This paper aims to introduce the ‘Truth Seekers research group’ including its aims and activities. ‘Truth Seekers’ is a research group based in the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The ‘Truth Seekers’ group provides the opportunity for students to present their research about the issues they are interested in, although it should be noted that the main focus is on religious and social issues. Moreover other students will have the opportunity to learn from the presentations and also have discussions about them. The discussions are a great part of the Truth Seekers’ meetings as they allow for the students to share their ideas and opinions as well as encouraging them to think critically. They also break the barriers between the presenter and the audience and therefore they create a friendly environment for the students to participate in a learning process. In addition the group has certain rules and norms in regards to the discussions. These rules include respecting other members’ opinions and listening to what they have to say. Moreover the members are required to free themselves from their biases and prejudices while discussing however hard that may be. This allows the members to practice being open-minded. Furthermore the group must be focused on the issue presented and not irrelevant matters. Normally this goal is achieved by a member managing the discussions trying to keep them focused and also trying to balance the discussions by giving everyone the opportunity to talk. Therefore the main objectives of the group are to encourage the students to think rationally and critically, to practice patience, tolerance and creativity, to exercise listening that allows creative ideas, to improve communication skills and to promote the awareness of students about the importance of religious and social issues existing within our society. The group meets once each fortnight. These meetings consist of 20 minutes of speech by one of the member and 30 minutes of discussions. The discussions also include the members asking questions from the presenter about the issue which helps them in understanding the topic. At the end of each meeting there is 5 minutes of refreshment (You didn’t tell me what refreshment was… so maybe you can explain a little bit of what we do for the refreshment here). Furthermore the presenter will email the summary of his/her speech to all the members. This will allow the members who could not come to the meeting to have the chance to read the research done by the presenter. It also allows for further discussions as often members will comment on the research after reading them. Thus the group also have online discussions after each meeting. Truth Seekers group consists of students from all faculties and all the students from all different backgrounds are welcome to join the group. The group is very cooperative and the responsibilities are divided between group members. The responsibilities include arranging the time of the meeting, booking the place of the meeting, preparing refreshments for the end of the meetings, writing the questions and main points of the discussions, edit the summaries of the presentations and ensuring they are in the same format for emailing them to the members, and taking the minutes of the meetings and so on. The decisions made about the group are all made through consultation with the group members. Everyone has the right to contribute to any decisions made about the group. For example the group name was chosen by the group members as the majority of them suggested ‘Truth Seekers’. Another example would be that the time of the meetings is always chosen for each meeting after asking the members to indicate the best time suitable for them; and then corresponding to the principles of democracy the time is chosen in favour of the majority.
Hence the group members are empowered and enabled to fully participate in the organisation of the group. The power distribution within the group is equal and all the members have the same rights, responsibilities and obligations. The group members will then have the opportunity to practice learning and working in a cooperative environment where team work is highly valued and implemented. They will also have the chance to experience organising and participating in a social group. However it must be noted that there are some group members who are monitoring the group and are ensuring that everyone is on the right track. They also try to ensure that everyone is participating and the group is not dominated by only some members. Furthermore the group is a very good place for the members to meet different people with different ideas and opinions. Often group members find new friends in the meetings. Apart from finding new friends they also form a bond with the group which gives them a sense of belonging. Having a sense of belonging is a crucial part of people’s identity as people need to feel they belong to certain groups in order to be able to define who they are. Another advantage of these meetings is that they help the members to raise their self-esteem as they become more confident in talking about their own beliefs within a group of people. The group provides a safe environment for them to practice speaking in the public and encourage them to be more involved in such activities. Overview of the topics covered so far: You better write this‌ as I missed out on some of the meetings. Then maybe I’ll write a conclusion. But I need to know what you write for the overview of the presentations.