Let Freedom Ring!
September 11: Maine Communities Read
and Reflect
Facilitator's Guide

Copyright © 2001 Maine Humanities Council

       Thank you for agreeing to facilitate a community conversation on October 11, 2001. As you know, this effort, sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council, with assistance from the Maine State Library and the Study Circles Resource Center, comes in response to the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001.

       We provide the following guidelines to help you facilitate the conversation. If you have any questions or concerns about the guidelines, please call Victoria Bonebakker or Jane Banquer at the Council (773-5051) to discuss them. It is important that you understand and agree with the prescribed role of the facilitator in this effort.

       Goals for October 11:

        To offer people a safe setting in which to share their thoughts and responses to the events of September 11, to think about the meanings of freedom, to consider together the insights the readings offer, to listen to one another with respect, to reflect, and perhaps to arrive at new insights or new ideas about what we individually and as communities hold most important and what our response to September 11 should be. In this era of sound bite wisdom, and this climate of crisis, the value of reflection is more significant than ever, yet increasingly vulnerable.

        The design of the program grows out of the Council' s strong belief in the power of bringing people together around texts. Careful reading and reflection, especially in a group, help us learn about ourselves and others, and the shared experience develops a sense of connection and community without forced consensus. The readings we have chosen, read in the light of current concerns, have the potential to help people think deeply about who we are as individuals, as communities and as a country. The Four Freedoms speech, with its high concept and ringing rhetoric, came from a president who spoke eloquently about freedom but also oversaw the internment of the Japanese-Americans. It underlines the importance and power of language, as well as the risk of confusing language with fact. The last verse of Auden's poem offers room for individual affirmation and hope. Finally, the focus on readings is a means of keeping discussions on track and preventing their becoming political or ideological debates.

        In addition to the October 11 conversations, the Maine Humanities Council will organize programs (and support the efforts of other groups to do so) that are more explicitly educational, on topics such as Islam and the history and cultures of the Middle East and Central Asia. In the meantime, please mention the bibliography on the MHC web site for resources on these topics.

       Your Role as Facilitator

       Before October 11

• Get in touch with your library contact. You will need to determine exactly where to go and at what time on October 11, make sure there will be a flip chart or blackboard and find out about the room arrangements; if convenient, visit the library to see what the meeting room is like. In any case, it's probably a good idea to arrive at the library by 6:45 p.m. on October 11.
• Contact your partnering facilitator to decide how you will divide the responsibilities. To avoid getting in each other's way, we suggest that one of you be a "back-up" facilitator, prepared to take up the slack if necessary but otherwise more of an observer. This will change if the group is large, and it will be up to you and your partner to decide, on the spot, whether your group should be divided in half to allow for a better discussion. We strongly recommend that you divide the group if the number of participants is more than 25.
• Review the readings and background materials carefully and consider your own reactions to them. No one expects you to be an "expert", but the materials may help you answer some of the participants' questions. Don't hesitate to say you don't know something.

       On October 11

        As a facilitator, your job is to help your group have a meaningful and respectful conversation. The facilitator serves the group. This means you will need to:

• Create a welcoming space
• Help the group develop ground rules for a productive conversation
• Remain neutral.
• Make sure your group members do most of the talking.

       Tips for effective discussion facilitation:

• Help participants grapple with hard issues by asking about the concerns and values that underlie their beliefs and opinions and that of others
• Help participants identify points of agreement, consensus or disagreement as appropriate as a means of moving the conversation along.
• ALLOW SILENCE; people often need time to reflect before they respond.
• Don't talk after each comment or answer every question; invite participants to respond directly to one another.
• Don't let anyone to dominate the discussion; if necessary simply interrupt by saying that it's time to hear from other people. Conversely, try to involve everyone who wants to speak.
• This is not intended to be a political debate; if necessary, remind people of this.

        This is an outline for an hour and a half hour conversation, including approximate times for each element. If the host library, the group and the dynamic of the conversation support it, please feel free to extend the time. It is a good idea to agree on time limits during the ground rules discussion.

       Welcome and introductions; set ground rules ------- 10 minutes

• Greet everyone and welcome them. Give an overview of the evening, the project, and explain your role. For example:

        "These conversations are sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council with assistance from the Maine State Library and the Study Circles Resource Center. Groups are meeting at this moment all over the state, in an effort to come together as a community of Maine people to reflect on the events of September 11, 2001. We'll have a chance to consider some short readings together, to think together, to share, to reflect, and perhaps gain new insights. This is not intended to be a political debate.

       "[John] and I will be serving as facilitators. We're here to help you have a productive conversation, and to guide your reflections. We won't be joining the conversation, but rather, we are here to help you have a successful experience."

• Ask all group members to introduce themselves.
• Help the group set some ground rules for the evening. Explain that ground rules will help them have a productive conversation, in which everyone can participate. You can suggest some typical ground rules to get the conversation going. Record the ground rules on paper or a blackboard where everyone can see them. The ground rules should come from the group members, not be imposed by the facilitator.

        Ground rules might include the following:

• Everyone is to be listened to with respect
• Seek first to understand and then to be understood
• One person speaks at a time
• Don't personalize disagreements

       Sharing our experiences ------ 15 minutes

        Spend some time allowing participants to share some of their own experiences in connection with the terrorist attacks. You might use questions such as these to get the discussion started. The opportunity to share personal experience will help people feel connected to each other and better prepared to focus on the readings. Ask people to be brief.

• What was your initial reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11? How have your feelings changed in the days since September 11?
• What impact have these tragedies had on you, your family, and your friends? How are you and your loved ones coping? Has it affected your work?
• Do you notice any difference in reactions of people of different ages, such as young people, middle aged, and older people?

       Readings and Reflection ------- 60 minutes

        This part of the conversation is based on two readings: an excerpt from FDR's speech "Four Freedoms" and an excerpt from a poem by WH Auden entitled "September 1, 1939; both are on the MHCweb site. (Libraries have been asked to provide copies for participants who arrive without them.)

        Begin by having someone read the each piece aloud; it works even better to have each piece read twice by two different people. Then ask everyone to choose a line or phrase or word from either piece that particularly resonates for them, and go around the room asking people to read these lines or words. Do not comment on the choices or ask questions at this point. (We used these strategies at a "trial run" and they worked amazingly well, creating an atmosphere of respect, careful listening and careful reading, and a sense of the group. We cannot recommend them too highly - they are extremely powerful!)

        Then open the group for conversation and reactions to the reading. Encourage people to talk to one another, rather than to you. These or similar questions can be used to guide the discussion if necessary.

• What is your first reaction to this reading?
• Why did the phrase you chose particularly catch your attention?
• Do either of the readings help you understand yourself and your own reactions better? differently?
• Do these readings offer us insights about our country and its principles? about how we might respond in our community?
• Do these readings tell us anything about the power of words? the dangers of words?

       Wrap up -------- 5 minutes

        In the final minutes, ask members to reflect on the discussion. You might use some of the following questions.

• As you think about our conversation tonight, do you think you gained any new insights?
• Did anything surprise you?
• Were there any themes that emerged?
• Did you hear anything in tonight's conversation that gives you hope for the future?

        Please ask participants to fill out the evaluation that the librarian will provide. (Please complete one yourself also!) Please also invite them to jot down, on the back of the evaluation 1) their immediate reactions to September 11 - which MHC intends to compile into a publication; and 2) what other kinds of programs they would find helpful at this time.

        As you wrap up, point out resources for people who want to go further: library display of relevant readings; bibliography on MHC web site, anything else you are aware of.

        Thank everyone for their participation and contribution to the discussion, and wish them Good Night.

THANK YOU!!

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