Dialogue Salon Vol. 2 (in English)

On Thursday, 4 December, the second session of Dialogue Salon on Nurturing Inclusive Spaces was held. This salon started in November in the Japanese language, and this session on 4 December was the first English session. Four persons - all my colleagues and acquaintances - got together. Thank you very much for participating!

The session theme

We held a dialogue on the theme of “The Facilitator’s Mindset”, just as we did in the first dialogue salon in the Japanese language in November.

As I mentioned in the previous report, I had come across this theme a few months earlier while writing the event description, as I happened to be reading - The Skilled Facilitator (3rd edition) by Roger Schwarz. In the book, two contrasting stances are presented as facilitator mindsets: “control” and “mutual learning.”

"Ground rules"

As we work as facilitators or participate in a gathering, it is quite common (I thought) to set what we call "ground rules" or a "common set of values".

At the first salon in Japanese, we spoke about the approach of including a point in the rules that first invites participants to reflect on their own unconscious biases, as shared by one of the participants as their standard practice.

I felt it was a good idea, so this time I tried it out and asked that question at the beginning of the dialogue salon.

One participant commented that they had not experienced participating in a gathering that started with setting ground rules. It was the first time for them to hear about that practice.

Working as a facilitator, I was reminded that things I assume to be obvious to me and everyone else are not necessarily part of other people’s everyday practices or experiences.

It was an eye-opening realisation for me.

There were also voices saying that reflecting on unconscious assumptions sounds easy, but is actually difficult to do in practice.

That is very true… after all, they are “unconscious.”

Let’s keep learning together!

Whether you work as a professional facilitator or not, this salon was created so that people who value “creating inclusive spaces where every voice is heard” can deepen their learning by sharing their experiences and perspectives with one another.

Let’s continue building these moments together!

Please join us!

Here is the link to register your interest in Dialogue Salon in English. Here is the link for the Japanese Salon. Once you register, I will send you invitations for each session. I look forward to hearing about your experiences and learning together!

Participants of the 4 December Dialogue Salon