I’ve done one so far and have modeled it in sessions I’ve done with similar courses.

I’ve started the first session by laying out some ground rules, ie confidentiality, role, and expectations. I’ve been clear that my role is to listen and ask questions, not to tell them what to do. I have also pointed out that we are teaching community organising, so I will keep bringing the conversation back to the methods and principles of community organising.

I then asked questions about their context, focusing on their personal goals and self-interest/vocation. I’ve taken notes and probed on issues which seemed relevant.

When necessary I’ve made tried to frame questions in terms of 121s, self-interest, power analysis, etc… and made suggestions about how they might use these tools.

I’ve made notes as we went, high-lighting key issues and actions that they might take.

Towards the end of the season I began to focus on “next steps”. We finished the first season with three clear actions that they were going to commit to do before we meet again. We then agreed a date to meet.