Constructive Conversations for Challenging Times: A Guide for Home and Community Dialogue

Watertown, MA: Public Conversations Project, 2001.

A 38-page guide to convening and facilitating constructive conversations about the events of September 11 and all that has happened since. The guide draws on over a decade of experience conducting dialogues about divisive public issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and how to use natural resources. It contains instructions for a two-hour structured dialogue and suggestions for briefer or less formal conversations that have the spirit of dialogue. For step-by-step support in hosting your own dialogue in person or online, download a free copy of PCP's Guide for Home and Community Dialogue.

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

Contested Values: Tug-Of-War In The School Yard

National Issues Forums, 1994.

America's public schools, which have been the principal means of transmitting common values from one generation to the next, have become battlefields. At issue are fundamental differences about moral authority, family life, sexual expression, and how to live together despite our differences. This nonpartisan issue guide is used for citizen deliberations in National Issues Forums.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/guides.aspx?catID=10

Creating a Formula for Success in Low-Performing Schools

Public Agenda.

This Citizen ChoiceWork guide (and video) from Public Agenda was developed for community conversations, classrooms, study groups, and individuals. Too many schools have students who are just getting by, or failing to learn much at all. We look at four hypothetical school communities and their different approaches to boosting student achievement: set high expectations and hold schools accountable; increase resources for classroom essentials; increase parent and community involvement; and ensure effective leadership. Spanish language version available.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm

Crime Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

America has long had the dubious distinction of being the world's most violent industrial nation. Violent crime skyrocketed in the U.S. starting in the late 1960s, a trend that continued into the early 1990s. It's no wonder that crime has consistently been one of the public's major concerns over the past three decades. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=crime

Day of Dialogue: A community conversation about alcohol

Greek Summit - Sponsor: NASPA's Fraternity/Sorority Knowledge Community.

This dialogue guide introduces a model for discussing issues related to alcohol and alcohol-free housing.

Democracy's Challenge: Reclaiming the Public's Role

National Issues Forums Institute, 2006.

Fed up with politics and a widening partisan divide, many Americans are turning away from public life. We are, most of us, spectators rather than participants in a political process that seems to have little to do with citizens. What has gone wrong, and what should we do about it? The National Issues Forums Institute is encouraging citizens to consider this important question by fostering deliberative forums across the country about Democracy's Challenge using this issue book.

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

Dialogue for Affinity Groups

Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 2006.

A supplemental discussion guide intended to give people with similar racial or ethnic backgrounds an opportunity to talk with each other about issues of racism in sessions preceding and following the regular diverse dialogue sessions of a community-wide study circle program. These optional discussions are designed to be used with Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation.

Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx

Discovering Common Ground: Missouri Communities Deliberate

Sandra Hodge at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri directs this program, which promotes deliberation in Missouri primarily through National Issues Forums. Downloadable from Discovering Common Ground's website are three PowerPoint presentations about moderating, convening and recording deliberative public forums, and an 83-page manual titled Deliberation and Your Community: How to Convene and Moderate Local Public Forums Using Deliberative Decision-Making.

Resource Link: http://extension.missouri.edu/cd/pubdelib/

Discussion Guide - The Energy Problem: Which Way Forward

The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) and the Kettering Foundation, 2006.

America's way of life seems threatened by unstable sources of energy, while many see growing evidence of environmental damage. As demands for energy escalate, both in this country and in rapidly developing nations, we may soon reach a point of no return. It is time to face the difficult choices that must be made to ensure a sustainable future.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/detail.aspx?catID=6&itemID=7743

e-Consultation Research Project

In 2004, Queen's University Belfast, the University of Maynooth and Limerick IT was awarded a large research grant on e-consultation. E-consultation is the use of electronic computing and communication technologies in consultation and is complementary to existing consultation mechanisms. It is software used to support mediation, negotiation and decision-making processes. The project sought to turn e-consultation in Northern Ireland and the border counties from an experimental idea to a practical option for community, voluntary and public sector bodies. A final report and an Online e-Consultation guide are available on the project's website.

Resource Link: http://www.e-consultation.org

Education Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

It's hard to find any American who isn't touched in some way by the public schools as a student, parent, taxpayer, employer, or any combination of the above. And by almost any measure, the schools are one of the public's top concerns. Test scores indicate the problems are not as bad as two decades ago, but even so public confidence in public schools has declined dramatically over the past 25 years. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=education

Education: How Can Schools and Communities Work Together to Meet the Challenge? A Guide for Involving Community Members in Public Dialogue and Problem Solving (3rd Edition)

Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 1997.

A multiple-session discussion guide examining the challenges schools face and the ways in which citizens and educators can improve education.

Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx

Education: How Do We Get The Results We Want?

National Issues Forums.

This booklet bypasses the familiar arguments about how to reform our schools, to focus on who can most effectively bring about the educational results we want. This nonpartisan guide is used for citizen deliberations in National Issues Forums.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org/discussion_guides/guides.aspx?catID=10

Ensuring School Safety Guide

Public Agenda.

Everyone wants schools that are safe, where students, teachers and support staff can concentrate on learning and not have to worry about crime and violence. In this community dialogue, you'll be asked to discuss your ideas on the best way to ensure that schools are safe places for children to learn and grow. Different approaches to school safety will have different benefits and different costs and challenges. To help you and your neighbors decide what is most important to you, Public Agenda presents in this Citizens ChoiceWork Guide three hypothetical school communities, each of which has approached the issue of school safety in a different way.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm

Everybody Ready for School: How Can we Ensure High Quality Early Childhood Programs?

Public Agenda.

Many educators, parents and researchers agree that high quality "school readiness" programs can help youngsters be more successful later on in school and in life. But preschool programs vary widely in quality. How can we make sure that all preschool programs provide safe and enriching environments that do a good job preparing children for school? In other words, how can we make sure all preschool programs are of the highest possible quality? This Citizen ChoiceWork Guide (and video) from Public Agenda presents three approaches: fund programs more adequately and equitably; create standards and accountability; and give parents more choice. Available in video and print format.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm

Fostering Dialogue Across Divides: A Nuts and Bolts Guide from the Public Conversations Project

Maggie Herzig and Laura Chasin, Public Conversations Project.

For years, the Public Conversations Project has set the standard for facilitation materials and training in the dialogue and deliberation field. This Guide--chock-full of PCP's road-tested techniques for effectively engaging people across differences--is an invaluable resource for both established dialogue facilitators and newcomers to this work.

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

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

Future Search: An Action Guide to Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities

Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff, Future Search Network. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1995.

This book describes a step-by-step process for planning and leading a Future Search conference, where diverse community members come together to envision and plan their shared future.

Resource Link: http://www.futuresearch.net

Gay Rights Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

For much of American history, indeed, for much of world history, homosexuality has been a taboo subject. Often, it has been considered a crime in itself. Yet today, millions of gay and lesbian Americans are not only open about their sexuality, they are campaigning for new laws which they say would grant them the same rights accorded to heterosexuals, including the right to marry and protection against discrimination. What's more, there's been a notable shift in the public's attitudes toward homosexuality over the last two decades. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=gay_rights

Guide for Training Study Circle Facilitators

Sarah Campbell, Writer/Managing Editor. Study Circles Resource Center.

This guide is designed to help you train study circle facilitators. Study circles--small-group, democratic, highly participatory discussions--provide settings for deliberation, for working through social and political issues, for coming up with action strategies, for connecting to policy making, and for building community.

Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/HowTo.aspx