Race Unity and the Institutes for the Healing of Racism -
Facilitator Guidelines FAQ

Excerpt from Healing Racism in America, a Prescription for the Disease, by Nathan Rutstein

Guidelines for Facilitators:

• Become familiar with exercises/outline before entering the meeting.
  • What points do you want to bring out in the discussion?
  • What issues do you think the group will bring up?
• Arrive early to be abreast of any last-minute instructions.
  • Create necessary seating arrangement (if applicable).
• State purpose of session and begin with introductions.
  • Give general outline of events to take place during the workshop.
  • Be concise in your statements.
  • Do some kind of ice-breaker activity to make group feel comfortable, at ease with you. (They will be somewhat familiar with each other.)
  • Show enthusiasm.
• Use listening skills.
  • Listen for content and context of statements as well as effective level.
  • Ask questions to check accuracy of what you're hearing: "Do you mean?"
  • Paraphrase the person's comments in non-judgmental terms: "Are you saying you never thought about white privilege?"
  • Feedback is descriptive rather than evaluative. By describing one's own reaction, you leave the individual free to use the feedback as he or she sees fit. By avoiding evaluative language, you reduce the likelihood of a defensive reaction.
• Be flexible and maintain some control of the group.
  • Do not let one person monopolize conversation.
  • Do not let one person get ganged up on, or allow a two-way debate between participants.
  • Draw the quiet or passive participants into the discussion.
  • Be assertive without intimidating.
  • Roadblocks may arise in the discussion. Use feedback at times like this. Highlight a group dynamic you see active; be open (yet selective) to sharing from your own experience. You may also want to circle back to a previous comment. People may still need/want to talk, but do not know where to go. In these cases relate their last comment with an inflection that makes it into a question.
  • Do not be afraid of silence. Do not put words into participants' mouths or succumb to the urge to steer them to what you feel is a right answer. Try to be comfortable with a participant's inability to be inarticulate about the point, recognizing, however, what the person has tried to say. Be affirming, supportive and directive where possible.
• Leave time for closure.
  • Try to leave people feeling empowered to change rather than depressed.
  • Stress that this is only a beginning. Encourage them to seek other resources and continue working on these issues.
• Some close-out questions.
  • What have you learned today?
  • What have you thought about in a new way this morning/afternoon?
  • What concerns have challenged you? Can we brainstorm about potential things to do?
  • How can we stay in touch to discuss future developments involving the diverse issues we explored today?

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