Dealing with Difficult Dialogues in the Classroom

Difficult dialogues, or challenging conversations in the classroom, is a common frustration among teachers. In a recent Faculty Focus article, Annie Soisson, Ed.D., offers some tips for managing the dialogues and making them into a teaching moment. Soisson’s pointers include thinking ahead and trying to determine what moments could trigger discord, and planning a response; building trust and community in the classroom; having students generate a shared list of goals and guidelines for the class; and starting the course with lower-stakes conversations and building to more difficult ones.