Fish Bowl

When and Why

This activity strengthens listening skills and encourages participation on a particular topic. Sitting in both the listening circle and the speaking circle can create a feeling of belonging, of connection and can help mitigate traditional hierarchies that often develop in groups. Facing one another and sitting next to each other allows participants to notice facial expressions and body movements, and tune into the energy of the group. Each person is visible to every other participant throughout the experience. It can be used during a session to discuss content, or at the end of an engagement to give airtime to everyone about what they learned or found useful. Sometimes the listeners are given specific things to observe for and then have time to appreciate out loud a specific example of the effective demonstration of that skill by the person they were observing. 

How to Facilitate

1. Reflect on the current context, the demographics of participants, and the purpose of this engagement. 
2. Set up two concentric circles of chairs, all facing the center of the circle, and have everyone take a seat. This can be random or can be assigned based on the purpose of the engagement.
3. Provide the question prompt or discussion topic and set a timer for 10 minutes. Only the inside group members may speak during this time. Instruct the outside group to quietly listen and notice their own ideas that surface during the discussion. Note-taking on a graphic organizer may be helpful.  
4. When the time is up, ask the groups to trade places so that the outside group is sitting on the inner circle chairs and vice versa. Set the timer again and let the new inside group discuss the topic.
5. Debrief with one of these activities: 
   • Ask participants to write down a response to one comment they heard and explain why they agree/disagree. 
   • Turn to a partner and discuss how it felt, both being a “listener” and a “discusser.” 
   • Share one word or a short phrase with the whole group that was important about the discussion to them.

Modification

• You can assign the groups opposing views in an argument. This works especially well when you have read an article or watched a video prior to the discussion that shows a variety of perspectives.
• With adults, or students who are skillful and experienced with the Fishbowl strategy, place an empty chair in the inner circle, and invite a participant to join in to ask a question or have a speaker clarify a thought.
• In a virtual environment, if using Zoom: On the ‘start video’ menu, choose ‘video settings.’ One of those setting options will be ‘Hide non-video participants’; check that box. If the speakers are the only ones with their cameras on, participants will be able to see the speakers’ faces (and only their faces) in gallery view. Switch groups for the second round.