Study Circles for Sustainability - Theory and Practice, Part 1: Theory

Study circles, also called learning circles are a form of folk school or community education where a group of people discuss their experience of and plan actions around a particular issue or subject. The group uses their collective experience to discover new insights through conversation. In this setting everyone is equal (denoted by the term “circle”), rather than as in formal training or education where a group gets together to be taught by a teacher who has special knowledge. The conversations are coordinated by a facilitator, who may or may not have training and who also takes part in the conversation process along with everyone else. The output of these conversations, in addition to new insights discovered during the process, is an action or actions to be carried out and reviewed at the next meeting.

They are generally run on a small scale, with the best size being 6 to 8 people and while they can be held in an external venue convenient to the members of the group, it is also common to hold them in one of the member’s homes. The life of a study circle can be limited to a specific number of meetings or open ended, carrying on for as long as the members want it to. It is a good idea to get together regularly, every week or two, so that the impetus is not lost by too much time between sessions. Each session runs for about two hours, long enough for everyone to contribute but not so long as people become tired.

The Agenda – Running a Session

The first session will be a bit different in that there should be  some discussion about the study circle process, ground rules for the group dealing with eachother should be set out and what the participants expectations of the process are. Once this has been carried out each session will follow roughly the same format –

• Meet and greet, check in and review of any actions from the previous session.
• Discussion of the topic based around three questions related to the topic and what the participant’s experience of the topic is.
• Review and summary of the discussion and any actions to be carried out during the week.

 

The Questions

My intention is to run our learning circle based around sustainability issues, but you can run a learning circle based around a wide range of subjects:

Question 1 – aspect of subject applied to your life, when have you had experience of the issue in your life and what does it mean to you/how do you feel about it?

Question 2 – what barriers are there which prevent you and/or your family from improving activities around the subject under discussion?

Question 3 - what actions can you take to improve your performance around the issue being discussed, what actions will you commit to doing?

For example, if the issue being discussed is around eating more sustainably the questions could be phrased as follows –
Question 1 – what does eating more sustainably mean to you?

Question 2 – what is stopping you from eating more sustainably now?

Question 3 – What action(s) do you think you can carry out over the next week to help you eat more sustainably?

Ground Rules

As with any discussion involving a number of people, things can run more smoothly if a series of rules are formulated by the group that regulate how people relate with eachother. These rules would generally be agreed at the first meeting, preferably written down and then posted in a place where all participants can see them. Everyone in the group has the right to call someone on them if they feel that person is not playing by the rules. Some examples of ground rules might include -

• Everyone gets a fair hearing.
• Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
• One person speaks at a time.
• Share “air time.”
• Conflict is not personalized. Don’t label, stereotype, or call people names.
• Speak for yourself, not for others.

Furthermore, in her book Living Room Revolution, Cecile Andrews identifies a number of “rules of good conversation”. If everyone bears these rules in mind when the conversations are happening, the experience will be a positive, uplifting and informative one for all the participants -

• Take the risk of saying what you think or feel
• Listen
• Be congenial
• Speak with enthusiasm and energy
• Appreciate others
• Ask good questions
• Be an equal
• Tell your own stories

 

Where Learning Circles Don’t Work Well

Recent research here in Aus (OK it was 2003 but I just found it) has shown that learning circles don’t work well under some circumstances, generally where –

• There are no pre-existing social networks from which an interested facilitator can form a study circle.
• There are pre-existing social networks but they don’t see any relevance in the study circle subject
• The facilitator acts as a “teacher” rather than a facilitator of group learning
• Group members perceive that facilitation is 'too much work' when previous facilitators are no longer available. Ie no-one is prepared to step in and facilitate the meeting if the regular facilitator doesn’t show up or becomes permanently unavailable.

 

Note taking

It would be up to each individual group as to whether they wish to take notes about the discussion as it happens or not and this decision should be made at the first meeting. If a decision is made to take notes throughout the process, it can be handy to have an external person (a “note taker!) who does not contribute but is there to record the discussion. If this is not possible one of the group should become designated not taker when they are not making their contribution. The facilitator can be note taker but can take the facilitators attention away from their primary role.

Should you decide to do it, note taking performs several functions; it helps group members stay on track and move the discussion along, it provides a way to capture the wisdom and common themes that develop in the discussion and it creates a group memory of the whole dialogue.

If notes are to be taken, the note taker may find the following advice useful –

• Capture big ideas and themes, not every word
• Use the words of the speaker as closely as possible. Be careful not to alter the intended meaning
• Check with the speaker or the group to make sure your notes are correct
• Write neatly so everyone can read the notes (This is a difficult one for me)
• Number each page at the top. Identify each set of notes with a clear title
• Be low-key. Stay in the background and don‘t distract people from the conversation. Be aware of times when recording is not appropriate (for example, when people are sharing personal stories)
• Create a sheet called “Parking Lot.” Capture and park ideas that come up in the conversation that the group wants to return to later
• Post the ground rules each time, along with any notes or sheets of paper that the group will need to refer to during a particular session

The study circle approach has many applications, but it is my intention to explore the methodology by inviting a half a dozen friends and colleagues into our home to try and increase our knowledge and understanding of how to live a more sustainable life. I also intend to share the journey with you.

Part 2: The Practice