3.2
Critical Feeling in Discussions
Submitted by Jack Byrd, Jr.
Being aware of the emotional charge of a discussion is important. This involves being aware of personal emotional reactions as well as the reactions of others. This activity helps participants to reflect on their own emotional reactions while also asking questions to better understand the emotions of others.
Learning Goals
Develop deeper awareness of how feelings are aroused and redirected within discussions.
Become less susceptible to emotional manipulation while also deepening empathy.
Instructions
Set Up: Prepare for the Activity
Create a slide deck with approximately 10 photos that are likely to evoke an emotional response. These photos can be specific to the group or focused on current events. See Sample Slide Deck by Jessica Friedrichs.
Organize participants into small groups (3-6 ppl).
Begin by introducing the learning goals of this activity.
Step One: Showcase Photos (10 min)
Show photos or slides one at a time. After each photo, ask participants to reflect on what level of emotional reaction they have to each image.
They can do this by silently jotting down notes or they can share their reactions by holding up pieces of colored paper: red (strong), orange (moderate), or yellow (weak).
Step Two: Dive Deeper into Emotional Reflection (15 min)
In small groups or pairs, encourage participants to dive deeper. Beyond the level of emotion, what specific emotions were aroused by the images?
Encourage participants to explain their emotional responses and some context for the response. Focus on 3-4 images.
Step Three: Practice in Full Group Discussion (20 min)
Come back together as a full group and introduce a relevant discussion prompt.
Allow the discussion to unfold as normal but instruct participants to use their colored pieces of paper to indicate how their emotions are registering during the discussion.
Pause the discussion at crucial points (when many participants are holding red cards, for example) to pause and discuss why emotions are changing in the group discussion.
Step Four: Debrief as a Full Group (10 min)
What role do emotions play in the discussion?
When are emotions good for the discussion and when might they be bad for the discussion?
Did any of the emotional responses surprise you?
TIME
55
min
MODULE
Critical Collaboration
This activity is more involved or complicated than a beginner activity. This activity is for groups that have established trust or experience with discussion.
This activity can be used to build trust and interpersonal connection.
This activity is focused on developing or supporting listening skills. See Sample Listening Certificate Program Design to illustrate sample sequencing.
This activity helps to explore and develop emotional awareness, intelligence, or growth.
Tell us what you think. Rate and review this activity:
Have any helpful suggestions or modifications for this activity?
Share them in the comments below!
0 Comments
Sovi Herring
May 30, 2024 at 6:42:10 PM
This activity is great when a group is comfortable sharing thoughts--but it is modified to be more introspective at first. There are two versions of this, one to recognize "normalized" feelings, the other is labeled "extreme" as the group was practicing navigating high emotion. This first one covers parents, cats, dogs: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IvLsBe_FtDG6twalxiKxBHEdt99gJR1V/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113770591818162655510&rtpof=true&sd=true This one is to recognize more difficult to talk about feelings of fear, disgust, etc.: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NkZoBCJ3iI5VbkqmjqVuW-_I36MBASOW/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113770591818162655510&rtpof=true&sd=true
Sovi Herring
May 30, 2024 at 6:28:11 PM
This activity was modified for a Business & Professional Communication class. It is best when the groups have gone through the guidelines activity to help facilitate how to communicate and even the 3.4 ambiguity. This is a difficult activity if the class is uncomfortable speaking (and in my case they were very adverse to discussing these in any group). Here is how I set it up (along with a print out of the words). It is modified to fit the business world, but worked well as a concept. https://liveduq-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/herrings1_duq_edu/EWr2jxM5HLlNmgWvYA43gwwBmoBYJP9juGJDD4m1M2H0BQ?e=TYnsVb
May 28, 2024 at 1:33:05 AM
May 28, 2024 at 1:31:01 AM
February 14, 2024 at 1:03:34 AM
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January 4, 2024 at 7:22:22 PM
December 12, 2023 at 11:56:40 PM
Lori Britt
October 3, 2023 at 5:00:05 PM
Have done this in the past, but today a group really blew me away. I did this as a Fishbowl with 7 students taking roles. Prior to the converstaion they could seek input from a few other students about what which decision they think the person in their role would support and why. I also asked them to come up with some things that were concerns for them. This 10 minute of prep time helped my role play participants really embody and feel confident in their roles. Great discussion about what deliberation looks like in practice and about how power can impact conversations and how a facilitator can try and minimize these power imbalances. I used the scenario above and assigned these roles (I was not sure my students woul be able to consider roles that would offer different perspectives): • Facilitator (non-voting) • Mayor • High school teacher • 17-year-old high school student • Transportation planner for the region • Local business owner • Economic development office for the region (your community and the surrounding communities served by the train) • 50-year-old who lost his job last year and who has been on unemployment
Toolkit
Introduction
Creative Collaboration
Critical Collaboration
Culturally Responsive Collaboration
Civic Collaboration
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