Community Conversation Paper

Although we are individuals we are all part of a community. Communities can be seen as things such as the school we go to, our neighborhood, work place, etc. In community conversations, we talk to honor and explore differences with one another. The form of a conversation is dynamic to the way in which participants work through their differences. The Public Conversations Project (PCP) recommends that members follow a shared set of principles that include genuine listening, respectful communication, mutual understanding, and self-reflection. Furthermore, conversations are always connected to something larger called an episode. An episode is an identifiable series of actions with a clear beginning and end. Certain episodes can bring integrity to the community and people, while others can threaten face and possibly …show more content…
During a class activity, we had to divide into groups to discuss a polarized issue, come up with how the different groups were viewed, how they viewed themselves, and the gray areas that were involved. The PCP suggest individuals follow particular guidelines while conversing within a community. Each individual within the group fulfilled the recommended guidelines: we related to one another as persons, spoke from personal experiences and told personal stories, reflected on what was most important to each of us, reflected on shades of gray as well as preformed positions, and our conversation was carefully structured to build trust and manage face. In addition, to the PCP guidelines each person within the group genuinely listened, communicated in a respectful manner, had a mutual understanding, and self-reflected. Moreover, as a group we managed to reframe the episode using collaborative learning. Instead of presenting a face-threatening frame we focused on building face while learning and collaborating creatively. We were able to create a safe environment and encourage