Best Practices

Best Practices: Managing Difficult Conversations

There are times when we feel the high stakes of classroom discussions. Acknowledging this means a recognition that they are personal; they impact who we believe we are or want to be; they involve emotion and perhaps differences of opinion; and have larger implications for how students will eventually contribute to the world. We often imagine the classroom as a fictional, neutral space outside of our existence, separate from our opinions and emotions. The reality of a “difficult” classroom conversation can challenge this conventional view. It shows that studying and teaching are embodied experiences, and that difficult topics in the classroom will not always stay at a safe distance.

Read more in  (google doc) Managing Difficult Conversations (external link)