Orange Beach Moderator Workshop

On Thursday, December 1, 2011, seven citizens from the Orange Beach area gathered together to develop their moderating skills in a Coaching Community Innovation (CCI) Workshop sponsored by the Mathews Center. The workshop was organized by Bonnie Lee and the Orange Beach Public Library and took place in the library’s facility. Participants ranged from library staff persons to those involved in tourism and the Orange Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The day began with an introduction by Cristin Foster, assistant program director for the Mathews Center and workshop facilitator. The participants then introduced themselves and shared what they hoped to gain from the workshop. The group seemed to feel that developing their moderating skills would aid them in their professional and community obligations.

Following introductions, the group jumped into an abbreviated forum using Dropouts: What Should We Do? to guide their deliberation.  The lively and congenial discussion around the three approaches brought out many of the tensions and tradeoffs in the issue guide and led to a few common themes. The group really gravitated toward approach three, “Emphasize Community Responsibility.” The participants raised an interesting question during their discussion of approach three: should the community take on the role of “filling in the gaps” that the school and home cannot fill, or does a symbiotic relationship emphasizing project-based learning need to be developed between the school and community?

After seeing first hand the challenging and rewarding work of deliberation in a forum setting, the group took a short break to refuel. After reconvening, the participants reviewed the Moderator Development Handbook. The group talked through the nuts and bolts of moderating, handling difficult participants, and tips for effective recording. The “Asking Good Questions” section was discussed in depth and the participants practiced writing questions that would help tease out values, tensions, and tradeoffs. The group broke for lunch before tackling the final details of the Handbook.

During the final portion of the agenda, the participants got to test their newly developed skills in a mock forum where they took turns moderating, recording, and giving constructive feedback to each other. Several participants took on roles to test their colleagues’ abilities to remain neutral, while keeping the discussion on track. Although primarily for practice, the mock forum brought out some serious themes that some of the participants continued talking about after the exercise ended.

Thank you to the Orange Beach Public Library for hosting; to all of the participants for actively engaging the material; and to Dr. Bob McKenzie, president of the Mathews Center, for recording and contributing to the discussion. It was a pleasure to work with this group and I look forward to hearing how they are able to implement the skills they developed during the Moderator workshop!

- Cristin Foster (DMC Assistant Program Director)