Community Building Basics
Study Circles

Some ways we can help

So you want to consider using Study Circles.

The Study Circle Resource Center is able to assist programs with free or with affordable help. Here are some of the possible ways:

• Open source materials. The website www.studycircles.org is full of free materials and assistance. The materials include an organizing manual for local programs as well as a facilitation manual for training facilitators. Wrapped around this valuable information is a wide array of stories from around the country, tools and discussion guides. Coming soon is a guide to help people write their own locally focused discussion guides.


• Training for organizing circles. Staff members can work with you by phone and sometimes in person to create a plan for launching your circles and recruiting a diverse group of participants.


• Training facilitators. With good instruction and practice, study circles can be facilitated by people with the right temperaments who have been trained in fewer than 8 hours. For some of our guides more training time is suggested. We can help by training facilitators or training some of your own skilled facilitators who can then train others.


• Leading a one-day series of circle sessions.  In school/community circles, it is not unusual to recruit participants for a one-day series of small groups.  Often called a“summit,” this one-day event allows participants to go through three or four shortened sessions in one day.  Our staff may help facilitate these one day events along with the table facilitators drawn from the community.


• Planning for action. Talk without action is enjoyable for some and frustrating for others. If you want to increase the likelihood of change happening in your community, we can provide tools and assistance in planning for the action and in creating an effective action session at the end of you study circles.