Postgraduate Impact of Intergroup Dialogue Facilitation Training on Professional Practices

• In Event: Training, Evaluation, and Development in Higher Education

Abstract

Increasing partisan divides demand educators and practitioners with the skills to engage communities in productive dialogues and action to address social issues that disproportionately harm minoritized groups. Intergroup dialogue (IGD) has been deployed extensively on college campuses and holds great promise for fostering skills amongst facilitators that have applicability across other educational and leadership context. This mixed methods study describes how often and in what contexts alums from an interdisciplinary graduate program in education apply IGD facilitation competencies, and the factors associated with their application. Findings offer confirmation that trained facilitators are transferring skills and abilities from IGD to a range of educational contexts, a critical need within our current socio-political environment.

Authors

• Rachel Wagner, Clemson University

• Ximena Zúñiga, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Rani Varghese, Adelphi University

• Nina M. Tissi-Gassoway, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Maria A. Remaly, University of Massachusetts Amherst