Start Early with Classroom Agreements
June 4, 2025
Setting the stage for conversations starts with your expectations and mentality.
Difficult conversations aren’t just regular classroom moments — they take structure, care, and preparation. Whether the conversation is planned or it comes up unexpectedly, it’s important for the teacher to respond constructively, not reactively. Even if the moment catches you off guard, you can still bring structure to the conversation to help students feel safe, heard, and supported. Here is a checklist to prepare you for successful classroom dialogue.
1. Meter Your Emotions and Expectations
As educators, it's natural to feel strongly—especially when a student voices something you personally disagree with or find troubling. But during difficult conversations, your role is not to convince. It’s to guide, to listen, and to hold the space open for student exploration and accountability while upholding classroom norms.
2. Lead with Curiosity, not Correction.
It can be hard when your internal voice is screaming, “That’s wrong!” But modeling emotional regulation is part of what teachers can model for students on how to disagree respectfully. Aim to bring a tone of neutrality, not because you don’t care, but because you’re stewarding the dialogue, not steering it with your own opinions.
Remember:
This is not the time to share your personal stance. It’s a moment to elevate your students’ ideas, help them listen to one another, and coach them toward critical reflection and civil engagement.
3. Use a Checklist
The checklist is a simplified resource adapted from Navigating Social Issues in the Classroom: A Toolkit for Educators as Community Bridge Builders—a guide created through a collaboration between Generation Citizen, Rural Assembly, and Making Caring Common.
We've pulled key ideas from the original to offer you a quick-start version for the classroom—something you can easily use as you build a culture rooted in connection, curiosity, and care.
Designed with middle and high school teachers in mind, the toolkit offers practical strategies to help students engage in meaningful, respectful dialogue across their differences.
