Discussion Protocol for Research and Reading

Roles

·       Facilitator

·       Timekeeper

·       Participants 

Five minutes total for each participant (including the facilitator and timekeeper), plus 10 minutes for the final 2 steps.

Process

1.    The group reads the text silently, annotating to help answer the following 4 questions:

• What Assumptions does the author of the text hold?

• What do you Agree with in the text?

• What do you want to Argue with in the text?

• What parts of the text do you want to Aspire to or Act upon?

2.    In a round, have each person identify one assumption in the text, citing the text (with page numbers, if appropriate) as evidence.

3.    Either continue in rounds or facilitate a conversation in which the group talks about the text in light of each of the remaining “A”s, taking them one at a time. What do people want to agree with, argue with, and aspire to (or act upon) in the text? Try to move seamlessly from one “A” to the next, giving each “A” enough time for full exploration.

4.    End the session with an open discussion framed around a question, such as: What does this mean for... ?  How does this relate to ...? 

5.    Debrief the text experience as a large group.