Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
129 lines (110 loc) · 5.74 KB

Sample-Facilitator-Guide.md

File metadata and controls

129 lines (110 loc) · 5.74 KB

Facilitator Guide

This can be given to facilitators in advance of the book club as a general help to set expectations etc. We also have specific facilitator prompts for each topic.

Part 1: Welcoming

  • Have one or two people at the entrance to welcome people in
  • Ask people to write out a name label, if they so wish. Include pronouns (if you feel comfortable with this!)
  • Let them know when we'll be starting (e.g. 630pm doors for 6:45pm start)

Part 2: Introduction

  • Start by welcoming everyone to the session
  • Make sure everyone has snacks, drinks, knows where the loo is, etc.
  • Let everyone know that this is a safe space to explore ideas and opinions. Request that everyone listens actively with a generous and open mind, that they do not interrupt or criticise others, and that they consciously aim to help everyone to speak for roughly equal time.
  • Let everyone know the discussion is under Chatham house rule
  • Explain the schedule for the evening - e.g. divide into groups, break halfway through, mix groups for second half, end by 8:30pm, pub afterwards

Part 3: Group Discussion

  • Groups should be no more than 8 people with one facilitator
  • Ask people to introduce themselves - perhaps you could ask everyone to say their names, and one word they would use to sum up the book/article they read or the topic
  • Introduce the book and articles - who read what? (could be a show of hands) - this will give you an idea of what to focus on (e.g. if no one read an article, don't focus on that one)
  • Warm up by reading over the pre-set questions to get people thinking
  • Encourage someone to start with sharing something they found interesting, e.g. an idea, opinion or a quote they liked or didn't like
  • Once people have given their opinions on what was interesting/surprising, move onto the discussion points. Ask people to give their opinions on the topic and how this is reflected/dealt with in the book/article
  • It's your role to make sure that no one person is dominating the conversation
  • Let participants know that they are free to move around the room, between groups

Part 4: Wrap-Up

  • Summarise some of the most important and/or interesting points which were discussed
  • Thank everyone for their time and contributions
  • Announce the next book club date and topic
  • Check out? If you wanted to, you could do a quick check out and ask people to sum up in one sentence what they are taking away from the discussion
  • Encourage people to give feedback about the book club on how to improve it - they'll be a link to a google form which will get emailed out following the session

House Rules

Chatham house rule

  • Participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed
  • Use social media to take the discussion online - but please don't use people's twitter handles (unless they say otherwise)

Create an inclusive space

  • Try and hear from as many people as possible, without letting one person dominate the conversation
  • Make sure to encourage everyone to speak, but don't single people out if they are uncomfortable. If people are shy about contributing, you could ask them ‘do you agree with that last point?’ rather than ‘tell me what you think about the book’, which is a broad and potentially intimidating question!
  • Do not criticise any viewpoints - ask more about why they hold that viewpoint, and perhaps say ‘personally I see it more like this’ but without saying they are wrong. Discourage others from being critical or dismissive of others' opinions
  • Try to smooth over any potential conflict but acknowledging that opinions differ and that there is not a wrong or a right answer in these discussions

Guide the conversation

  • Refer to the list of discussion points to help steer the conversation, but be flexible
  • Sometimes people won't have much to say about points you thought were interesting, while other topics garner a lot of interest and discussion - use the discussion points as a guide but be prepared to ad-lib and dig into new ideas which people want to talk about
  • Try and avoid getting into very specific examples or random anecdotes, which the speaker may find fascinating but which won't resonate for many people, or which don't relate to the topic as a whole. If people start to go down a rabbit hole, don't be afraid to get them back on topic - try a gentle ‘that's an interesting point, which we can talk about if we have some more time later, but I'm really interested to know what everyone thought about X’

Be prepared

  • Have some questions ready. Both the general, and the specific.
  • General questions might be:
    • What did you think about what you read?
      • What was your favourite idea/passage in the piece?
      • What did you like least?
    • Was there anything that shocked or surprised you?
    • Did this change your perception of data science? Does this change public perception of data science?
    • What do you think the author was trying to achieve with the book/article?
    • What were the most important points/topics covered?
    • Was there anything you disagreed with, or that struck you as controversial?
    • Pick out a quote from the material/book you found particularly interesting and be prepared to explain why
    • More ideas here