Through the Years: Dialogue Program
By Samantha Searls, Program Director
To mark 40 years of Ignite Peace, enjoy this limited series highlighting our past work through the decades.
“Nonviolence is not a principle, it is a flower that blooms on the ground of understanding and love. [It is] something to cultivate. The essence of nonviolence is love. Out of love and the willingness to act selflessly, strategies, tactics, and techniques for a nonviolent struggle arise naturally. Nonviolence is not a dogma; it is a process.” –Thich Nhat Hanh, Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change, 1993
One of the tools in our Nonviolence toolbox is dialogue. Ignite Peace, formerly the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, ran a Dialogue Program for over ten years from 2006-2017. Our goals were:
- To create, offer and facilitate experiences of learning about how to really listen to others whose opinions differ on significant social issues.
- To promote civil discourse.
- To stimulate critical thinking.
- To create an opportunity where people can talk with others who differ and learn from them in a safe and comfortable environment.
We held large dialogue events discussing numerous topics such as the wealth gap, democracy, Islamophobia, healthcare, immigration and more. There were also smaller events called The Public Square: Where Dialogue Matters.
So what is dialogue? How does it differ from debating one another? The Dialogue Decalogue: Ground Rules for Interreligious Dialogue by Leonard Swidler gives us these helpful comparisons:
| Debate | Dialogue |
| Assuming there is a right answer and you have it | Assuming many people have pieces of the answer; together they can craft a solution |
| Combative: Participants attempt to prove other side wrong | Collaborative: Participants work together toward growth |
| About winning | About exploring common ground |
| Listening to find flaws and make counter-arguments | Listening to understand, find meaning and agreement |
| Defending assumptions as truth | Revealing assumptions for re-evaluation |
| Critiquing the other side’s position | Re-examining all positions |
| Defending one’s own views against those of others | Admitting that others’ thinking can improve on one’s own |
| Searching for flaws and weaknesses in others’ positions | Searching for strengths and value in others’ positions |
Ignite Peace’s dialogue process was designed in a four step process led by trained facilitators:
- Introductions: Review group agreements and the dialogue process
- Listen and Be Heard: Everyone who wishes to express their thoughts or advocate a position has a chance to do so. This step utilizes reflective listening: paraphrasing what the previous speaker has shared.
- Genuine Questions: The chance to ask genuine and respectful questions of one another or the group about what was heard in step 2 The person asked restates it before responding in order to ensure understanding.
- Reflection: A brief closing in which the group is asked a final question prompting reflection upon the topic and experience. The group also completes evaluations.
After the process is modeled in front of the large group, small dialogue groups formed and went through the exercise themselves. At one point, Ignite Peace had over 60 trained dialogue facilitators offering the program.
Standard group agreements were adapted from the Conversation Cafe and included:
- Acceptance: Suspend judgment as best you can.
- Curiosity: Seek to understand rather than persuade.
- Discovery: Question old assumptions, look for new insights.
- Sincerity: Speak for yourself about what has personal heart and meaning.
- Brevity: Go for honesty and depth but don’t go on and on.
- Confidentiality: Respect and honor the rights and privacy of all participants.
While Ignite Peace no longer offers the dialogue program, its lessons live on in our Engaging Nonviolence training series. Additionally, our partner, EquaSion, is equipped to bring dialogue to your community through the Essential Partners model.
For more information about the dialogue process, consider:
- Difficult Conversations Require Dialogue, Not Discussion or Debate, by Daniel B. Griffith
- This list of resources from the Free Speech Center at the University of California
- Crucial Conversations resources
- This powerpoint from a previous IJPC event with the Sisters of Mercy called Just Listening