ESP (Epsilon Sigma Phi) Leads is a professional leadership organization for Extension professionals in Kentucky.  Currently, approximately 18 Extension professionals are moving through this year-long program, and they decided upon a handful of topic areas where they needed additional training.  “Ethics” was one of these topics.  Dr. Breazeale was invited to lead this two hour training in Owensboro on November 18^th (incidentally, this was her first Agent training).  Ethical decision-making in Extension is often taught through case studies of ethical dilemmas (see Menzel, 2009) or through reflecting on critical questions at key moments when one is faced with an ethical choice (see the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University).   

These are excellent teaching tools, but what happens if we shift the conversation from the abstract to the personal, grounded in our real life experiences?   If a big part of ethical-decision making is recognizing when you need to pause and then carefully gathering all the information, weighing your options, and thinking through the possible consequences – isn’t this best done with a trusted thought partner?  Wouldn’t it behoove us to open up to each other about what is really happening, so we can better support each other in this process? Reasons of confidentiality often preclude the sharing of specific details, but Extension Agents can still get useful advice from reaching out to other Extension professionals that they can confide in.  To do so requires deep and empathic listening skills along with a great deal of trust – both of which can be developed through training.  Therefore, in addition to teaching about “ethics,” Dr. Breazeale’s in-service sought to accomplish three additional goals: (1) to see each other as a resource to help us get through tough decisions; (2) to build trust and solidarity amongst those who are doing the messy work of Extension, which has been called ‘the most political of non-political jobs’ out there; (3) to introduce Extension Agents to a community development technique called ‘story circles,’ that may be useful in their programming as they can be used to create spaces of transformative learning.

Dr. Breazeale and Heather Hyden used the first half of the training to describe and facilitate story circles in two different rooms (we split the group in half).   Because storytelling is so powerful and can be used for domination rather than collective development, story circles must be facilitated carefully using a highly structured process with clearly defined rules and a specific prompt.  The process we used was popularized by Roadside Theater (in Central Appalachia), which developed their methodology based on the work of Junebug.  Dr. Breazeale and Heather Hyden were trained as facilitators by Mark Kidd (of Handbarrow) at a UK workshop that they organized for interested faculty and staff in October of 2019 (6 people attended).   The practice involves participants sitting in a circle with nothing between them.  Each person has an opportunity to tell a personal story in response to the prompt, but there is no talking, interruptions, or back and forth conversation; individuals just focus on listening.  After everyone has told a story, there is an opportunity for “cross talk,” discussing how it felt to listen or tell a story without being interrupted and reflect on the similarities and differences across experiences.  In the case of this training, individuals were asked to respond to the following prompt: “Tell us a story about a time when you or someone you know got tangled up in a thorny dilemma.  What happened?  What did you do?”  We explained that the circle could hold space for funny stories, tragic stories, stories from one’s youth, or more recent experiences—with the only stipulation being that it should be a personal memory, not a rant or sermon or judgement of another person.  

The conversation that this practice elicited was extremely rich.  It built community by opening up a space for deep listening, affirmation and empathy, and reflexivity.  It led to discussions about some of the most common ethical issues faced across the Extension system as well as concrete ideas about possible solutions.  For example, the group discussed the need for Kentucky Extension to publish explicit ethical principles to guide one’s work.  The training then proceeded with material from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and a case study exercise.

All 18 participants completed an evaluation and the comments were extremely positive.  In response to the question, “What did you like best about this training?” 14 out of 18 mentioned the story circles and the process of sharing, listening, and non-judgmental dialogue that they promoted. “The story circles were fantastic!”   “This [story circle] strategy is so helpful when engaging a new Extension audience.  Great way to engage youth as they have opportunity to dialogue.”   “Loved it! I enjoyed this because I have worked 30+ years and this was all new to me. Thank you!”  The online evaluation of the entire two-day training further confirmed the value of the session.  “Dr. Breazeale’s presentation was interesting, interactive, and useful.   I will most likely do this same type of session with my council.”  “Really enjoyed Dr. Breazeale’s presentation.  She did a great job and it was very interesting.”  “Love her energy and presentation!  Very thorough!”

Since this training, Dr. Breazeale has been invited to facilitate story circles as part of the hCAT BARN (Bring Action Right Now to suicide prevention) interprofessional leadership experience for students from the health professions, the Kentucky Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (KAFCS), and in three different courses at UK.