Page 359 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

participant transcripts were used to inform the analysis of tension and conflict in the context of the

dialogue group, the role of the CC facilitator requires further analysis and understanding.

Facilitator’s Role in Addressing Tension and Conflict and Promoting New Insights

Only a few of the Community Conversation (CC) facilitators I found were experienced.

Three related having either formal facilitation training or years of experience as in the fields of

counseling and education, as a whole they were an adept team of mature individuals with well

developed sensitivities and understanding about issues of structural privilege, oppression, and

institutional racism. The team of facilitators consisted of a mixed group of individuals who were

young and mature adults, skilled and lay professionals, African-American, Asian and White.

The role of having group dialogue facilitators was instrumental in preparing and assisting

participants in sharing their stories, allowing equal voice among Community Conversation

attendees, and modeling civility while confronting periods of tension and disagreement during the

deliberative process. Observing in person the various facilitators work solo with each of the

Community Conversation groups over the course of about four weeks offered insights and aided

in my understanding of their multiple roles which held steady through all of the dialogue sessions.

The facilitators used their skills in a nuanced manner to assure that certain civic

engagement practices or deliberative dialogue processes were carried consistently for each session

(the co-creation of safety), while applying other skills (listening, attentiveness to body language,

keeping the dialogue focused as relevant to pressing issues and topics) as needed to keep the group

dynamics balanced while net letting personal bias negatively impact the flow of group exchanges.

A refined understanding of the various ways that the facilitators guided the group was

acquired through multiple informal observations, combined with facilitator interviews and the

340