6 results for tag: Facilitation

Shared Definitions

What does Social Justice mean to you? If you asked this questions to a room of 20 people, you’d probably get 20 different answers. This was one of the challenges that surfaced as we  facilitated a strategic planning session for a fantastic and thoughtful organization last month. As the group worked together to create a shared vision, mission and goals, the importance of taking time to create shared definitions of terms that, on the surface, may seem self-explanatory, was clear. Often we want to skip this step in order to get to the “meatier” work of setting goals and establishing next steps. While these aspects are fundamental to a planning ...

Creative Approaches to Facilitation Challenges

It is exciting and inspiring to work with organizations that share our priority of truly participatory and community-led projects. PARCEO just had the chance to do this with Portland-based Growing Gardens. We facilitated our second facilitation session as Growing Gardens develop inclusive and multilingual facilitation skills that center participant interests and voices. This is especially important now, as they plan and conduct focus groups to understand how to make the garden an entry point into the school for parents. Our facilitation training builds inclusive facilitation skills that support community involvement and leadership. During our ...

PDX Facilitation

  Facilitation can make or break a meeting or event, especially when navigating differing viewpoints, goals, or participants from diverse backgrounds. This past week in Portland, Oregon, individuals from over 10 different organizations and communities came together to consider how Participatory Action Research (PAR) provides a helpful framework to approach many of the facilitation challenges we face in our work and lives. Some of the unique areas explored in these two trainings included: How to facilitate a multilingual session that minimizes the privileging of one language over another The importance of knowing when to step up ...

Tackling Facilitation Challenges: PARCEO’s 1st Seminar Series

On October 6th, we launched our seminar series, an ongoing space for personal and professional development and support. We spent the morning at El Museo del Barrio discussing facilitation challenges, a theme that grew out of our August 26th Facilitation Training. During the seminar, we shared our stories and experience, and explored skills and ideas to support our growth. We modeled PAR principles as we facilitated and responded to shared challenges. Our prompt question was: What comes to mind when you hear the word participation? The seminar series grew out of our Community Symposium (March 2013) where collaborating groups expressed a desire for a ...

Facilitating within a PAR Framework

As we know, facilitation can open a space or shut it down. Whether at a meeting or discussion or in a classroom, how we facilitate is a critical part of, and integral to our organizing for justice. The more we think intentionally about our role as facilitators in different contexts, the more we can create the kinds of liberating spaces that help facilitate the meaningful organizing and spaces of reflection and analysis that we strive for. PARCEO's facilitator training on August 26th was a time of sharing and learning together among leaders and organizers within the many groups that participated. Thanks to El Museo for once again opening their ...

Tackling Facilitation Challenges

  We launched our seminar series, an ongoing space for personal and professional development and support. We spent the morning at El Museo del Barrio discussing facilitation challenges, a theme that grew out of a session of our Facilitation Training. During the seminar, we shared our stories and experience, and explored skills and ideas to support our growth. We modeled PAR principles as we facilitated and responded to shared challenges. Our prompt question was: What comes to mind when you hear the word participation? The seminar series grew out of our Community Symposium (March 2013) where collaborating groups expressed a desire for a ...