A couple of years ago, I entered a room in\nwhich all the chairs were arranged in circles; a smaller circle around a table\nand a bigger circle with an open center right in the middle of the room. It was\nthe first day of my training as a dialogue facilitator and I can still remember\nthinking at that moment: “What a strange way to arrange the room. This big\ncircle of chairs takes away all the workspace.” I hadn’t realized at that\npoint, that all our work would take place precisely in that big circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Bohm, a dialogue always starts\nwith a circle:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA basic notion for a dialogue would be for people to sit in a circle. Such a geometric arrangement doesn\u2019t favour anybody; it allows for direct communication.\u201d (Bohm \u2013 On Dialogue)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Sitting in a circle automatically changes\nthe type of conversation people will engage in. For one thing, this is due to\nthe seating arrangement: people sit next to each other and thus the focus of\nthe conversation is not a person but the center of the circle. In its essence,\nthis represents a non-hierarchical setting which places its emphasis unto the\ntopic and not unto a person or a particular opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, it occasionally happens that personal problems enter a dialogue session. And although dialogue is a very open form of communication, which allows and even requires personal input, it should not be used for therapeutic purposes. Bohm often had to stress this himself: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is important to understand that a dialogue group is not a therapy group of some kind. We are not trying to cure anybody here, though it might happen as a byproduct.\u201d (Ibid) <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
He was close with the psychotherapist\nPatrick de Mar\u00e9 and very familiar with de Mar\u00e9\u2019s work in group psychotherapy,\nwhich had groups sitting in circles as well. However what drew Bohm to this\nparticular seating arrangement was, de Mar\u00e9\u2019s thought that a group can\nrepresent a microcosm of society (ibid). Each of the group\u2019s participants could\nthus represent a particular perspective of society as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A circle is a closed shape; a set of\npoints which all are at a fixed distance away from one specific point that is\ncalled the center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the facilitator’s many\nresponsibilities is to make sure that people become gradually aware of the\nimportance of the center in a dialogue. In directing our thoughts and ideas\ntowards the center of the group, we give each participant time to listen,\nabsorb and reflect upon what is being said. With this approach, we are able to\ndive into a more thorough exploration of what a topic might hold, which in turn\ngives us a deeper understanding of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to make it easier for us to engage into a dialogue, Martina and Johannes Hartkemeyer added the talking symbol: A simple tool to remind participants to respect the person who talks and to closely listen to what is being said.\u00a0 The object can be anything, from a pen to a stone, anything the group wants it to be. For the duration of the dialogue, however, it should be one consistent object, placed in the middle of the circle. The main reason behind this is that everybody who wants to talk needs to walk the same distance. This, in turn, allows for a quick breather between intensive streams of thought and for a little mobility to stir new thoughts. The talking symbol stresses the shared responsibility for the creation and upkeep of a dialogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was once asked in a workshop about the power such a tool can have in such a setting. Indeed having the talking symbol in your hands can be quite powerful, because, for the duration of your hold of this instrument, you and you alone are “allowed” to talk. However, I can say from experience that, if the talking symbol is used in such a way, meaning; if it is used for personal gain, a dialogue will not take place. A monologue maybe, or a discussion, or even a debate. But not a dialogue. It is a means to express our thoughts into language and it only works in relation to the four main dialogic skills<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A circle is a non-hierarchical\nsetting in which a group or a team engage in a dialogue, enabling personal\nexpression and creating the foundation for a common understanding. Dialogue\npromotes responsibility for our participation in a group activity and for the\ngroup as a whole. The circle highlights this by placing your voice among other\nvoices. As participants of a dialogue, we gradually become aware that every\nsingle thought we express can sustain dialogue or contribute to its\ntransformation into another kind of conversational form. It is always a choice\ntied to a shared responsibility for oneself and the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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