Discussion starters, the result of collaboration between the Indonesian Directorate General of Nonformal Education, Youth, and Sports, and World Education, Inc., are simple learning tools used to generate discussion among community groups involved in nonformal education. Appropriate in and adaptable to a variety of settings, content areas, and program formats, discussion starters consist of a brief dialogue or story and supporting easy-to-use audio-visual materials (such as tape recordings or posters) that present opposing views of a specific community problem or situation in a non-didactic fashion and encourage participants to analyze their own similar beliefs, experiences, and problems through dialogue. In general, discussion starters present a balanced dialogue on the issues, defend the village perspective, allow participants to arbitrate opposing viewpoints, include facilitator instructions and discussion questions, and use easily-reproduced materials. Discussion starters vary from short, simple dialogues for use at the village level to longer, more complex presentations appropriate for training fieldworkers. Three samples demonstrate important points in the development and use of discussion starters for readers who want to develop their own materials. The illustrated samples, which present the issues of breast-feeding, debt, and entrepreneurship, demonstrate the general format of the materials. (SB)