LEARNING SESSION OUTLINE:

AFS Student Learning Journey Online Component

Facilitated Dialogue Session #2

FORMAT: Virtual Live Session, via Zoom

REQUIRED TIME: 90 minutes
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
By the end of the session, students will
● Get to know each other,
● Review key terms, concepts and approaches related to social innovation,
● Reflect on how they can benefit from creative tools for social innovation and
connecting with their communities.
● Clarify any questions students might have regarding the content of the second set of
modules.

1. Welcome & introductions (30 MIN)

1.1. Welcome words
1.1.1. Facilitator(s) welcome participants to their first Facilitated Dialogue
Session of the online learning component of the AFS Student Learning
Journey.
1.1.2. Facilitators briefly introduce themselves. Make sure to share your name,
where you are connecting from and your role at AFS. Tell students they
will have a chance to introduce themselves shortly.

1.2. Housekeeping items

1.2.1. Explain how we will be using Zoom during this session. Encourage
students to have their cameras on (if possible) and to participate in the
chat and use Zoom reactions throughout the session.
1.2.2. Remind participants about the Community Agreement, some guidelines
for us to interact with each other throughout the program which we will
also practice in these live sessions. These are:
● Respect diversity. You will interact with people of all races,
genders, sexes, ages, sexual orientations, religions, disabilities, and
socioeconomic status. Offensive language, jokes, and comments
targeted to individuals’ social categories and identities will not be
tolerated.

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 ●
Participate actively. Make sure you make the most of this
opportunity. Participate in the activities and forums. Learn from
your fellow AFSers, read their comments, and ask them questions.
● Suspend judgment & be open-minded. Make sure to demonstrate
a non-judgmental and open mindset among your fellow AFSers
and facilitators. This means trying to refrain from judging or
critiquing someone else’s perspective and instead, reframing your
evaluations as a question when you’d like to engage in dialogue.
● Stay present. Try to unplug and remove other distractions when
you are going through the modules and during the live sessions.
We recommend putting the cell phone away during sessions and
closing other internet browsers and chat windows.
● Be brave. This is a space for everyone to share their point of view
and experiences, what is expressed in the forums and during the
live sessions should be kept in those spaces. Let's try hard to keep
the forums on topic and not about other issues (e.g. program
logistics).
1.3. Session goal & agenda review
1.3.1. Remind students the goal of today’s session is for them to connect with
each other as we dive deeper to clarify the topics covered in modules 6-8
of the online learning program.
1.3.2. Present the topics that will be covered in today's session and let
participants know that even if they didn’t complete these modules yet,
they will be able to follow the activities and participate in the session.
1.4. Students’ introductions
1.4.1. Facilitator invites participants to introduce themselves by sharing a
nickname they had when they were younger or one they wish they had
and tell a short story about where the nickname comes from and why they
like it. Tell participants the nickname can be a version of their birth name
or something completely different! Just make sure it’s a nickname they
like. If it's a big group, you can do this using breakout rooms so you save
some time.
1.5. Community-building activity
1.5.1. Facilitator now invites students to share about their surroundings. Ask
them to share with the group: “What do you see when you look out the
nearest window?”. Ask them to describe in detail what they can see, for
example: time of the day, weather, type of natural landscape (trees, grass,
flowers, etc.), constructions (houses, buildings, stores), etc.

2. Social Innovation Terms (15 MIN)

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 2.1. What do you recall from these definitions?
2.1.1. Facilitator reminds students that one of the video modules introduced to
different terms such as Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship.
2.1.2. Ask students to share what they recall from these definitions. This can be
done as an open-ended question in the big group and opening the floor to
sharing or using Menti to collect written responses on speech-bubbles, for
example.
2.2. Review social innovation & social entrepreneur definitions
2.2.1. Read through the definitions of social Innovation and social entrepreneur
as shared in the modules. You can make connections with what students
shared before.
2.3. Small group discussion
2.3.1. Explain to participants that they now will go into breakout rooms for a
small group discussion (maximum 4 people per group) and read through
the questions for them to discuss in the small groups.
● What surprised you in the definitions of these terms?
● Does it seem difficult or easy to make a social innovation? How so?
● In which ways might having a social entrepreneur attitude to
problem-solving can help you during your exchange?

3. Tools for social innovation (20 MIN)

3.1. Key mindsets
3.1.1. While sharing the key mindsets image on the screen, ask students what
they remember about these. Ask them to use the chat to share their
thoughts.
● Establish intention
● Listen in
● Believe in a better world
● Build community
● Authorize yourself
● Lead with empathy
● Make it happen
● Create every day
● People matter
3.1.2. Launch a poll for students so select (1-3) key mindsets that resonate most
with them. After closing the poll, invite a few participants to comment on
their choices.
● Poll 1: Which key mindset resonates most with you?
(add the 9 mindsets to the multiple choice)

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 3.1.3.
Launch a second poll for students so select the 1 key mindset that they
find most challenging to develop. After closing the poll, invite a few
participants to comment on their choices.
● Poll 2: Which one is most challenging for you?
(add the 9 mindsets to the multiple choice)
3.2. Creative tools for social innovation: design thinking
3.2.1. Remind students about the methodology shared in the modules: design
thinking. Review the four steps presented in the video. Then ask students
to share their general impressions about it.
3.2.2. After reviewing the process, review the three tools from the design
thinking methodology introduced in the modules: listening with empathy,
mind mapping and prototyping. Ask a show of hands for those in the
group who did at least one of the activities. Invite a few participants to
share how their experience was.
3.3. Small group discussion
3.3.1. Explain to participants that they now go into breakout rooms again, with
different groups (maximum 4 people per group) and read through the
questions for them to discuss in the small groups.
● Were you familiar with design thinking before these modules?
● As you were learning and practicing these tools, what are some
insights you can apply in your life?
● How do you think these tools might be useful as you arrive in your
host community? If not, why not?

4. Connecting with your community (15 MIN)

4.1. What does community mean to you?
4.1.1. Ask participants to share in their own words their understanding of the
term community.
4.2. Community characteristics
4.2.1. Review the seven characteristics or factors that define communities
shared in the modules:
● History: Notable or defining historical events and milestones.
● Demographics: Ethnic and cultural groups, age groups, gender.
● Contemporary Issues: Challenges people care about addressing
right now.
● Power Structure: Political structure, community leaders.
● Future Directions: People’s aspirations for the future.
● Physical Characteristics: Environment, climate, notable
architecture.

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 ● Belief Systems and Values: Major religions, social values.
4.2.2. While sharing the description of the seven characteristics on your screen,
ask students to reflect on 3 factors/characteristics that they consider they
will find most different between their home community and host
community. Ask them to write down their reflections.
4.3. Small group discussion
4.3.1. Explain to participants that they now go into breakout rooms again, with
different groups (maximum 4 people per group) and read through the
questions for them to discuss in the small groups.
● What were the three characteristics you thought about?
● What do you think are the main differences between those in your
home and host community?
● What are some things you can do to learn more about your host
community once you arrive in it?

5. Closing (10 MIN)

5.1. Remind students that they can revisit the modules in the online platform at any
point. Also inform them that a few weeks after they arrive in their host country,
they will be enrolled in the Develop phase of this online program
5.2. Invite students to complete the satisfaction survey about this first part of the
program. Link available here.
5.3. Wrap-up the session by one appreciation or key takeaway from today’s session.
You can do so using the chat, the whiteboard function in Zoom or a Menti word
cloud, for example.

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