Group Process and the Asilomar Tradition

What is the Asilomar Tradition?
The Asilomar Conference has been held annually for over 70 years. This unique conference is based on sustained group discussions following the teachers-teaching-teachers collaborative learning philosophy.

The Five-Group Sequence
By 1952, the Commission had concluded from the evaluations of previous conferences that a sequence of five discussion sessions - one on Friday evening, three on Saturday, one on Sunday morning — would allow enough time for the development of a community sense among group members, for a statement of a problem or a description of practices, for adequate analysis and raising of issues, and for reaching productive conclusions. Since that time, participants have been discouraged from changing groups.

Chairs & Resource Persons
The chair and one or more resource persons in each group do not function as lecturers. Rather, participants share information and insights as the discussions evolve. The emphasis is on good conversation and the pursuit of intellectual interests. Participants select one group to remain with for the entire weekend. Group members often prepare for the weekend by reading suggested books for the session they choose. This opportunity to delve into a topic of interest, paired with rich discussion, forms the foundation of the Asilomar Conference tradition.In the early days, when the conferences were smaller, the chairs met together early Friday afternoon for a briefing on recommended practices in group processes.

Participant Responsibility: Staying with the Same Group
One essential stipulation has governed all conferences: No "shopping around — or movement from group to group — is permitted. Connection and flow are important to the dynamics of discussion from the point of view of human relations, the thinking processes, and the results achieved. Fruitful results from such discussion depend on continuity.

Types of Sessions at Asilomar
Some sessions lend themselves to group process in the Asilomar tradition better than others. For example, a group focusing on the work of a specific author can collaborate to develop new understandings of the author’s work. These participants can discuss their thoughts as they read shared selections. However, other groups are designed more for the resource person to impart information to attendees and less time is spent.in group discussion. A recent session was titled, Opera for Beginners and Opera Lovers. In this session, time was spent learning about opera while watching and listening to selections from various operas.

Instead of involving participants in exploratory discussions, other groups focus on participants writing across a range of genres or exploring various drama activities for the classroom. These groups often operate with a great deal of participant collaborative involvement in the activity itself.

While a group studying an author’s work may include more discussion, it is important to note that both types of groups follow the Asilomar tradition of group process because the participants helped determine the direction the group would follow. This is the essence of group process. It is the roleof the group chair and resource to facilitate this group process.

SESSION 1