Deliberative Pedagogy - Talloires Network of Engaged Universities

The Talloires Network of Engaged Universities in partnership with the Kettering Foundation will design, implement, and analyze a research experiment in the use of deliberation with college students around the world. The research will address the following questions:

In what ways might practices of deliberative civic engagement be of value during periods of uncertainty and change?
How might student participation on deliberative civic engagement practices strengthen their capabilities for ethical thinking and decision-making?
How might student participation in deliberative civic engagement practices influence ideas they have about themselves?

Activities will include:

Recruiting and selecting students to participate in virtual workshops to expose them to deliberative democracy concepts, teaching students to name and frame their own issues, and allowing students to experience deliberation
Giving students the opportunity to experience deliberation with each other, across geographical boundaries; and asking students to design their own deliberative experiments
- Co-organizing research exchanges for students to share their experiences at TNLC2021 and by way of international webinars

Learn more about the gathering of Next Generation Leaders at the July 2022 Deliberative Democracy Exchange in Dayton, Ohio.

Global Deliberation on Health Equity and Accessibility – December 14, 2022

Students of the Next Generation Leaders program hosted a Global Deliberative Discussion using structured listening methods, including critical steps such as naming and framing controversial public issues, to discuss health equity and access. The student-led discussion explored the question: How can we achieve accessible healthcare for all at the best cost, with the best choices, and without stigma? This discussion was free to the public and explored three varied options that express common concerns and offer trade-offs.

The Initiatives for Democratic Practices program is based on the premise that democracy is an ecology in which people in communities work in complementary ways with one another to address public problems. The two-year program involves a series of learning exchange meetings. Participants in the Initiatives for Democratic Practices are resources for generating deliberative democratic capacity for addressing public problems. The approach used by the Network, in partnership with the Kettering Foundation, is to support experiments in deliberation with young people around the world who are engaged with professional or civic organizations and institutions, including colleges and universities.

Throughout these exchanges, participants will explore the following questions: How can initiatives such as the ones being developed in this program foster the use of deliberative practices in ways that recognize the power of people to make collective decisions and prepare young people for their work as productive members of society? How can deliberative practices be used to address issues in communities?