With the election around the corner, I, like most Americans, am feeling pretty anxious. Thoughts about what will happen if my candidate doesn't win keep me up at night. Nightmare scenarios about what will happen if my candidate DOES win also keep me up at night. No matter how it plays out, we're in for a rocky ride--as if it isn't already rocky enough. How did we get here?
In talking with a group of colleagues this morning, a couple of things struck me. First, the anxieties adults are feeling right now are being felt by our students, too. They see the messages being disseminated by media and social media; they hear their families and friends discussing issues, often quite heatedly; and they feel the emotions that their own experiences bring to the table. Second, as a society, we have lost the ability to listen to each other. This inability to listen, to find common ground, exacerbates the anxiety we are feeling. Our world has become a zero-sum game. If we lose, whether it be an election or an argument, we lose everything. The winning side refuses to entertain the other side's ideas and concerns, and thus, the actions the "winners" take completely disregard other perspectives. Is it any wonder, then, that many of us exist in this world in a perpetual state of anxiety?
So what can we do? What can we, as educators, control?
First, and foremost, we can start by listening to our students. Anxiety and fear very much look like disengagement in the strange world we currently live in. I hear teachers across the country searching for ways to bring their students back into the fold. When classes are taught online, it can be easy for students to not log on or to sit quietly behind a black screen. And when they are in person, so many students simply cannot attend to what administrators and teachers have deemed important. In these moments, let's ask our students what they need and the why behind their disengagement. I suspect many will share some sort of anxiety or fear, and sometimes helping them identify these anxieties can open them to determining a way forward. We can also involve our students in our decision-making processes. Try presenting them with the whats and whys behind our instruction--what do we need to learn? and why do we need to learn it?--and asking them for ideas about how to accomplish these goals. Sometimes, simply understanding the purpose behind our decisions and having a voice in how to move forward can relieve some of the anxieties our students are feeling around school and learning.
Once we begin listening ourselves, it is important to create a space for our students to learn to listen. One way I have begun to make this space in my classes is to implement listening circles. A practice that originated with Indigenous peoples, listening circles have been taken up by organizations such as the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP). Listening Circles focus on the stories of the participants, providing time for everyone to share. They discourage participants from engaging in discussion or debate around these stories because stories are not debatable. They aren't opinions. They are experiences that contribute to the emotions people hold toward topics, topics that often lead to volatile discussions or debates. By providing a space for people to share their stories and for others to truly listen, we can begin to find common ground, to understand others' perspectives, and to, hopefully, move toward a world where it's okay to hold different beliefs and where we can work together toward a common goal. Through listening circles, our students can feel heard while they learn how to closely listen.
Sarah and I began this school year by holding a listening circle that focused on our students' feelings around learning in a time of Covid-19, as well as their feelings about the current racial unrest. We will end this semester in a similar fashion. And next semester, we will begin the cycle again. We know it's important. We know it matters to our students. And we know it will matter to yours. As one of our students tweeted out: "We need to support our students and be 'together' more now than ever and know that we aren't alone." For more information on how to structure a listening circle, check out these scripts for the whole group and small group facilitators developed by the IIRP in regards to the murder of George Floyd this summer:
You can also check out their script on talking about the 2020 election. We used these scripts as models for facilitating our own listening circles. We'd love to see what you develop, too!
Comments