Naming & Framing
Before an issue can be deliberated, it must be “named and framed” by creating “approaches” that unlock multiple perspectives. Only then can groups and individuals find courses of action that are consistent with their values and goals. For more than 20 years, thousands of people around the world have participated in civic forums for public deliberation. Initially issues were "named" and "framed" with support and guidance from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Gradually, guides were custom-designed with partners such as public schools, churches. colleges and universities, community development and adult literacy programs, policy centers and libraries, and often the National Issues Forum Institute. The topics that were “named and framed” represented some of the most compelling issues of our times, such as the troubled American family, money and politics, racial and ethnic tensions, terrorism. Americans' role in the world, the rising costs of health care, welfare, immigration, freedom of speech, social security' and retirement, and restoring trust in the media.
Naming and framing public issues might be thought to be best left to "experts" in fields such as public policy, communications, political science, sociology, or adult education. But more and more, experts in the deliberation process have come to understand that preparing frameworks for deliberation should include members of the public who are most affected by these issues. Their contribution can address language, perspectives, values, and ideas for action beyond those of professional experts. Democracy requires the voices and the investment of all stakeholders, and sharing the right to structure the issue to be deliberated with multiple partners maximizes the odds that the deliberation will have maximum “buy-in” and will lead to effective action steps. More specifically, issues can be tailored to the needs of the public that identifies them, and the result is a sense of ownership for all that are included in the work. With the Kettering Foundation’s model, more and more partners are experimenting independently with naming and framing issues on their own.
Trained by experienced deliberation experts affiliated with the Kettering Institute, WIPPS staff and associates have named and framed pressing local and regional issues for deliberation in the Central Wisconsin community and beyond, and have also named and framed issues for deliberation in K-12 and higher education classrooms. Their professional development in these practices was aided by a “Naming and Framing Issues for Public Deliberation Workshop with Margaret Holt, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Continuing Education at the University of Georgia and a national expert in the “Naming and Framing” process . The workshop was held December 6-7, 2010 at UWMC.