“Come on, girl. You know that isn’t the way it is. They aren’t going to listen to you in there.” High school student to another about to enter the principal’s office.
If we are committed to changing the status quo for those whose voices are not heard, who don’t have a place at the table, who struggle to find a place in our hierarchical society, we are called on to step back, accept ways that might not be comfortable or easy for us to take in. This is not just a matter of conscience but a practical need if we are to make any real change for our future generations.
Even when we include a physical seat at the table for everyone in important conversations, we don’t always provide room for divergent voices and ways of expressing divergent views.
In a conference session when we asked participants to look at the usual ground rules and consider what might be missing to support conversations with authentic inclusive discourse, a white participant asked what resource to go to for a list of norms that would do that. We said, look around you. Find people who are different than you and ask them what is missing for them. Ask your students or watch how they relate to each other in the hallways or in cooperative groups in your classroom. And read Paul Gorski’s Guide for Setting Ground Rules (Rethinking Ground Rules)
Recognizing this as a reality and holding a commitment to the possibilities of including and hearing each voice, we can intentionally do our best to create conditions to make this possible. At least we can take steps forward in that direction.
If your and your group are sincere about an inclusive discussion that includes multiple perspectives, consider these agreements adapted from Courageous Conversations about Race (Singleton & Linton.) as a way to provoke conversation about what we really intend to do and what we are willing to experience to do it.
• Accept and expect non-closure
• Surface assumptions
• Stay engaged
• Speak your truth as you now know it
• Experience discomfort
This list acknowledges that there will be challenges in bringing diverse points of view to a conversation. It may be a starting place. Sometimes it leads to a group coming up with their own wording of agreements that to which they can truly commit.
• Maintain and practice confidentiality
• Accept non-closure and discomfort
• Speak your truth
• Be brave
• Have fun
If we are ever to see real change in what education can do for every child, we need to be willing to learn about how to include and be influenced by diverse voices. Perhaps it is your own voice that is not being heard and you just need to take the risk to speak up.