The Center for Integrative Leadership presents....

  Friday Leadership Research Forum: Leadership Research In and Across Sectors

During the 2012-2013 academic year CIL will again host a monthly Friday Leadership Research Forum where participants and presenters will discuss and debate research conducted by University faculty, students and community members on leadership issues that span boundaries in and across sectors.

Learning to Facilitate Deliberation: Metabolizing, Indigenizing, and Co-Generating Knowledge  

Friday, September 28, 2012
11:30am-1:00pm
121 Science Teaching and Student Services Building, East Bank UM

The launch of this year's Friday Leadership Research Forum will feature Assistant Professor Kathy Quick and Associate Professor Jodi Sandfort, both of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs discussing their research.

Abstract: Deliberation is a preferred approach to involving the public and stakeholders in planning and policy-making (Young 2000; Hajer and Wagenaar 2003; Fung and Wright 2003; Jacobs, Cook, and Delli Carpini, 2009). While the need to deliberate is strongly endorsed, the ability to deliberate does not exist inherently. Facilitation practitioners – comprised of a diverse array of trained professionals specializing in facilitation or engagement, as well as community organizers, public and nonprofit managers, and political leaders who facilitate in the context of a broader scope of work – play central roles in supporting our collective capacity for democratic deliberation (Edwards 2002; Bingham, Nabatchi and O’Leary 2005; Jacobs, Cook, and Delli Carpini 2009; Escobar 2011). Facilitating deliberation is a complex ability, demanding skill and judgment in the design and implementation of engagement efforts. 

This paper focuses on how people develop this ability.  Through ethnographic study of a community of facilitators being trained in and practicing the Art of Hosting, we identify three processes through which they transform knowledge to become seasoned practitioners capable of exercising practical judgment about how to situate and apply their practices. Individuals must metabolize explicit and tacit knowledge about facilitation techniques and frameworks. Through practicing, they indigenize the knowledge, situating and adapting it to suit particular contexts and desired consequences.  Finally, some facilitators not only learn, but also co-generate new or renewed knowledge of facilitation through engaging in a community of practitioners. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these three learning processes for improving facilitation practice.

Please join us!

A light lunch and drinks will be provided
Participation is free of charge, but registration is requested by clicking the register button above. 

Space is limited so register early.

Visit the CIL website at www.leadership.umn.edu