World in the Balance

Student Handout

The Growing of America - Debriefing Questions

REVIEWING EXPERIENCES AND OUTCOMES
What did your team hope to achieve in this negotiation? What did it achieve? How well did you and your group meet your interests, uphold your values, and affirm your identities? Are you satisfied with the results? What would you do differently next time? How did the whole group do at finding a resolution to meet the interests, uphold the values, and affirm the identities of all the participants? What could the group as a whole do differently next time?

ANALYZING THE ISSUES
At the beginning, what did your group see as the causes of the conflict? In what ways did other groups see the causes of the conflict differently? Did your understanding of the causes of the conflict change by the end of the role play? How? Why? Is it helpful for all stakeholders in a conflict to share a common understanding of its causes? Why or why not? How can this be done?

RESOLVING THE CONFLICT
At the beginning, what did your group think was the best way to manage the conflict? In what ways did other groups in the conflict have different ideas about how to do this? Did your ideas about the best way to manage the conflict change by the end of the role play? How? Why?

NEGOTIATION PROCESSES
What did you do to try to convince the other groups of your solution to the conflict? Did you persuade them? Why or why not? What did other groups do to try to convince you of a different solution to the conflict? Did they persuade you? Why or why not?

CONNECTIONS TO CONTENT
In real life, how do you think this conflict would be resolved? Who would benefit and who wouldn't? Would it be fair? What might happen next? Stepping out of your role, what do you think would have been the best resolution to the conflict? Why? How might you persuade the groups to accept this resolution?

INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY APPLICATIONS
What did you learn about your own negotiation style and strategies that you use every day? How will you use this knowledge in your own life? How could the lessons we've learned be applied to a situation or an issue in your school or the larger community? Think of a conflict between groups that you have been involved in (or are involved in now). Do you think that these negotiation skills could have been useful to you and your group? Why or why not?