Also see: General CE Overview | Structure of CE Sessions | Additional Theoretical Foundations | Upcoming Events

What to expect during a CE

a lot of listening to others, starting off with autobiographical stories that make it easier to trust and take risks with whoever has joined the particular CE.

writing to gather one’s thoughts, sometimes privately, sometimes shared.

evolution of what you want to find out as you pursue your own inquiries and learn from those of others.

CE etiquette and guidelines

• Prospective participants are asked to register only if you expect that you can attend at least 3 of the 4 scheduled meetings, including the first one.
• Practice in advance on technical issues (such as when you expect to use the Share Screen feature in the conference, having working microphone, knowing how to mute/unmute, and so on).
• Be ready to start the meeting at the set time (which may mean joining the conference a few minutes early to make sure that you can get connected properly).
• Follow any stated guidelines about the Chat feature (which may be used in specific ways rather than a space for side conversations for certain kinds of activities). Note that any resources, links, references to share can be posted on the CE discussion board after the meeting as not to distract others from listening well.
• When you talk, use the time more for questions and thoughts about things not yet clear to you, rather than for stating positions or knowledge that is already well established for you.
• During dialogue activities, try to keep your comment to a single point/idea, rather than list out several separate ones. These activities are often designed to help participants build up a cohesive thread of inquiry. Because many of the structures use turn-taking to help shape the sequence for speaking, remember that you can take another turn later to insert other points into the discussion.
• During check-in and check-out activities, keep your point short (since these activities may involve all participants making a quick contribution to help set the tone as introduction or closing for the session). Elaboration can happen in the written discussion.

Sequence of the CE sessions

The structure of each live session is predefined as follows, but the CE builds in room for participants to take stock so as to inform proposals for future improvements in these structures.

Before the first live session

Review the topic and description, the guidelines on this page, and get set with the link to join the live conferences and the online written discussion board site (see instructions once you register). Items linked below provide some further background on activities, which may be described in the context of use in a graduate course but are adaptable to other kinds of experiences.

Session 1

Participants getting to know each other through a few activities:

• Private freewriting to clarify our thoughts and hopes
• Check-in (opening circle), which gives us a chance to acknowledge who is here, and what is going on for each of us in and beyond the CE) (this may be skipped since autobiographical introductions can also serve this purpose).
• Autobiographical introductions – participants take an equal amount of time to tell the story of how they came to be a person who would be interested to participate in a CE on the current topic (informal, no preparation needed). Feedback may be provided in the form of Connections and Curiosities.
  Check-out (closing circle), where we gather our thoughts and share something that we are taking away from this session to think more about

After Session 1: Spend some time a) on inquiries related to the topic, exploring as you have time and interest (e.g. through reading articles, talking to others, private reflection, etc.). Post any thoughts to share on the written discussion site and read/respond to posts of others throughout the week as you can. Start to develop ideas of where your curiosity or concern is strongest and see where that takes you.

Session 2

Participants further clarify thinking and inquiries through a multi-phase dialogue format (some private writing at the beginning and end, with a structured dialogue in the middle). This dialogue helps participants to hear what others are thinking, raise emerging questions, and start to notice what this means for their own practical needs and purposes. Continue to post to the written discussion site.

After Session 2: Spend more time on your inquiry as possible, and also prepare an informal “work-in-progress” presentation to be given in Session 3 — this just means that you’ll organize your thinking into a 5-7 minute overview of how you are finding meaning from your inquiry and/or have a sense of plans for what to do next. You may present slides as visual aids or just talk through your ideas in Session 3 (PowerPoint or PDF files can be shared through the conference so practice doing so if not familiar with this).

Session 3

Participants give their work-in-progress presentation and listen to those of others. These are usually 5-7 minutes each but may be adjusted for the number of participants. Time left at the end is used for additional dialogue to help identify themes that have become more visible through the presentations or ask clarifying questions. Participants are invited to share their visual aids or other supporting resources in the written discussions just before or after Session 3. Typically, there is also an opportunity to give brief written feedback in response to presentations.

After Session 3: Keep going with your inquiry and posting in the written discussions, and look over the feedback for your presentation (when posted by the facilitator).

Session 4

Participants take stock of the CE and continue to bridge what they have considered with next steps in thinking, researching, and/or action in their own settings. A multi-phase dialogue format is used (as in Session 2) to help participants not only bring forth the collective knowledge that they have created about the topic but also review the CE as a process.

After Session 4 (optional): Participants may continue their inquiry as desired, including ongoing sharing on the written discussion site or following up with other connections.

Technical Notes

• Please note that online meetings may be audio- or video-recorded, but only for the purpose of sharing such recordings with registered participants who missed a meeting. Recordings are deleted permanently one week after the Session 4 meeting.