A lesson in Temple University College of Education

Urban Education 5630, Fall 2010 (CRN070241): Special Topics Seminar Facilitating Dialogue and Action with Diverse Groups

Instructors: Professors Novella Keith & Charles Rojzman

Rationale

We live in a time of increasing social diversity, when groups that have been excluded from the social mainstream clamor to be recognized and included. Reactions to these claims are complex: our times are marked by both increased openness to diversity and increased intolerance, hatred and violence, which threaten the social fabric and democratic life. In a seeming paradox, in order to preserve our democratic traditions and ways of life, we need to change, as people, organizations, and as a whole society. This course and the three additional certificate courses (see below) will help participants learn how to live and work together in diverse organizations and societies and how to facilitate this same ability in others.

Diversity Facilitation Graduate Certificate

This course is part of a four-course graduate certificate that is jointly sponsored by Temple University’s College of Education, Urban Education Program, and Temple University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. Both the course and certificate are open to holders of a Bachelor’s degree who are Temple students and employees, as well as non-Temple professionals interested in advancing their knowledge and skills in diversity facilitation. The certificate is available for graduate credit or professional continuing education units. You do not need to be matriculated in a graduate program in order to take certificate courses. If taken for graduate credit, up to three certificate courses may be transferred into a graduate degree program at Temple University.

Courses take students through the unique TST approach to working with groups with a history of conflict based on such factors as race, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion and national origin. TST offers an action-oriented model for intergroup relations. The theory and practice of TST bring together social and depth psychology, group dynamics, and organizational development. The course will take students through the unique TST approach to working with groups with a history of inter-group conflict.

 Course 1: The Emotional Life of Groups:

1. Social and professional masks people wear;
2. Fears, hatreds, and prejudices; and
3. Psychoanalytical dynamics, including projection and transference.

 Course 2: Violence and Conflict:

1. Differentiating violence from constructive conflict; and
2. Transforming intergroup and intra-group violence into constructive conflict.

 Course 3: Personal and Societal Transformation:

1. Identifying the differences between personal and institutional/collective blocks and obstacles to cooperation; and
2. Analyzing the particular constraints to collective group action in a given social network, neighborhood, organization or other social setting.

 Course 4: Process and Stages in Facilitating Inter-Group Collaboration:

1. Facilitating group process through the phases of group formation, including accepting and engaging with necessary conflicts;
2. Allowing authentic information to circulate in the group, thus creating a “collective intelligence�, and
3. Applying the group’s collective intelligence toward the resolution of common problems.

Course description

This course uses experiential learning pedagogy, which means a significant focus is on learning by reflecting on your experience while also bringing academic knowledge to bear on deepening your learning. There are three course segments: (a) a week-long intensive; (b) a day-long seminar/presentation (Saturday); (c) one or two individual or team consultations. The intensive week-long seminar will focused primarily on learning through participating in the class as a group and gaining insights from this experience. The goal is for you to discover course concepts by reflecting on your own experience and relationships in the group. For this reason, we ask you to limit your readings prior to beginning the course to those that are termed “introductory� (see below and Blackboard course site). Following the week-long intensive, you will deepen your experiential understanding through course readings. The Saturday seminar and subsequent consultations will help you identify particular aspects of the course to explore further as you move toward writing a final paper that is due on 12/13.

Course learning goals: Participants will develop an essential skill for intergroup facilitation: understanding and working with the emotional life of groups. The relevant knowledge includes (a) the social and professional masks people wear; (b) fears, hatreds, and prejudices; and (c) psychoanalytical dynamics, including projection and transference.