Civic Dialogue - Overview

Many of the most important social issues and problems of our time (e.g., racism, environmental sustainability, economic inequality, etc.) are avoided in educational settings, primarily as a result of their complexity and controversial nature. Some of these issues cut across disciplinary lines; others are more discipline-specific. Addressing such concerns can result in the fostering of important skills, such as critical thinking and argumentation. Doing so is also valuable preparation for active citizenship roles. This module will hopefully help in this pursuit.

Civic engagement requires the social skills necessary to successfully collaborate in a group, to effectively speak in public, to forge coalitions among varied interests, and petition or protest for change when necessary. To do this, students must be able to learn from different perspectives, as well as know how to promote their own goals in contentious political arenas. Democratic values of tolerance, respect for individual and group identities, and concern for the greater good are all fundamentally important to our success as educators and the success of our society.

The FOCUS Initiative was conceived to address an important gap in our educational system: preparing students to be effective democratic citizens. This module focuses on the skills necessary for open inquiry. All dialogue methods are similar in terms of open communication, truthful speaking, and genuine listening intended to stimulate people to take responsibility for their own learning and ideas. The ultimate goal for any open inquiry or dialogue process is to create a safe space for people to explore their assumptions, to question their previous judgments and worldviews, and to change the way they think.

In doing so, they generate new ideas or solutions that were beyond what anyone could have thought of individually. Open inquiry methods create a different level of understanding of people and problems. They allow for more contextual and holistic ways of thinking. They lead to “ah-ha” experiences. The intent of this module is to provide faculty with facilitating ideas for the content and processes to create open inquiry experiences. Our hope is to provide you with the theoretical background and practical application to create open inquiry strategies in your classroom.

 

 What is Open Inquiry?