Groundrules for Discussion

1.  Acknowledge that oppression (racism, classism, sexism, etc.) exists.

2.  Acknowledge that one of the mechanisms of oppression is that we are all systematically taught misinformation about our own group and about members of other groups.

3.  Agree not to blame ourselves or others for the misinformation we have learned in the past, but accept responsibility for not repeating misinfomation after we have learned otherwise.

4.  Agree not to blame victims for their oppression.

5.  Assume that people (both the groups we study and the members of the class) always do the best they can.

6.  Actively pursue information about our own groups and those of others

7.  Share information about our groups with other members of the class and never demean, devalue, or in any way "put down" people for their experiences

8.  Agree to actively combat the myths and stereotypes about our own groups and other groups so that we can break down the walls which prohibit group cooperation and group gain

9.  Create a safe atmosphere for open discussion (if members of the class wish to make comments that they do not want repeated outside the classroom, they can preface their remarks with a request and the class will agree not to repeat the remarks).

The ground rules are from the Faculty Curriculum Integration Workbook (Kathryn Ward, et al.) Updated June 1991.