facilitation exercises

A significant component of John Paul's peacebuilding practice has been in participatory education and capacity building with local communities. Through an elicitive approach, he has sought to respect and amplify the knowledge and skill present in a given setting or context. Another significant element of his practice is the accompaniment of reflective vocational practitioners, co-creating spaces in educational settings and conversational retreats where opportunities are provided to slow down, notice, and cultivate compassionate presence. The content featured in this section ranges from technical frameworks for analysis to exercises guiding deep listening of self and other. Some of these activities are primarily suited for a group context and may be helpful for teachers and/or facilitators in community or organizational settings.

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Seeking Help: An Elicitive Exercise

An opening exercise for mediation training that seeks to illuminate cultural understandings around navigating conflict and mediation.

1994

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Storyboarding in Model Creation

A tool to facilitate the discovery and creation of mediation models that may be implicit in a culture.

1994

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The Listening Exercise

An exercise to encourage reflection and practice of deep listening.

2018

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“Two, Four, Six, Eight…Who do we appreciate?” A Dialogical Exercise for Engaging Diversity, Race, and Gender Issues

An exercise oriented toward creating a safe space for proactive dialogue and increased understanding of people’s experiences, fears, and expectations on diversity, race, and gender.

1998

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Conflict in the Countryside

An exercise to develop a proposal for the construction of health clinics in a country navigating conflict following the signing of a peace accord.

2002

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Developing Problem Posing Scenarios

A set of instructions to develop problem posing scenarios intended to support teachers or trainers in developing such exercises for their students.

1998

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Framework for Analyzing Conflict

A guideline of questions to support in conflict analysis with a focus on people, process, and problem, three major aspects of conflict.

1994

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Getting to the Table: A Conciliation Exercise

An exercise simulating pre-negotiations, placing emphasis on the difficulties of getting people to the table, and is a fictionalization of the East Coast/Sandinista negotiations of the 1980s.

1997

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Writing Your Own Story

A creative exploration in storytelling and imagining a better future.

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