Tool
Turning Interaction into Cooperation
This resource provides practical suggestions for building pluralism through the work you’re already doing, whether that’s in team meetings, teaching, engaging volunteers, or any other event that brings people together.
Turning Interaction into Cooperation
Interfaith America defines Pluralism as respect across diverse identities, mutually inspiring relationships, and cooperation for the common good. There are undoubtedly people already working together across difference every day in your community, workplace, or school. Turning that existing interaction into conscious cooperation doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated. All it requires is positively engaging difference and surfacing shared values through repeated, low-stakes engagement. This resource provides practical suggestions for building pluralism through the work you’re already doing, whether that’s in team meetings, teaching, engaging volunteers, or any other event that brings people together.
Prompts to Open with Pluralism
Helping people see and appreciate each other’s values and beliefs is essential to building pluralism, but it doesn’t have to be a long or serious conversation. Here are some icebreakers and conversation starters that provide opportunities for people to share elements of their identities, backgrounds, and worldviews as a low-stakes introduction or part of a meeting.
What’s in a name?
As an introduction activity, ask everyone to tell the group something about their name. It can be about any part of it – first, middle, last, or a nickname. This provides an opportunity for everyone to share something about themselves. This prompt also often surfaces individuals’ connections to ancestors, religious or cultural identity, or parents’ beliefs, while generating plenty of funny childhood anecdotes and stories about nicknames. Opening the discussion with this question allows participants to name the identities and worldviews they bring with them if they so desire.
Instant Potluck
Ask everyone to write down a dish that is important to them for some reason on a piece of paper. Instruct participants to mingle and find a another person whose dish might go well with theirs. Together pairs or small groups then discuss why their individual dish is important to them.
What’s your favorite body of water?
While this prompt may seem offbeat, it serves as an invitation for people to share memories about places that are significant to them. After everyone has gone, invite people to share anything they’re noticing about all the memories or connections to water in the room. For example, geographies, experiences, and traditions can all be great themes to explore.
What’s your TedTalk?
Ask the room: if you were invited to give a TedTalk tomorrow, what topic would you choose? Why is this topic important to you, and how did you come to know about it? This prompt helps surface issues that are important to people and the values that motivate them.
Who brought you here?
Ask the room: who brought you here, literally or metaphorically? Think about all of the people who influenced your path to this exact place (room, event, project, etc.), whether it’s a family member, author, artist, thinker, mentor, or friend. This prompt often surfaces people’s reasons for engaging in the work you’re doing together.
Correcting the Record
Ask the group: what’s something you wish more people knew about a place where you’ve lived? This prompt highlights the diversity of experiences within the group and invites people to challenge preconceived notions through curiosity.
Connection!
One person names three facts about themselves. When they’re done, someone else jumps in, popcorn style, and begins with a fact about themselves that connects in some way to a fact that the first person mentioned. This exercise surfaces whatever identities and backgrounds participants are comfortable sharing. It also simultaneously demonstrates both how seemingly different people are interconnected and how individuals are multifaceted. A typical sequence might go:
- Participant 1: I’m originally from Arkansas, I have a cat named fettucine, and I grew up Baptist
- Participant 2: Connection! I live in Arkansas now, I’m Muslim, and I enjoy tennis
- Participant 3: Connection! I live really close to the stadium where they hold the US open, I love Stephen King novels, and my family is from California
The sequence continues until every individual has gone. People can always make a connection to what an earlier participant said as the exercise draws to a close. This icebreaker allows people to share what they’re comfortable with while also surfacing the identities and beliefs that brought people together.
Pluralism Activities to Dig Deeper
For groups that are already familiar with each other or interested in engaging more in Pluralism, here are some suggestions that require more time to engage more deeply.
Value Wall
In the context of shared work together, whether that’s a service project, committee, or event planning for instance, ask people to write down a value or experience that inspires them to be involved on a sticky note. Have everyone put the sticky notes on a wall, and then talk together about the values underpinning the group’s service. Ask participants:
- What themes or common values do you notice?
- What differences do you notice?
- How do you think our variety of experiences and perspectives impacts our work together?
Optional: If you desire to go deeper, consider facilitating a discussion around the Shared Value of Service handout. Have everyone read through the handout. After everyone has had a chance to read, ask:
- Did any of these—either from a tradition you identify with or not— particularly resonate with you?
- Where do you find meaning in our work together? If you can think of an example or story, feel free to share.
- Are there any connections or differences that you notice between the texts and what we wrote on the wall?
Lines in the Sand
Draw an invisible line down the center of the room and have everyone stand on it. Tell participants that you’re going to read a series of binary prompts, and that they’ll jump to the left side of the line for the first option, or the right side of the line for the second option. Start with relatively surface-level prompts, getting deeper as the exercise goes. Each prompt should be something on which reasonable people can disagree. Invite participants to find someone on the other side of the line and talk a bit about why they chose the spot they did after each prompt, or if the group overwhelmingly goes to one side, invite a few people to share their reasoning with the whole group. This activity can both highlight commonalities and normalize the experience of disagreement. Here are some examples of prompts:
- Pie or cake?
- Sweet or sour?
- Mountains or ocean?
- Earlybird or night owl?
- Minimalist or maximalist?
- Public transportation or driving?
- Rural or urban?
- Technology enthusiast or luddite?
- Freedom or security?
- Reform from the inside or change from the outside?
Lifelines
Tell participants that one side of a room is today, and the opposite side of the room is the day they were born. The space in between is the life that they’ve lived up to the present moment. Explain that you will read a series of fairly universal experiences, and participants should place themselves on the “lifeline” when it occurred for them. For example, if the prompt is “a time you made a big decision” and a 20-year-old is recalling the decision they made at 18 to attend college, they would place themselves close to the “today” wall. Here are some prompts:
- A time when you felt like you belonged
- A time when you changed your mind
- The first time you encountered someone who was different than you
- A time when you were challenged
- A time when you made an important decision
After each prompt, have participants find the person nearest to them and take a couple minutes to tell their partner why they chose that point on the lifeline- what moment they’re thinking of, when it happened, and why it was memorable or meaningful to them.
Talk Better Together
Try this classic Interfaith America activity to talk about topics that engage people’s backgrounds and the work you’ve gathered to do together. Half of the group forms a circle facing the wall, and the other half of the group forms an internally-facing circle around them. After everyone has a partner, read prompts like the ones we’ve suggested below or conversation topics that are specific to your class, work, or gathering. Establish a time limit for each prompt—usually three to four minutes is sufficient. Call out “halftime” when the allotted time for the prompt is halfway over so that each pair can switch who is talking. When the time is up, have everyone in the outer circle take one step to the right. Repeat this several times so that everyone gets to discuss each prompt with a new partners. Prompts should start with surface-level topics and get deeper as the exercise goes on. Here are some ideas:
- What’s your favorite movie and why?
- Where do you find meaning?
- What’s something you love about your community?
- What’s something from your tradition/background that is inspiring to you?
- What’s a favorite holiday or tradition? What makes it special to you?
Articulating an Ethic of Pluralism
For a group that already knows each other well and is curious about or committed to pluralism, consider this exercise to articulate an ethic of pluralism.
Related Resources
Whether you’re a learner, an educator, or a practitioner, Interfaith America offers a suite of educational resources to help you realize your goals. Use our Learning & Action Bridge to find opportunities based on your role.
