I have a group of adults whose education level is about 6th grade.
They need to develop communication and consensus bulding skills so
they can take the next step of deciding how to spend grant money.

1: What are common methods of teaching concensus building?
2: How might they be applied to a group with 
        little education (30% cannot read), 
        very low income (send kids to work instead of 7th grade)
        little experience with decision making
        probable external locus of control

I dont expect too much detail to this question, give me some ideas and
that will generate more specific questions.

for background info see www.my-amigos.org

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) "wrote the book" both
literally and figuratively on consensus building. While a "sense of
the meeting" is distinctly different from "consensus," the principles
of sense of the meeting, derived over several hundred years, apply to
consensus building.  Quakers have successully introduced these
techniques in social situations around the world and with diverse
socio-political groups. There is absolutely no proselytizing involved.

Here are a few links to get you started.

Building Consensus: Conflict and Unity
http://www.decisionbridges.com/dbpubs/bcsampl.html

A page of links:
Websites for Conflict Resolution Organizations
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/students/incr/Conflict%20Resolution%20Organizations.html

A list of publications:
BOOKS ON PARTICIPATORY DECISION-MAKING
http://www.treegroup.info/resources/C2-literature_review.html

ALTERNATIVE TO VIOLENCE PROJECT
http://www.fnvw.org/altviolence.htm

CUSTOMIZED TRAININGS
Friends for a Non-Violent World (FNVW)
http://www.fnvw.org/customized.htm
 

There are many Quaker publications on consensus building available
through the Pendle Hill Bookstore. You can request a catalog here:
http://www.pendlehill.org/Catalog_order_page.htm

Pendle Hill  338 Plush Mill Rd Wallingford, PA 19086
Phone: (610)566-4507
(800)742--3150
Fax:(610)566-3679
www.pendlehill.org

Quaker meetings or larger "yearly meetings" often provide low-cost or
free assistance with conflict resolution and community building.  For
a contact in your area contact the Quaker Information Center
http://www.quakerinfo.org/

search strategy: consensus building; consensus building Quakers

Nellie Bly
Google Answers Researcher

thanks, this is a great start for my understanding

While referring to the Quakers (the Religious Society of Friends) is a
good start on consensus, it's important to consider that the consensus
model used within the Quaker context might not pan out and work in the
same way within secular groups.  An excellent exploration of that
appears in Michael Sheeran's Beyond Majority Rule
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0941308049/002-3289016-5424025).

There's actually quite a bit on consensus process models and teaching
techniques that is not directly tied to the Quakers.  For additional
consensus material you might want to include searching in literature
on facilitaiton and conflict resolution, which frequently looks at
consensus-oriented process models and skills.  There's also a wealth
of real world stories and experience in "intentional communities",
which often use consensus decision making.