I sit in and participate in several academic seminars with an international and ecumenical membership, both formal and informal in nature. Sometimes they work really well as delightful mutual learning experiences; sometimes of course they don't. I notice that sometimes I say something (or someone else does) and it doesn't actually advance the discussion, it just confuses it, or sidetracks it, or diverts it. So, I have been thinking recently: what is the most 'helpful' way to contribute to one of these seminars? So, in the spirit of contemporary knowledge: a list. (An important note: I find myself breaking these all over the place!)
1. Do read the text under consideration before you come. Do have a couple of things you might raise as interesting points for discussion.
2. Be brief-ish: keep your comments to a sentence or two. Don't dominate. Advance the discussion rather than colonise it.
3. Be clear, or strive for clarity, rather than waffle till something intelligible arrives.
4. Be opinionated, please; but don't rant or preach. And try to say new things (for you) rather than return to the same criticism or the same author you trotted out last week - try to expand your range of comments.
5. Refer to the text in question as much as you can: this allows everyone a toe-hold in the discussion.
6. Try to understand before you criticise - it is a really big temptation to want to critique first.
7. Don't repeat yourself if people don't agree with you.
8. Ask others to clarify what they have just said, and do challenge it when necessary. Promote good communal listening practices.
9. Try to put emotions aside, and be ready to apologise for words out of turn.
10. Humour can increase the groups enjoyment of the subject: but use it sparingly.
11. Hang around after class and get to know people - increased trust increases the possibilities available to the class.
12. Bring snacks.
13. Change the subject if you feel it lagging, but not prematurely.
14. Anecdotes are almost always a waste of everyone's time. Think about it, then decide against. (I can't help myself...)
Any others?
PS - the seminars I am attending at the moment are very enjoyable, and I think it is partly because of observation of most if not all of these suggestions by the members!
8 comments:
Can these guidelines be adapted to comboxes?
Fred
Be opinionated, please; but don't rant or preach.
I am going to break rule 14, but its interesting, I promise.
I asked my supervisor whether he enjoyed running philosophy tutorials, He said most of the time it is a drag unless there are people with very strong opinions. Here is the interesting bit He said one of his most lively classes was with a student by the name of Sef Gonzales (if the name isn't familiar Google it or go to wikipedia) who had the view that every human action was essentially selfish and sought some advantage therefore you should always act to best advantage yourself- this was in moral philosophy. Anyway there were many arguments and the tutorials hummed along nicely, but nobody suspected how far Sef would take that belief of his.
Wow, that IS a great anecdote, and well worth breaking 14 for.
BTW, the rules don't apply to internet forums... but you can be a conversational terrorist in any context.
you can be a conversational terrorist in any context.
Like asking specific questions in a general context so that everyones time is wasted listening to an answer that only applies to the person asking it because a) the answer only applies to them or b) they have asked a very stupid question that everyone already knows the answer to.
This usually occurs in the work place rather than in academic seminars. But it really gets my goat. I lost 40mins of my life today due to this very thing.
Actually, yes, that is business meeting etiquette isn't it:
Say, at the team meeting, the accounts manager asks the boss a question specific to accounts and no-one else...and 40 minutes go *flush*. That's because the boss has got it all wrong.
This doesn't seem to happen too much in academia, though it can be that one person does use the opportunity for a little one-on-one dialogue with the professor, often about their work. Having a loud voice helps to talk over the top of other people as well.
Ah yes, the loud voice, my most used verbal weapon!
I think these rules could work in a couple of the small groups I've got to run... In fact, I think I'll print them off!
Yes, I guess I had the thought the other day: how can I serve others in this group by my participation?
#15. Hand out this list at the start of the group.
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