Teacher Voice Downloading Ep 1: Big Conversations with Little People
Ghallia Hashem, Alexandra Lai, Fatemah Shawaf, Keith Trent–Rennick, and Arianna Milani.
Please cite this page as:
Trent–Rennick, K., Shawaf, F., Hashem, G., Milani, A., & Lai, A. (2022, April 1). Teacher voice downloading EP 1: Big conversations with littlepeople.ClassroomPracticein2022.Retrieved[date],from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/educ5202/chapter/teacher-voice-downloading-ep-1-big-conversations-with-little-people/
Big Conversations in the Classroom:
A discussion with Ghallia Hashem, Alexandra Lai, Fatemah Shawaf, Keith Trent–Rennick, and Arianna Milani. The five of us became friends through the Education program at the University of Windsor, and this podcast was created in accordance with the course requirements for Foundations of Practice Part II: Classroom Practice Winter 2022.
During this episode, we discuss engaging in what could be considered to be controversial discussion in primary and junior classrooms. We break down why it is necessary for teachers to have these conversations, the potential benefits both long and short term, how to have those conversations, and why it is important that students feel that they are able to ask questions regarding these big topics in the classroom and school environment.
Questions Asked During the Podcast:
- Why is it important to make space for students to ask big questions in the classroom?
- What was a time when a student asked you a question about a “controversial” topic that felt out-of-the-blue, where you felt uncertain of how to handle it?
- So, what was your answer to the student?
- How can you discuss racial conflicts in the classroom without tokenizing ethnic minorities in the classroom? How can you ensure they feel safe while also getting an appropriate amount of information?
- How would you deal with a student who believes something that categorically goes against your inherent values? How does the conversations flow when you know they have only been exposed to the views of their parents?
- How can you answer questions about potentially scary current events with students in a way that is informative but also not needlessly frightening? Ex: Ukraine
Other Thoughts and Comments From the Podcast:
- How does your school assist you in appropriately engaging in these conversations?
- What are some topics that you, the listener, would be interested in hearing us, the gang, talk about?
- Any requests on potential guests to the podcast?
Tune in next time, when the gang gets together to discuss the use of phrases that students are familiar with from pop culture (ex: TikTok) to form relationships within the classroom, and how that would be beneficial to student learning.
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Bibliography:
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