‘I’ – Introspection and Interrogation
‘I’ sessions are aimed at giving participants the opportunity to reflect internally on their thought process. While the ‘A’ sessions included group members convincing the listeners that they believe in the alternate position, the ‘I’ session is effectively a conversation that each individual is having with themselves to deconstruct their thinking.
To facilitate the ‘I’ sessions, participants should introspect on the theme allocated to them in the ‘A’ session. The facilitators should continue reiterating to participants that this is effectively the participants trying to understand their thought process so they can recognise the different facets that contribute to their decision-making.
Therefore, the ‘I’ the sessions that you would conduct are as follows:
- Introduction to ‘I’ – Individual group calls: This would include explaining the aims and objectives of ‘I’ and explaining the format of the session.
- Sessions on individual themes: This would include participants providing their individual reflections.
Sessions should be conducted on all themes. Therefore, if there are 8 themes then there would be 9 sessions for ‘I’ (1 introduction session + 8 theme-based sessions).
Session Structure
At this point, since the participants would have conducted their ‘A’ on a specific theme, they should continue conducting their ‘I’ on the same theme.
Introduction to the ‘I’ sessions should be done over individual group calls, where the importance, aims and objectives of ‘I’ should be explained to each of the groups.
Participants should also be made aware of the structure of the session i.e., that each group member will have 10 minutes to provide their reflections.
You can choose to invite external members to provide comments and feedback on both, what the participants have spoken about and the theme overall. However, it is important to ensure that external members are invited for all themes, if at all. It shouldn’t be the case that external feedback is provided to some groups and not the others.
In case external feedback is being welcomed, the structure of the session could be as follows:
| Part | Time Allocated | Objective |
| Part 1: Individual reflections | 40 minutes (10 minutes per participant) | Each group member will individually reflect for about 10 minutes on the process they went through. |
| Part 2: External feedback (Optional) | 30 minutes | Feedback from external member along with Q&As, subject to the time available. |
Steps to help facilitate this are provided below:
1. Setting up individual group calls:
Individual group calls should be coordinated so that you can explain the aims and objectives of ‘I’ to the group members.
2. Confirming date and time:
As is with the ‘A’ sessions, all group members must be present for the ‘I’ sessions and therefore the dates and times should be re-confirmed with the relevant groups. Do note that in case external members are being invited, then it would not be possible to adjust the dates and times of the sessions. However, in case they are not, then dates and times could be adjusted in case group members aren’t available in that specific time slot.
3. (Optional) Invitation to external members:
In case external members are being invited, emails to them should be sent out well in advance. You should also try and set up initial calls with them to provide context and explain the thought process that the participants have been experiencing. Here is a template for the communication.
Introduction to ‘I’
Introduction to ‘I’ would include highlighting the aims and objectives of this step. It would also involve explaining the format of the ‘I’ sessions.
1. Talking points for introduction to ‘I’ (group call):
1. A process of self-reflection:
‘I’ is a process of self-reflection which is focused on your thought process and therefore does not require much external research or presentation. It primarily involves you looking inward to deconstruct your thought process and mapping it out.
2. Understanding what your preference is:
It is important to identify those aspects that you identify with more easily than others. For example, if the theme is on the premise of Peace and majoritarian and minority views, then are you considering majorities and minorities based on religion, economic status, political preference, etc.? It is important to realise that the outcome of your conclusions stems from this. For instance, if you are considering religion-based majorities and minorities, your decision would go in a different direction, as opposed to if you were considering economic majorities and minorities.
3. Importance of acknowledging shortfalls:
An important aspect of introspection is also the acceptance of one’s own shortfalls. Whether that is that you didn’t have enough time to research, couldn’t find the right facts, or that you don’t think you are familiar enough with the topic. Such acknowledgement is important to ensure that going forward, you are flexible when hearing other’s viewpoints on a similar theme.
4. Identifying bias:
A key aspect of ‘I’ is also to identify your own biases. Biases can stem from lack of adequate information, one’s own personal context, the difficulty of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, as well as any pre-conceived notions that may hold. The identification of these biases will once again help in ensuring that you are aware of your line of thinking and that you keep this in mind for future thought processes as well.
2. Talking points for format of ‘I’:
1. Relevance of groups:
While all of you are continuing in the same groups, ‘I’ is individual. You don’t need to coordinate with each other with respect to what you will be speaking on. The only coordination required is the order in which you will be speaking.
2. Speaking time:
Each of you will receive 10 minutes to provide your reflections. You can utilise these 10 minutes in a manner of your preference. You don’t need to be worried about structuring your conversation or shaping it as a speech. This is you providing the rest of us an insight into your mind.
3. Feedback from speakers (optional):
In case participants are receiving feedback from an external member, then they should be told that someone will be around to listen to them. In this case, it becomes even more important to tell participants to run their process and not be conscious of an external member listening.
Individual Theme-Based Reflections
| Part | Time Allocated | Objective |
| Part 1: Individual reflections | 40 minutes (10 minutes per participant) | Each group member will individually reflect for about 10 minutes on the process they went through. |
| Part 2: External feedback (Optional) | 30 minutes | Feedback from external member along with Q&As, subject to the time available. |
On the day of individual reflections, your role as a facilitator will again be to primarily listen. As before, at the beginning of the session, you will have to reiterate the theme, introduce the participants of that group, and speak broadly on the format of the session. Given this, you as a moderator will not have to speak for more than 5 minutes overall.
A few points of note are:
- In case there is an external member to provide feedback, then they should be introduced at the beginning of the session.
- Group members should be asked to introduce the next member of the group would be speaking after them, so as to make the process smoother and limit your role.
- The participants who are interacting should be requested to keep their cameras on when speaking, subject to their internet bandwidth.
- In case there are no external members, members from other groups who are also part of the session should be invited to provide their feedback.
Takeaways from ‘I’
For the participants
Since ‘I’ is a session where participants are providing their individual reflections, the importance of them mapping out their thought process should constantly be reiterated. They should be asked to be as candid as possible and should be encouraged to be reflective.
It is also important to reiterate that the objective is geared towards participants being more flexible and open to new information and perspectives when they come across it, given that having all of the knowledge on any theme would not be possible.
For the facilitator
‘I’ is a session where the facilitator too will be able to analyse what and how much a participant has taken away from the Methodology so far. It is important to make note of this since it will help in your preparatory conversations with participants when they are preparing for the Showcase.
It will also be relevant for the facilitator to show the participants that they can engage with and have a thought process on any theme/topic, irrespective of its original interest to the participants.
Logistics
Logistics for organising ‘I’ includes the following:
- Calendar invite
- Message on WhatsApp Group
Each of these communications should be sent at regular time intervals in the days preceding the ‘I’ sessions. Here are the templates for the communications.