As an educator, you regularly facilitate learning opportunities. When potentially contentious topics such as politics, diversity, social justice and more arise, however, the conversations can sometimes be more difficult and require a certain touch. Some strategies to help you facilitate these difficult conversations can include…
- Consistently treat everyone with respect, dignity and care.
- Set up ground rules for respectful discourse from the very beginning and revisit them regularly.
- Create an environment where participants are encouraged to share honestly.
- Encourage people to be aware of their own biases and assumptions, as well as how these may influence their behaviors and emotions.
- Acknowledge that everyone in the room has past and/or current experiences that impact their views on issues of politics, diversity, social justice and more.
- Keep an eye on body language to assess if someone needs assistance during a difficult conversation.
- Encourage participants to explore their reactions and to find respectful ways to express them.
- Make sure equity and inclusion are in play so all participants have an opportunity to contribute and feel heard.
- Acknowledge and validate people’s thoughts and feelings, whether you agree with them or not.
- Show students how to argue passionately, yet with respect, so they can learn how to disagree without personalizing their opinions to a specific person, ideology or group.
- Summarize what is being discussed at different intervals so that everyone is on the same page and not just pursuing their own agenda.
- Never operate from a condescending perspective that communicates you are the authority and know so much more than participants do.
- Communicate that you are a work in progress, too, and that you are working to deepen your own cultural competence, awareness and understanding of a variety of issues.
- Redirect conflict when it arises, yet don’t squelch it. Instead, agree to take a break if things get too heated, with the expectation that everyone will return to the conversation calmer and ready to be respectful.
- Hold participants accountable for harmful or offensive comments and behaviors.
- Demonstrate how to respond effectively after making an exclusionary or prejudicial comment — don’t just expect that participants will know how to do this.
Tap into our NEW training guide, ENGAGE: Respectful Dialogue & Expression, for more training tools like this one to help create a culture of respectful campus engagement.
