Summary

In today's fast-paced and digital world, feeling disconnected from the people and issues around us is easy. For social workers, it is important to engage in meaningful conversations with our clients and communities to understand the challenges they face, and to work with them towards creating positive change. The internet may allow for contact, but it rarely connects.\ Several years ago, faculty members, staff, and students at our School of Social Work found that we were having conversations over email and on social media that increased conflict instead of resolving it, and that this was preventing mutual understanding rather than improving it. We were not talking\ with each other, nor were we listening to each other’s points of view. By creating an opportunity to be present with one another in real-time, we suspected we could be more attentive to one another, listen more closely, exercise more empathy, and strengthen our community. Based on these insights, we developed a model called Community Conversations.This brief workshop explains the purposes of Community Conversations and provides examples of conversation topics. We will also describe the two theoretical frameworks—intergroup dialogue and restorative practices—on which the model is based, explore the implementation of the model, discuss logistical and ethical considerations, share some of the lessons we have learned.\ \ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Conversation, dialogue, restorative justice, communication, ethics