Democratic Practices and Inclusive

Excellence

Stephan Hiroshi GilchristOffice of Equity, Diversity, and

Inclusion

What brought you to this presentation?

What is Democratic Practice?

1. Engages diverse perspectives, explores concerns and

assumptions, transforms conflict and disagreement, and

works collaboratively to find creative solutions and

constructive change

2. It is a set of principles and practices that guide how people

interact and work together every day to improve their

community and to create a more just society

3. Involves informed community members

4. Involvement in decision-making by those most likely to be

affected by the outcome

The Democracy Imperative

Democratic Practices

• Systems Thinking• Dialogue• Deliberation• Conflict Transformation

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a way of understanding reality that emphasizes the relationships among a system's parts, rather than the parts themselves. It can help you design smart, enduring solutions to problems. Systems thinking gives you a more accurate picture of reality. It encourages you to think about problems and solutions with an eye toward the long view.

Pegasus Communication

Dialogue• Dialogue is about bringing together many voices,

many stories, many perspectives, many experiences with a goal to increase understanding about others and ourselves. It is a safe and honest facilitated discussion aimed at providing an opportunity to tell your story, listen to others and build understanding. Jen Murphy, George Mason University’

• Dialogue is a foundational communication process leading directly to personal and organizational transformation. It assists in creating environments of high trust and openness, with reflective and generative capacities. One might think of dialogue as [an]…approach in the development of the following organizational disciplines: continuous learning, diversity, conflict exploration, decision making and problem solving, leadership, self-managing teams, organizational planning and alignment, and culture change. Linda Ellinor, The Dialogue Group

dialogue video

Debate Dialogue

Unwavering commitment to one’s own views and ideas

Open to hearing and understanding other perspectives

Trying to convince others to see the situation from your perspective or to agree with you

Asking questions to understand other people’s point of view

Combative, where participants attempt to prove the other side wrong

Collaborative, where participants work together toward common understanding

Assuming there is a right answer, and you have it.

Assuming that there are multiple perspectives and that integrating these perspectives provides a more effective solution

Listening to find flaws and counterarguments.

Listening to understand and find meaning

Critiquing others’ views and ideas. Reexamining all views, ideas, and assumptions –including one’s own

DeliberationDeliberation is a process that brings people together to study an organizational, community, social, or political issue. It asks it’s participants to identify possible solutions, consider the advantages, disadvantages, and trade-offs for each choice, and make decisions about how an issue should be addressed. Dialogue provides the comprehensive and shared understanding needed for quality deliberation and effective decision making to occur. The Democracy Imperative

Open Space Video

Conflict TransformationConflict is…foremost a potential occasion for growth in two critical

and interrelated dimensions of human morality. The first dimension

involves strengthening the self. This occurs through realizing and

strengthening one’s inherent human capacity for dealing with

difficulties of all kinds by engaging in conscious and deliberate

reflection, choice, and action. The second dimension involves

reaching beyond the self to relate to others. This occurs through

realizing and strengthening one’s inherent human capacity for

experiencing and expressing concern and consideration for others,

especially others whose “situation” is different from one’s own.

Conflict confronts each party with a challenge…or adversity to

grapple with. This challenge presents…the opportunity to clarify…

their needs and values, what causes them satisfaction and

dissatisfaction. Bush and Folger

Skills and Knowledge

1.Intercultural communication

2.Conflict transformation

3.Deep listening, self-reflection, empathy,

flexibility, curiosity

4.Self-awareness of one’s own cultural biases,

assumptions, and preferences

5.Understanding shared human needs and interests

6.Gather relevant data for dialogue and

deliberation

What Is Democratic Practice?

1. What would a democratic work environment look like where you work currently?

2. What are the qualities that are needed?Example: trust, transparency, reciprocity

3. What would democratic structures and processes look like?Where would decision be made, by whom, how?What happens if there are different perspectives?

4. How are decisions made currently?

Resources• National Coalition on Dialogue and

Deliberation• The Democracy Imperative• Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and

Service• Cooperative Extension Systems Thinking

Team• Cooperative Extension Conflict

Management Team• Colleagues in Cooperative Extension• Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

stephan.gilchrist@uwex.uwc.edu

608-262-3049