Specific characteristics of the forum discussion appeared to facilitate these connections.
A critical factor in encouraging participation was the creation of a "safe" atmosphere. This type of facilitated discussion with groundrules was a completely different experience for many of the students.

Connecting to the issue

The students who participated in the issues discussions both appreciated the chance to say what was on their mind as well as learn from others. For example, a young woman who attended the forum on juvenile violence in Baldwin Park: "it helped a lot to hear other opinions. It made me think about my own opinions." As a newcomer to Baldwin Park, she said, "it helped me learn about the community."

A Berkeley woman attended the issues discussion and writing/voting workshop "because I hadn't been to one and wanted to see what it was like." She said she "loved it. There were other ideas besides mine about what to do in the neighborhood and what we could do to benefit education. I liked it because two heads are better than one.'

In the post-election questionnaire, four out of five students who recalled the specific forum discussion said they became more interested in the topic as a result of the forum. The students who directionally had the greatest increase in interest and understanding of the forum topic were from groups less likely to be involved -- i.e. non-citizens, young people, and the students with less education. This may be related to the fact that they have less access and exposure to information on these topics from other sources. It may also be that conversation is a more comfortable way to attain information for students who are less likely to read for pleasure or get a newspaper.

Expressing oneself

Many students felt a key benefit of the forum was a chance to express oneself. One African American woman from the Berkeley program said "we can't just always complain. If we have the opportunity to voice our desire to have things changed, why not join the club?"

"I feel good when I express my point of view - at least I've let someone know."
- Berkeley woman

"It's important that you be heard, how you feel. If you don't, you don't exist."
- Baldwin Park student working toward citizenship

"Students enjoyed being able to share their viewpoints with others and realized the value of expressing their opinions." - Santa Fe Springs Coordinator

The demand for other points of view/context/connection to the political system

Many of the students volunteered that they had a desire to get multiple points of view to help them make up their mind. They indicated that the issues discussion was an excellent means to help them do this:

"[The forum] was interesting...firsthand, a chance to hear what other people think...I like having something else to think about, a new perspective."
- Berkeley woman

"[The value in hearing other points of view] is that you know the other people better and then know how to deal with them." - Sacramento woman

The site coordinator at a community college in Orange County has a high proportion of immigrant students. They were impressed to find out that there were more than two political parties. She said the forum helped them learn that "it's important to talk about the issues and that people have differing opinions and they all can be correct."

Right after the forum in Sacramento, one of the students told one of the peer moderators that she liked the forum because "it helps you open your mind." The learner moderator responded, "Yes, and then you can dare to see the whole picture."

For those students who are used to gathering information through reading, there is also the recognition that different points of view are essential making up one's mind. A more advanced student said he prepared for the election "by reading everything I could, even if I didn't agree with it."

"I usually get my information from the newspaper or TV. It's always one-sided. All points of view are not represented. It's kind of a bummer...I talk to people at the karate school after class to get more points of view to help better my judgment. It's important to help you make a more educated decision." - Sacramento man

Some of the site coordinators observed that the forum discussion helped students discover how they, and the issues, relate to the larger political system.

"A lot of connections were being made between what they are voting for and the consequences. [As part of the forum] the students learned how voting and involvement affects their lives." - Sacramento Regional Coordinator

"Forums are what bring the whole democratic process home. It makes it real for [the learners.]" - Solano County Coordinator

Making connections with others

After connecting to the issue, a second equally important connection was the creation of an awareness of the individual's relationship to other people on a given issue. For these students, dialogue helped to overcome isolation and facilitated a realization or sense of belonging to a community. In turn, this sense of community, and exposure to people who are interested and engaged, built hope and a belief in the possibility of change for the better.

Talking to others and becoming involved appears to be highly correlated with awareness of positive, hope-inspiring developments in one's community. As illustrated in the quantitative survey, two thirds of the students who are involved with a community group answered that "people in your neighborhood are [very or somewhat] active in making the community a better place to live." This compares to only one-third of the students who are not involved in a community group.

'[Dialogue like the issues discussion is] an important part of solving things...it promoted understanding."
- Baldwin Park student, mother of three

"Unity happened. It was amazing to see how people came together, especially when they realized they couldn't have everything."
- Merced Coordinator

The very few participants in the case studies who exhibited only very little movement as a result of the program indicated that they never talk to neighbors or family and deliberately choose to isolate themselves. A 19 year old African American male said he is not aware of anyone in his community trying to do anything. He expressed no hope: "Less people are getting involved. It's not getting better...I don't think anybody cares anymore because when they try, nothing happens anyway...I don't know anyone in my community...I don't talk to anybody."

An 18 year old in Sacramento said he does not talk to others or think about community issues. "I'm not active in any group. I don't know of any groups or where they are. I go to school and come home. I don't know what I'm interested in."

For some students, the isolation was not self-imposed but based on language skills. One Hispanic man in Baldwin Park shared that: "I'm embarrassed about my English and shy to speak to others. I don't know if other people are getting involved. The news doesn't really cover where I live so I don't really know what's going on or if anything is going on. I don't talk to anyone about what is going on in the neighborhood, just "hi, how're you doing'."

On the other hand, the students who talked about interactions with others in their community had a much more positive outlook. For example, a woman in Sacramento believed "more people are getting involved." She described her neighborhood as "a small community and we talk about how to make the place cleaner, safer. We have meetings, informally, bump into neighbors and talk. I feel better when I talk to the neighbors because I know that everyone wants to improve the community."

An African American woman said that she gets most of her information from talking to people on her street: "I get peace of mind from talking to them. I get to feel that it's just more than me caring for other people and caring for their families."

The power of this connection with other people was articulated by the young man in the Berkeley program who expressed disappointment with other young people who are not involved. He said he likes to ask them, "If you don't know what's going on, how do you know it won't make a difference? Give yourself a chance to find out first."

An older man with the same program said "I learned about Neighborhood Watch because I was complaining with the neighbors and someone suggested we do this and we did. I was one of the founders. I'm on the board."

The increase in hope from interacting with others was summarized by one of the participants at the Baldwin Park forum on juvenile violence. After creating their shared common ground and a list of possible actions the group could take locally, a student said: "If we all get together, things can get better."

The need for a safe environment

Both students and site coordinators commented that one of the reasons the forum was able to serve as a catalyst to involvement was that it provided a safe, welcoming atmosphere that promoted inclusion and assured participants there would be no ridicule.

One man in Sacramento said that he does not usually participate in issues discussions: "I'm more a listener than a talker...I feel a lot of people don't care what you think so I don't usually express myself unless they ask." He was pleased that at the issue forum on jobs "the lady sounded like she really wanted to hear our opinions. I listened more than I participated but people had a lot of good ideas."

For the Chinese woman concerned about her limited English-speaking skills, participating in the issues forum was facilitated because it "was students from the school and I know them. If I go to other meetings and one person next to me is a doctor and one is a lawyer, what will I say to them? They could cheat me."

A woman in Berkeley had stopped participating in issue-related discussions because of bad experiences in the past: "Sometimes it would be a downright dispute and people would have an argumentative mentality." When asked before the forum if she had ever been part of a discussion with a moderator and ground rules for the group, she said, "no, I guess I was just talking to the wrong people at the wrong time." This woman ended up enjoying the issues discussion in Berkeley because it was a chance "to share information and exchange knowledge, thoughts and ideas... to be around other people" in a non-threatening environment.

Another woman was energized by the same issues discussion and said it would give her courage to speak up to neighbors. "The people there seemed like they really cared and that made me feel better about myself. They weren't phony."

An instructor in Sacramento was impressed with the amount of participation at the forum. She noted that her students are "ready to talk. They have opinions and want to express them" -- but to actually get them to speak out in such a large group, it was critical that the moderators created an environment that really promoted participation, "where no one is wrong." She noted that the students "trusted" the moderators and that it definitely helped that the moderators were adult learners and ethnic minorities.

At the small forum on education in Solano County, one participant had a hearing impairment. The program director noted that "he was only able to participate because the other members of the group were concerned enough to make sure he knew what was going on. No one just sat and listened."

In the forum at Willows, a male student commented to another who was shy and afraid to voice her opinion that nothing she said could possibly be stupid. The coordinator felt "the fact that he wanted to hear what she had to say solidified his own confidence in speaking out and at the same time, empowered her to do the same."

New type of experience for younger people

In the post-election questionnaire, the students who recalled the issue forum were asked how it compared to other discussions they've participated in. The forum discussion was a new or different experience for three out of four respondents, and for all of the participants who were age 18 to 24. The data also showed that about one in four Hispanic students said they had never attended a discussion like this compared to only one in ten among the Anglo respondents.

The respondents who said the issue forum was different than other discussions were asked "how was it different?" The main open-ended responses were: "informative/learned new things", "many opinions expressed/many viewpoints" followed by "helpful approach/took time/listened/answered questions."

An African American 19 year old at Baldwin Park was hesitant at first to join in the discussion on jobs, "I was afraid that my friends were going to laugh at me because of what I said. But then I decided I don't care what they think." He ended up making several comments and reported that his friends told him, "You are a good speaker, you should be a counselor." He was pleased about this and proceeded to participate in discussions about the ballot measures in other classes, which he felt were "some interesting conversations." He said the discussion at the workshop "got me involved in it."

Another young woman at the same program said "I thought we were going to sit there and hear people talk at us. But instead, everybody participated...I learned that there's a lot of people out there who need information like I do and I can help them with that."

A young man who attended the forum on juvenile violence commented, "you get to hear what other people say. I've never been in anything like that." He enthusiastically recruited some of his friends to attend the voting workshop the following week. He told them, "It's something different. You get to participate."

At the California Conservation Corps in Ventura County, about 30 young people came voluntarily one evening to a forum about juvenile violence. The group represented a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and experiences. The Ventura site coordinator described the incoming attitude of these youth as "cynical; they grew up hearing 'it doesn't make any difference'." In moderating the forum, she noted that she needed to spend extra time emphasizing the groundrules. "What really worked was getting them together to talk to each other and respect each other. They needed practice in listening as well as speaking up." The voting workshop was held the following night, again as a voluntary activity. Almost all of the forum attendees decided to come back, along with a few new students, testimony to the positive experience they had had at the forum.

In addition to the change from the classroom, some of the students mentioned that they have little opportunity to interact with others. One young woman explained that she doesn't talk to many people because "the people in my apartment complex keep pretty much to themselves."

The forum experience was also new for many of the more mature students. The Berkeley Coordinator said one student who is over forty was excited by the discussion because "This was new for [him]. He never had a setting where he could share his opinions and be respected for what he said."

A Baldwin Park woman said there should be more forums like this in the community. "People are interested but don't know where to go."