Services We Offer > Facilitation Training
We offer training in facilitation and support meetings for facilitators. In 2008, we hope to offer facilitation workshops in Philadelphia, New York, Washington D.C., and other cities around North America.
The workshops will provide an experience of participating in dialogue, a theoretical framework for thinking about dialogue, step-by-step instructions for leading dialogue programs, a comprehensive 200-page guidebook, and an opportunity to practice.
Our next introductory facilitation trainings will take place:
- February or March -- New York City
- April -- Philadelphia
Additional trainings are in the works as well.
If you would like to participate, please contact us as soon as possible.
More Information about Our Trainings
Who are the introductory trainings designed for?
These trainings workshops are designed both for people who want to work with the Jewish Dialogue Group as volunteer facilitators and for people who want to lead dialogues on their own.
We welcome people with all backgrounds and all levels of experience. Whether you’ve never done anything like this before or you're a professional facilitator who simply wants to learn our specific approach, we think this training will be useful to you.
You do not need to be an expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to be an effective facilitator. You just need to be comfortable helping people to talk across political differences about this complex, emotionally charged issue.
What is involved in facilitating dialogue sessions as part of the Jewish Dialogue Group?
We define “dialogue” as a conversation in which people seek to understand each other better and reflect on their own ideas, feelings, questions, and dilemmas, but don’t try to convince one another or reach a compromise or solution.
In our programs, the facilitator sets up a structure that will help the participants to have a constructive conversation, then guides the participants through their conversation. Facilitators do not share their own ideas or feelings about the issues at hand, but focus solely on serving the group.
- help the participants to establish a clear purpose for the conversation and suggest communication agreements (like ground rules)
- pose questions that will help them to learn about each other’s and their own perspectives
- suggest constructive ways that they can respond to each other
- keep track of time
- remind the participants about their agreements when necessary, and help them to maintain the spirit of dialogue, even when they disagree passionately
The recently published Jewish Dialogue Group/Public Conversations Project guidebook for facilitators provides step-by-step instructions and all of the other materials that are needed to carry out these tasks. You will receive a free copy as part of the training.
View our past events and dialogues pages for more information about our dialogues.
What kind of commitment is involved in training or serving as a volunteer facilitator?
An introductory training workshop lasts about seven hours. After that workshop, we will invite you to assist a more experienced facilitator in leading a dialogue session, and then ask you to come to a short follow-up workshop.
Facilitators always work in teams, and we generally pair new facilitators with more experienced facilitators. We will start you off with whatever amount of responsibility and whichever specific tasks make sense for you. Our facilitation teams meet before each dialogue session in order to plan to workshop, and they always debrief afterwards.
As a facilitator with the Jewish Dialogue Group, you can volunteer for as few or as many dialogues as you'd like. Some of our facilitators help to lead dialogues on a weekly basis, while others facilitate only once ever several months. We welcome you to get involved no matter how frequently or infrequently you will be available.
What does an introductory training cover?
A training includes five components:
- a sample dialogue session
- exploration of the basic principles of dialogue and facilitation
- step-by-step instructions for leading dialogues using the Public Conversations Project's "Community Dialogue" format
- discussion about how to prepare emotionally to facilitate
- time to practice leading components of a dialogue session
What is the cost?
We charge a sliding scale fee of $60 to $120 to help cover costs. Scholarships are available, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please let us know if you can't afford the full price.
Please contact us if you would like to attend or help facilitate a training.
