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Intergroup dialogue is a "face-to-face facilitated conversation between members of two or more social identity groups that strives to create new levels of understanding, relating, and action". This process promotes conversation around controversial issues, specifically, in order to generate new "collective visions" that uphold the dignity of all people. Intergroup dialogue is based in the philosophies of the democratic and
popular education Popular education is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle, critical theory and social transformation. The term is a translation from the Spanish or the Portuguese . The term 'popular' in this case means 'of the people'. ...
movements. It is commonly used on college campuses, but may assume different namesakes in other settings.


History

Intergroup dialogue is rooted in "philosophical and cultural traditions that have valued dialogue as a method of communication and inquiry" to explore shared issues. These traditions heavily influenced 20th century movements for
democratic education Democratic education is a type of formal education that is organized democratically, so that students can manage their own learning and participate in the governance of their educational environment. Democratic education is often specifically ...
, which included intergroup dialogue as a core objective. The application of dialogue in education was a core tenet of the democratic education movement, drawing on the work of public intellectuals like
John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...
who in the first decades of the 20th century envisioned "schools as social centers" that "educate youth for democratic citizenship". Dewey and other advocates of democratic education at the time envisioned dialogue as "the practice of deliberative democracy". In 1932, Myles Horton, a popular-education thinker, co-founded the Highlander Research and Education Center—one of the earliest U.S. mainstream examples of a community center that offered dialogue, "popular education and literacy ... as a means of promoting civic participation and social action organizing". Later, the intergroup education movement in the 1940s and 1950s built upon
Gordon Allport Gordon William Allport (November 11, 1897 – October 9, 1967) was an American psychologist. Allport was one of the first psychologists to focus on the study of the personality, and is often referred to as one of the founding figures of personali ...
's intergroup contact theory. This movement was a response in part to 20th-century U.S. political turmoil and social changes. The Great Migration, which was the rapid internal movement of
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
from the rural South to the industrial North, contributed to considerable social unrest within the United States. Similar effects were felt in the
Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
with the mass migration of
Mexican Americans Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In Brazil in the 1960s,
Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher whose work revolutionized global thought on education. He is best known for ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'', in which he reimagines teaching ...
, who would become a core figure in
popular education Popular education is a concept grounded in notions of class, political struggle, critical theory and social transformation. The term is a translation from the Spanish or the Portuguese . The term 'popular' in this case means 'of the people'. ...
, adopted a theoretical approach to intergroup dialogue that emphasized the importance of people's own experiences, and the need to build dialogue capacity to enable people to "analyze their situation and take action to transform themselves and their conditions". Freire's writings about "dialogue as a liberatory educational practice", such as his book '' Pedagogy of the Oppressed'', influenced many educators throughout the Western Hemisphere to emphasize critical consciousness of social inequalities through " antibias, antiracist,
multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...
, or
social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
education". All of these ideas and practices, combined with those of thinkers such as John Paul Lederach and Harold H. Saunders about conflict transformation and
peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...
, have formed the foundation for intergroup dialogue. The growing popularity of intergroup dialogue programs on college campuses coincided with other theoretical developments in higher education, including, for instance, the integration of
critical race theory Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...
into law and other fields.


Method


Goals

Intergroup dialogue is intended to build relationships amongst participants with different social identities through the use of personal storytelling, empathetic listening and interpersonal inquiry. It integrates three core educational goals: "consciousness raising, building relationships across differences and conflicts, and strengthening individual and collective capacities to promote social justice". Intergroup dialogue distinguishes its approach from other dialogic methods such as debate and discussion: * ''Debate'' aims to clarify pros and cons of issues, to develop critical thinking skills. * ''Discussion'' aims to generate different perspectives on issues, to consider decisions among different options. * ''Intergroup dialogue'' aims to increase critical self-awareness and social awareness, to increase intergroup communication, understanding and collaborative actions.


Characteristics

The following table contrasts the characteristics of debate, discussion, and dialogue:


Multi-partiality

Intergroup dialogue draws the work of
Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher whose work revolutionized global thought on education. He is best known for ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'', in which he reimagines teaching ...
whose work focuses on
consciousness raising Consciousness raising (also called awareness raising) is a form of activism popularized by United States feminists in the late 1960s. It often takes the form of a group of people attempting to focus the attention of a wider group on some cause or ...
, a process through which members of an oppressed group come to understand the history and circumstances of their oppression. Intergroup dialogue further aims to raise the consciousness of all participants, including those from advantaged and disadvantaged groups, through the use of multi-partial facilitation. This approach was developed by Janet Rifkin, professor at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...
, as a method of conflict resolution, and was adopted by the Program on Intergroup Relations at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
as a method of facilitating dialogue across difference of social identity. A multi-partial approach to facilitation differs from both a neutral or impartial approach, as well as a model in which the facilitator acts as an advocate, such as in many feminist models. Multi-partial facilitation posits the presence of "dominant narratives" within dialogue, or sets of assumptions and beliefs based on socialization and cultural values. If the facilitator were to be impartial and neutral in moments of conflict between dialogue participants, the dominant narrative would affirm the experiences and voices of the dominant group members and further marginalize the experience of marginalized participants. A multi-partial facilitation approach differs from facilitator-advocate approaches in that it is equally invested in the participation and growth of all dialogue participants; it encourages self-reflection and awareness through engagement rather than direct confrontation, an approach based on the belief that "people who are not feeling threatened are more open to discussing their feelings and interests and are more open to discussing the effects the conflict is having on both groups". Rather than directly confronting a group member's bias, a multi-partial facilitator points out the dominant narrative when evidence of it arises, and encourages group members to share their experiences, while simultaneously encouraging a critical analysis of the underlying assumptions and narratives at play. Counseling psychologist Derald Wing Sue said that instructors who have not done the work of reflecting on themselves racially or culturally tend to be poor facilitators of discussions about race. Gaining critical racial consciousness through self-exploration, as well as exploration of the experiences of other racial groups, is a prerequisite for claiming an antiracist stance and for successfully leading race talks, according to Sue. According to education professor Ximena Zúñiga, the number one competency for facilitators—alongside small-group leadership skills—is having a deep understanding of their own social identities as well as the social identities of others.


In secondary schools and colleges

Universities worldwide offer intergroup dialogue programs to their students. Intergroup dialogue programs are frequently launched as part of larger campus diversity and social justice initiatives seeking to address tensions and conflict related to social identity, most centrally, race. Campuses vary in their approach to intergroup dialogue, "tailor ngto the specific needs of the campus, school, academic department or student affairs unit that it serves". Dialogue groups are generally housed in on-campus organizations or academic departments, included as course offerings in
social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
,
sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
,
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
,
American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...
,
peace and conflict studies Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violence, violent and nonviolence, nonviolent behaviors as well as the structural violence, structural mechanisms attending Conflict (process), conflicts (including ...
and
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
. Students enrolled in intergroup dialogue coursework are typically required to complete supplementary readings, reflections, papers and in some cases, field work. Teacher Matthew R. Kay, writing for
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
teachers, has advocated for establishing a safe space in classrooms where students can comfortably talk about controversial topics; "authentic listening" is essential.


Evaluation and outcomes

Research shows that intergroup dialogue has positive impacts on participants' understanding of diversity and social justice issues. After conducting a qualitative interview study with dialogue participants, Anna Yeakley found that connecting through a "depth of personal sharing" has been shown to play a significant role in creating positive dialogue outcomes, while participants who "disconnected" in response to hurtful intergroup conflicts reported negative outcomes. Yeakley highlighted the importance of facilitator training, and found that five facilitation skills are essential to promoting positive outcomes: # creating a safe space, # recognizing signs of negative processes, # encouraging and supporting depth of personal sharing, # engaging conflicts as teachable moments, and # attending to identity differences in awareness and experience.


See also

*
Dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
*
Dialogue mapping The issue-based information system (IBIS) is an argumentation-based approach to clarifying wicked problems—complex, ill-defined problems that involve multiple Stakeholder (corporate), stakeholders. Diagrammatic visualization using IBIS notatio ...
* Diversity ideologies *
Group dynamics Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision ...
* Intercultural communication * Intercultural dialogue * Intergroup anxiety *
Intergroup relations Intergroup relations refers to interactions between individuals in different social groups, and to interactions taking place between the groups themselves collectively. It has long been a subject of research in social psychology, political psycho ...
*
Mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...
*
Prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...
*
Social identity theory Social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. As originally formulated by social psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner in the 1970s and the 1980s, social id ...
* Study circle * Sustained dialogue * Transformative mediation


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Refend Communication studies Group processes