DETROIT | At the end of February, five American Seeds traveled to Michigan to lead dialogue sessions and continue learning about the role that facilitators can play in conflict resolution.
Over the course of two days, which served as the second portion of the American Seeds Advanced Dialogue Program, they reinforced and built on training and experience they received in the fall.
On February 24, the Seeds played a crucial role in Cranbrook Schools’ annual World Affairs Seminar, CultureSpeak, by facilitating dialogue about culture, race, religion, politics, identity, and community.
The Seeds designed the format and content of the dialogue sessions themselves during a special advanced training conducted by professional Seeds of Peace facilitators that took place on November 27 as an extension of the 2011 American Seed Thanksgiving Conference. Each session began with an activity focused on trust and relationship building before turning to the discussion itself; Seeds also left time after the main discussion for participants to reflect on the difficulties, discomforts, surprises, and benefits of engaging in dialogue.
Seeds’ skills were tested by the wide range of emotions triggered by the sessions, particularly when discussion focused on bullying and what it means to be a “real American.”
Participating Cranbrook students appreciated that the Seeds created a safe environment in which they felt free to share their experiences and were grateful for the opportunity to have meaningful interactions with peers outside of their own friend groups.
“This has been really interesting,” one student said. “No offense, but I didn’t know a lot of people in this group and wouldn’t have had a reason to meet you. Now I know you’re all right. I’ll say hi to you in the halls now.”
Following each dialogue, the American Seeds debriefed with each other and with the professional facilitator who had led the training at the Thanksgiving Conference, giving and receiving constructive criticism and putting into words the lessons they learned from real-life implementation of their new skills. In working through the challenges of the sessions, Seeds gained confidence and began to see themselves as true facilitators.
“As a camper, I had experienced and had come to trust ‘the process’ and thus wished to instill this trust in youth just like me,” said Blake, a Seed from Los Angeles.
“I had experienced firsthand the stereotypes and prejudices one feels against his or her enemy as well as the environment of security, absence of fear, and respect for another’s practices and opinions that results from facilitated dialogue,” he said. “Therefore, I wished to assist others in finding common ground.”
“When it was over, I felt extremely proud because I successfully played the role of facilitator and some of the activities I helped lead had had a profound emotional impact on some of the kids—one girl broke out in tears and another left with a radiant smile on her face.”
On February 25, the Seeds’ program continued with a tour of the city of Hamtramck led by Dan and Sharon Buttry, both professional facilitators. Hamtramck gained national attention in 2004, when the city called for a referendum on an amendment to a city council noise ordinance allowing for places of worship to use amplifiers to broadcast calls to prayer.
Dan and Sharon, who successfully used facilitation to unify the city’s various religious communities in favor of the amendment, took Seeds to several mosques that were involved in the debate and then invited the group to their own home for further discussion. Dr. Karen Majewski, currently mayor of Hamtramck, joined the conversation in order to explain the role she took as chair of the City Council during the reconciliation process.
The ultimate goal of the American Seeds Advanced Dialogue Program is not only to train American Seeds to facilitate dialogue, but to empower them to initiate and lead dialogue sessions in their home communities.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, Blake independently proposed a program to his rabbi as well as to the imam of a mosque in the area and subsequently co-founded the Muslim-Jewish High School Leadership Council, “a select group of Muslim and Jewish high school students looking to build their leadership skills, create lasting relationships across faith boundaries and have an impact on important social issues in Los Angeles.”
Other Seeds likewise have created or expanded projects that will increase communication among people with varying backgrounds and viewpoints.
“From my experiences in New York and Michigan, I learned just how rewarding being a facilitator could be,” said Blake. “I will always treasure the facilitation skills I have learned and will utilize them regularly as I go about conducting my own interfaith dialogue sessions in my community.”
Read about the first half of the American Seeds Advanced Dialogue Program »