Introduction:

Panel is a discussion carried out by few persons on a conversation in front of an

audience.Panel discussion is done when the group is too large to work effectively through
usual round table procedure.

Purposes of Panel discussion:

 To reproduce the features of a small discussion group for the benefit of a

large group.
 It is a socialised group conversation in which different points of view are
presented.
 To make learning effective by use of different methods of teaching.

Objectives Of Panel Discussion:

 To provide information about ‘Women Empowerment’.

 To analyse the current issues regarding the topic from different angles.
 To identify the values related to the topic for mental recreation.

Principles of Panel Discussion:

 It observes the democratic principles of human behavior. Equal opportunities are

provided to every member or participant.
 It encourages the active participation with original ideas and independence.
 It involves the social and psychological principles of group work.
 It is based on modern theories of organization.
 All group members need to understand the goals towards which the group is
working.
 A procedure, which will best help the group to achieve its goals should be setup by
the group itself.
 Possible barriers to effective group action should be considered by the group and
plans should be made to avoid and overcome these barriers.
 All members should participate in all the aspects of group functioning.

Characteristics :

 It is used in college and University for higher level education.

 It develops the ability of problem – solving.
 It provides opportunity to understand the nature of problem or theme of the
discussion.
 It develops the ability of presentation of the theme and giving their point of view
logically.
 It develops the right type of attitude and ability to tolerate anti-ideas of others.
 It develops the ability of creative thinking and to criticize the theme.
 It develops the manner of putting questions & answering them.

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 Type :

 Public Panel Discussion.

 Educational Panel Discussion.
Ours was an educational panel discussion to provide factual and conceptual
knowledge and clarification of principles and strategies. We discussed our topic, ‘Women
Empowerment’ on the following headings :
1. Introduction
2. Definition
3. Need for Women Empowerment in India.
4. Economic, Social & Political Empowerment.
5. Factors facilitating Women Empowerment.
6. Role of education in Women Empowerment.
7. Barriers of Women Empowerment in India.
8. Governments role in Women Empowerment in India.
9. Conclusion.

Use of Panel Discussion :

 This technique encourages social learning.

 The higher cognitive & affective objectives are achieved.
 It is used to develop the ability of problem-solving & logical thinking.
 It develops the interests and right type of attitude towards the problem.

Advantages of panel discussion :

 Stimulates thought & discussions and clarifies thinking.

 There is a free exchange of opinions; panel usually influences the audience to an open
minded attitude and respect for the opinion of others.
 The quick exchange of facts, opinions and plans tend to develop a more critical
attitude & other judgement.
 It works effectively through usual round table procedure.
 Panel discussion notes are often very useful for the learners.
 It encourages social learning.
 The higher cognitive and affective objectives are achieved.
 It is used to develop the ability of problem- solving and logical thinking.
 It develops interest and right type of attitude towards the problem.
 It provides opportunities of assimilation of theme & content.

Disadvantages :

 It is limited in its usefulness as a teaching tool, because it makes no attempt to arrive

to a solution.
 It way lead to stress if the topic is difficult to control.
 Member of the panel needs guidance & help.
 It needs thorough knowledge & expert panelists.
 There are chances to deviate from the main theme at the time of discussion, hence
purpose may not be achieved.

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  Some members may be dominating, not providing opportunities to other panelists to
take part.
 There is possibility to split the group into two subgroups i.e. for and against the
theme. It does not maintain conductive situation of learning.
 If panelists belong to different group, it may not create an appropriate learning
situation.

Special points to remember to organize a panel discussion :

 There should be rehearsal before the actual discussion.

 The moderator should be a matured person and have the full understanding the theme
of problems. He should have control over the situation.
 The seating arrangement for panelists and audience should be such that everyone
should be at equal distance so that they can observe each other.
 The moderator should encourage the discussion on the points which may lead to
constructive aspect of the problem. He should encourage the constructive discussion
among the panelists & audience.

Components of Panel Discussion consists of 4 types of persons :

1. Instructor :- Has the most important role of deciding how & where the panel
discussion will be organized. Prepares schedule and plans for rehearsal.
2. Moderator:- He should be selected carefully since much of the success of the panel
will depend upon his leadership.
3. Panelists :- There are 4 – 10 panelists in a panel discussion. All seated in a semi-
circle with the moderator in the middle, all facing the audience.
4. Audience:- After the panel discussion the audiences are allowed to put questions and
seek clarification. They can present their point of view and experiences regarding the
theme or problem.

Panel Discussion On WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:

Introductory Session:

We the first year M.Sc.Nursing students of College of Nursing, IOP-COE, organised and
conducted a Panel Discussion on 23/ 02/ 2019 on the topic ‘ Women Empowerment’.

We started our discussion at about 11.30 am. Myself, Saswati Dutta being the
Moderator, got the whole group introduced to the audience which was organized as
follows:

1. Instructor -- Kabita Mondal

2. Panelists -- Sayantani Mondal
Indrani Mondal
Sima Sarkar
Atasi Mondal
Sushmita Jana
Riya Khanam
Suparna Thakur
Dali Ghosh

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Panelists’ Discussion:
We started our discussion with our first panelist, Sayantani Momdal who discussed about
Social and economic factors hindering Woman Empowerment and also how to
overcome these hinderences . Here we learned how women are being neglected day by
day even if they are having equal educational background and working ability. We also
heard about the statistical values round the world regarding this inequalities and also the
measures to fight against.

After this our next panelisst, Sima Sarkar and Sushmita Jana shed light in the economic
empowerment of women around India and the world. She showed us with statistical
figures how women around the word are being economically suppressed alongwith the
measurs to break this economic hinderance and provide women their economic
independence.
Similar is the case with cultural scenario. The cultural factors were described by our
another panelist, Suparna Thakur .
Our next two panelists , Riya Khanam and Dali Ghosh threw light on the barriers of
woman empowerment . They discussed about the various factors that pose barriers to the
empowerment of women.
To empower women is to empower the country.
Last but not the least, the various measures adopted by the Govt. of India to empower
women around the country right from their birth like “Beti Bachao Beti Padao”,
“Kanyashree”, “Sukanya Sambriddhhi’’, “JananiSuraksha Karyakram’’ etc which were
thoroughly discussed by our other panelists, Indrani Mandal and Atasi Rani Mandal.

Question –Answer Session:

At the end of our panel discussion, the hall was declared open to the audience. After that, our
Nursing Superintendent Madam, Principal Madam and our faculties both appreciated and
criticized our discussion. They added their valuable opinions to our topic and corrected our
mistakes. They brought forwad various questions which we answered to the best of our
knowledge. We completed our discussion at about 12:30 pm.

Feed-back & Vote of Thanks

We pay our heartiest regards to our Principal Madam who guided us in every possible way
to make the programme a success. Our heartfelt regard goes to our subject teacher who took
every pain to make us conduct the discussion in an organized manner. Overall ,we are
thankful to The Director , Institute of Psychiatry-IOP without whose permission and support
we would not have been able to perform such a programme.

Conclusion :

We learnt about the ways to conduct a panel discussion and will be able to conduct a panel
discussion in a more constructive manner in future. The pros and cons of conducting a panel
discussion were clear to us , also the manner in which a panel should proceed and conclude
were clearly understood. We enjoyed the programme too.

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