Dialogue Method: A Proposal to Foster Intra- and Inter-community Dialogic En- gagement

Abstract

How can we learn and experience dialogue within and between communities? Inspired by the methodological ideas of David Bohm, William Isaacs and Paulo Freire, as well as by the professional experiences of the first author of this article in the field of education and the environment, our aim in the present text is to present in detail a method, which has been developed, tested, and analysed in recent years, to learn and experiment dialogue, which can be used within and between communities. The method is composed of two major interdependent cycles that alternate. The first is a reflexive one, without agenda, composed of four practices that constitute a junction and a transformation of the procedures of suspension of assumptions, by Bohm and Isaacs, and codification and decodification, by Freire, with the purpose of stimulating interpersonal understanding and connection. The second is a deliberative one, with agenda, inspired by Freire’s ideas of dialogic collaboration and the principles of educative intervention for sustainability, as suggested by several authors in the field of education for sustainability and social learning, with the purpose of promoting structural changes. We recognise that there is still a long way to go to verify the efficiency of the proposed method and that numerous research and experience reports are needed based on its application.