Facilitating Open Discussions
Grade Level: 
Contributor

The Edible Schoolyard Project
Berkeley, CA

Summary: 
For meaningful dialogue to occur in an open discussion, it is essential that all students feel they can speak openly and honestly. This kind of free expression begins with a classroom culture in which students feel safe, engaged, and challenged. Therefore, students should not only be encouraged to speak their mind, but they should also trust that negative, harmful, and oppressive language, should it arise, will be interrupted, and named. This document includes tips for facilitating open discussions, and suggestions for how to respond to common challenges that arise in open discussions.
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Teaching Notes: 
  • This resource is part of the Edible Schoolyard Project’s Understanding Organic curriculum and is a teacher resource of the preparatory unit of the curriculum.