ACTION STEPS

Use the information you acquired during the dialogue, from the notes or tapes gathered from the session and from the evaluation form to think about what to do next. You may decide that offering the same or slightly modified dialogue to another group of students might help to clarify ideas or help you to better understand how another group of students think about the same topic. Or you might decide to invite the same group back for a follow up discussion of a topic that emerged from the first dialogue.

Do not limit these next steps only to more talk. While further dialogue may be the logical follow-up, some dialogues may suggest a more active approach. As you think about the outcome of the dialogue, you might think about the range of tools available for use within a democratic society. These include:

Informational

Becoming informed
Informing others (Organizing Informational campaigns, i.e. teach-ins)

Contributions

Contributing Money
Contributing Materials
Contributing Time – direct service
Contributing Blood

Altering Lifestyles

Economic boycotts
Environmental behaviors
Changing social patterns

Using One’s Voice

Voting
Writing/Calling Representatives/media
Petitioning

Taking an Active Stand (Proactive)

Serving as an advocate/campaigning for
Lobbying
Publishing
Running for Office

Taking an Active Stand (Reactive)

Protesting
Rebelling

Some of these lend themselves to follow-up activities more naturally than others. For example, a dialogue on the relationship between your college and university and its neighbors might suggest that students engage in:

• A mapping activity to better understand existing relations between the college and the neighborhood (informational),
• A campaign to collect contributions for needy families at Christmas (contributions),
• A boycott of the college bookstore that has undermined a local bookstore (altering lifestyles),
• Creation of a petition that calls for increased community voice in the expansionary plans of the college (using voice),
• Researching and publishing a map of all university owned property in the neighborhood to demonstrate land use issues (taking an proactive stand), or
• Practicing civil disobedience on campus until concessions were made to neighbors in exchange for a new dorm being built in a residential neighborhood (taking a reactive stand).

In each of these scenarios, it is important for dialogue organizers to work collaboratively with organizations and individuals on campus to insure that there is adequate support for any initiatives undertaken. While a single agenda may emerge from a dialogue of 15 students, the success of any action taken will hinge on the extent to which an action has a solid base of support.

It is also critical to think about the necessary and logical order of actions. True democracy follows the same principles as dialogues – listening to the voices of others with respect. It is unfair to protest an action before you understand the full complexity of an issue and have tried other, less confrontational approaches to resolving conflict.