, 1998.

Shows readers how to form their own wisdom circles with friends and community members based on ten simple guidelines. The wisdom circle serves many purposes: it is a place to practice communication skills, to heal wounds, to find the courage to act upon that small voice within, to share a vision or define a mission. Readers learn how to open and close the circle, how to mutually agree upon a topic or intention, and how to create a safe space for truth telling.

Resource Link: http://www.wisdomcircle.org

Witness Circles, Samoan Circles and Inquiry Circles

Lisa Heft.

Lisa Heft distributed this meaty two-page handout during her "showcase" session on these processes at the 2006 NCDD conference in San Francisco. ?“Samoan?” Circles invite participants to share thoughts on complex and even conflicting issues - without feeling that someone will be solving, arguing or debating what they are sharing - and knowing that what they say will be witnessed by others. Inquiry Circles invite deep, rich thinking through the sharing of richly-textured questions, without any cross-dialogue but instead engaging the group in deep listening and weaving a deeper understanding together. Lisa Heft uses the term ?“Witness Circles?” as an overarching term for these and other similar methods.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/heft-witness_circles.doc