Group-Authored Guidelines for Our Learning Community

From week 1 in the semester:

Guidelines for our Learning Community -- Draft amalgam of group work (+ last cluster is Alice’s)

• No interrupting/being rude/disrespectful
• Open-mindedness
• Respect
• Honesty
• Confidentiality
• Flexibility
• Respectful of people’s time
• Be present
• Be open to questioning your assumptions
• Remember that you’re not being targeted if you’re being questioned

 

• lean into discomfort
• assume best intent
• be open to positive confrontation to reach a mutual understanding
• challenge the opinion rather than the person
• overall compassion and respect for others and yourself

 

• Speak up if you hear an idea/thought that you don’t understand or agree with
• Practice active listening -- give people time and space to share (and finish sharing!)
• Push back with questions
• Actively share personal experiences in discussion
• Bring what you are learning in class to other classes

 

• No handraising necessary -- engage in organic conversation, allow conversation to emerge
• Everyone participates - helps the dialogue, not necessarily by speaking out loud
• Lean into discomfort -- don’t avoice “awkward” topics
• Be aware of your presence -- ask yourself: What energy am I emitting?,” etc.
• Create space for others
• Engage in healthy debate
• If something hurtful/harmful is said, one should “call in” instead of calling out.
• Validate experiences and feelings of others (and your own!)

• Step up, step back
• In small groups, make sure everyone has a voice
• listen: “you never learn if you’re always speaking”
• exercise leadership ability to be aware of group dynamics
• push yourself to the edge of your comfort zone
• oops, ouch -- you have a right to say something hurt you
• acknowledge differences
• consider brave space v. safe space -- speak up but also be brave to say if you’ve been hurt.
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• Consider questioning via “yes, and” as well as “yes, but.”
• Cultivate trust in others and self
• Ask your greenest, tenderest, freshest questions
• Allow people scope to change their/our minds and be works-in-progress