Public Issues Education <—— >Public Issues Dispute Resolution
A continuum of educational opportunities

Objectives and Principles of Public Issues Education
Core Values of the Public Issues Educator
Roles of the Extension Professional
Core Competencies of Public Issues Educators

CORE VALUES OF THE PUBLIC ISSUES EDUCATOR

Successful public issues educators uphold a set of core values that guide them in their work. They believe that…

• EDUCATION is a powerful tool for improving the quality of public choices. Different ways of knowing about an issue, including personal stories, life experiences and scientific research are to be valued. Experimentation, improvisation, inquiry, creativity and continuous learning foster creative, critical thinking and lead to informed, competent decisions.
• INCLUSION ensures that all people with a stake in decisions that affect their lives can contribute to and influence the decision making process. It balances power and ensures they have equal access to relevant information and the opportunity to participate.
• CIVIL DIALOGUE among people with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints can enhance the quality of public decision. When mutual trust and respect are cultivated, such dialogue can occur.
• INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS often rest on a willingness to negotiate, share power, and explore collaborative action.
• IMPROVING COMMUNICATION AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS through education enables every person to become involved in public discourse. This may allow for creative, collaborative solutions that previously were not possible.

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ROLES OF THE EXTENSION EDUCATOR

The Extension educator must be able to work with special-interest groups but must also be independent of them. He or she must provide expertise equitably to all interests and not act on the behalf of one interest exclusively. The Extension educator must deal with the complex interplay between science, technology, life experience, values and beliefs. Public issues involve many people, often with conflicting interests and values.

The Extension educator must create learning opportunities that respect all participants' values and that encourage people to learn from one another and to become sufficiently informed to make sound decisions. While it is never appropriate for an Extension educator to advocate a particular solution, it is appropriate to promote and apply educational processes that encourage collaborative learning, consensus building and problem solving.

The Extension educator can play a number of important roles in a public issues education program. The most important of these are as follows:

• A networker identifies and links people and resources to increase people's knowledge of public issues and their ability to participate in public decision making.
• A convenor recognizes a public issue, identifies key stakeholders, gains their support and cooperation in the educational process, and works with them to design and carry out a process to achieve a mutually satisfying outcome.
• A program designer identifies a public issue and key stakeholders, analyzes the situation and stakeholder needs, helps design and develop a long-range educational program, and establish action steps to implement the program.
• A diplomat moves tactfully between stakeholders to encourage them to work together through an educational process.
• The forecaster analyzes emerging issues to help a group begin to address issues as early as possible.
• A facilitator guides a group through the details of a structured process, helps the group identify and achieve its goals, and intervenes as necessary to help the group reach agreement.
• A trainer uses formal instruction and other learning experiences to help citizens acquire the knowledge and skills needed to understand public issues and to work effectively with others to resolve them.
• An information provider gathers, share, and interprets research-based knowledge and information.
• The researcher conducts objective scientific analysis and helps people understand how research results apply to public issues.
• The technical expert provides objective information and expertise to aid decision-making.

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CORE COMPETENCIES OF PUBLIC ISSUES EDUCATORS

Unlike most other Extension programming, public issues education focuses as much on how we teach as what we teach. The knowledge and skills required for an effective education program in a contentious situation are different from those needed to conduct more traditional extension programs. Interviews with Extension professionals who successfully work in public issues education reveal that these educators possess skills and abilities that enable them to deal with technical complexity, human diversity and political sensitivity in a dynamic environment. They are effective communicators, networkers and bridge-builders. They are technically competent as well as skilled in group processes.

Effective public issues educators possess the following core competencies:

Creating Partnerships

• Ability to identify individuals and organizations involved in public issues and their potential roles in a public issues education program.
• Ability to bring individuals and organizations together to create a collaborative climate for problem solving.
• Ability to foster and maintain a fair and respectful group discussion to share information effectively.
• Ability to frame public issues to facilitate civil commun8ication and collaborative, creative decision-making.

Collecting and Interpreting Data about Issues, Audiences, and Educational Settings

• Ability to assess readiness for and suitability of public issues education approaches.
• Knowledge of formal and informal decision-making processes and their relationship to public issues education.
• Sufficient understanding of technical information about the issues to help participants identify sources of information and support.
• Understand of the role of scientific analysis and information to the resolution of issues.
• Ability to recognize, understand, and value diverse perspectives held by program participants.
• Ability to identify and prioritize essential issues and interests.
• Ability to understand and communicate about complex issues.
• Ability to involve individuals and organizations whose participation in the educational process is critical to the program's success.
• Ability to identify conditions that affect participation in a public issues education program.
• Ability to discern whether the degree of polarization among participants may detract from a successful public issues education program.
• Ability to recognize and interpret relationships among participants, including sources of power, power imbalances and political dynamics.

Designing Public Issues Education Programs

• Ability to choose and apply educational methods that are appropriate for program goals, issues and audiences.
• Ability to adapt a public issues education program to existing situations and circumstances.
• Ability to identify and define appropriate roles for educators and participants.
• Ability to define and communicate a sequence of steps leading participants to their desired outcome.
• Ability to establish realistic and attainable meeting objectives.
• Ability to prepare meeting information, including agendas, background materials and speakers.
• Ability to work with participants to create and follow behavioral and procedural guidelines.

Communicating Effectively

• Ability to listen actively and ask questions effectively.
• Ability to provide constructive feedback.
• Ability to monitor ones own communication behaviors and those of others.
• Ability to encourage and maintain constructive dialogue among participants.

Facilitating Group Discussion and Decision-Making

• Knowledge of group decision-making dynamics.
• Knowledge of negotiation processes, strategies, and tactics.
• Ability to keep participants on task and engaged.
• Ability to help participants move from advocacy toward inquiry within a group setting.
• Ability to explain and facilitate the processes of collaborative learning, planning, and problem solving.
• Ability to help participants to clearly define their roles in all phases of the process.
• Ability to promote civil discourse through open and balanced discussions.
• Ability to protect people and their ideas from attack.
• Ability to manage multiple lines of thought and discussion.
• Ability to organize information for efficient and effective use.

Managing and Transforming Conflict

• Ability to recognize sources of conflict.
• Ability to intervene into the conflict in a constructive and instructive manner.
• Ability to help participants establish ground rules of effective communication.
• Ability to facilitate communication and information exchange in an emotionally charged climate.
• Ability to build and maintain trust among the participants by establishing a positive climate.
• Ability to minimize or neutralize the effects of negative emotions and behaviors.

Working with Scientific and Technical Information

• Ability to work with multiple participants to identify data needs and sources.
• Ability to recognize both the importance and limitations of scientific data and analysis in the resolution of public issues.
• Ability to organize complex information in ways that make it useful to all participants.
• Ability to manage different types of information in various educational settings.
• Ability to organize and facilitate the presentation, interpretation and application of information by outside experts.
• Ability to organize the search for and analysis of date.
• Ability to prepare technical reports.

Creating an Environment of Professionalism

• Ability to demonstrate a commitment to honesty, integrity and respect for all participants.
• Ability to separate ones personal values from issues under consideration.
• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to participants' values and diversity, including gender, ethnic and cultural differences.