Then and Now: Sustaining Open Classroom Dialogue in an Era of Incivility

• In Event: 3433 - Teaching (In)Justice

Abstract

A fundamental challenge of teaching about social issues with the goal of inspiring social justice is that we must do so while remaining open to the fact that our students will likely define what “justice” means in unique ways. Likewise, our students may see unique pathways and methods for achieving the varied conceptions of justice they hold. As instructors, how can we best support and model inclusivity across difference in our classrooms, while ensuring that they witness the fundamental inequalities inherent in our social structure? What kinds of pedagogical approaches will more readily enable us to integrate, entertain our students’ varied perceptions of “social justice” and forms of activism which may run counter to our prevailing disciplinary or personal ideology and conventions? How do we sustain and support a classroom climate that facilitates open discussion and is inclusive of all points of view, teaching them to reason and find commonalities across differences? This seemingly simple task of “meeting our students where they are,” and modeling what we want them to learn is in fact immense, while at the same time it is crucial to deepening their understanding. By practicing inclusivity we affirm its worth, enabling our students to value it more and encouraging them to practice it in their daily lives and in the professions they will ultimately occupy.

Author

• Suzanne S. Hudd, Quinnipiac University