Facilitating Generative Dialogue: A simple practice to foster constructive conversations in the classroom

Annick de Witt

In this workshop we’ll dive into a new research-based dialogue practice that is usable across many settings and contexts. As student evaluations attest to, this practice supports the emergence of generative conversations - that is, conversations that foster a respectful exchange of perspectives, enhance relationships, and produce novel insights - while also supporting the development of important democratic capabilities, like self-reflection, listening, and openness to diverse perspectives (De Witt, under review). In this workshop you’ll learn more about this practice, both theoretically and experientially, as we’ll get to play with it ourselves. This will be fun and lively!

You can come to learn about and experience this simple yet potent method for fostering dialogue and enhancing connection, which you may start using in your own classroom right away. You’ll also get a sense of the theoretical foundations of this approach and how it was developed and designed.

Biography

Dr. Annick de Witt is director of the Worldview Journeys Foundation and affiliated with UU as a lecturer and researcher. In 2013, she obtained her PhD for a thesis on the relationship between worldviews and the transformation towards a sustainable society. Since then, she has been passionately working on educational innovation, dialogue, and democratic skills, including through the development of transformative learning interventions that invite people to question, exchange, and expand their worldviews, thereby empowering them to contribute to a better world for all.