Most of us at Tufts value the importance of engaging in dialogue for understanding alternative perspectives, problem-solving, civic engagement and building community. When and how have we developed those capacities, much less learned how to teach them to our students? Have we shied away from engaging students in what might be productive conversations for fear of not being skilled enough at initiating and navigating them successfully?In this two-part workshop, we offer practical strategies for faculty who might feel unsure of how to engage students in meaningful and important classroom conversations. We will also provide a set of resources for those activities and others you can experiment with over time, and links to websites you can explore for more ideas.
Part One: Building Proactive Capacities for Important Classroom Conversations
February 28 | 2:00pm - 3:15pmLocation: Virtual
Session Description:
We will share the value of being proactive and offer steps that can lay the foundation for productive classroom conversations. You will experience selected approaches for setting up conversations, take away a few dialogic tools you can use in your classroom, and have some resources to support you in this work.
Part 2: Responding in the moment to challenging classroom conversations
March 6 | 2:00pm - 3:15pm
Location: Virtual
Session Description:
You will gain confidence by learning some effective strategies to de-escalate and address situations that are potentially heated, have the potential to cause harm, or disrupt learning. We will engage you in understanding how to tune into your own reactions as well as your students’ reactions, and develop a plan for how you might respond in the moment and later.
