Many of you have heard me greet members of our community with the phrase, “It’s good to see you.” And, the response can be “It’s good to be seen”.  Well, I’d like to add a little bit more to that lineup; “It’s good to be heard.”

Lately, I’ve been observing the public discourse displayed in a variety of genres such as social media, television, and radio. From my perspective, it is very hard for some people to listen to each other when they are on opposing sides of a topic, initiative, or idea.  Our school has found a practical way to engender common respect while having some public and social discourse.  Over the past year, the Leadership Team, CA students, and CA colleagues have worked with Essential Partners to create an atmosphere to promote greater understanding, and perhaps it will lead to problem-solving, through Dialogues Across Difference.

I think back to the many arguments my brother, Bruce, and I had growing up.  We were only 2.5 years apart; however, we were seemingly light years apart from everything you can imagine – school, ideology, clothing, food, and sports- especially sports.  Often, I think our primary goal was to get under the other’s skin; one of us had to have the “last word.”  The funny thing is that no matter how much discourse or disagreement we had – at the end of the day, we were still brothers that were willing to stand up for each other.  I hope the same sentiment can happen for our community members as well.  We can agree and disagree on a variety of things.  At the end of the day,  we are still members of the same family – the human family.

Recently, Essential Partners worked with a small group of parent leaders that will facilitate these courageous conversations with our parent population in the fall.  The group spent 10 hours together; being trained how to facilitate Dialogues Across Difference.  Here are a few comments about the experience from the participants.

Through the Facilitating Dialogue Across Differences training, CA provided parents with an incredible opportunity to learn how to share our authentic stories and listen to understand each other.  This module for dialogue allowed all of us in the training to connect on the human level.  I look forward to using the dialogue model shared in any capacity to help CA continue the important work of staying curious about each other and our entire school community. ~ Ashley Techet

Working with Essential Partners I discovered new ways of fostering discussion within a multi-viewpoint community.  I learned how to structure an environment that nurtured trust and was free of judgment. The goal is that everyone leaves with greater understanding and a feeling of being understood. ~ Parul Shah

Essential  Partners helped me view conversations through a completely new lens.  They taught us to “Listen to understand.  Speak to be understood,” and that “Behind every belief is a person.  Behind every person is a story.” ~ Paula Corkey

I know this process is not the answer to everything that stresses our community, but it is a courageous start.  Can you imagine a community that sees your humanity and hears your voice?   Can you imagine a community that comes together across our divides; across our differences? If you are curious about what that looks like and feels like, look no more.   We are building that community together right now! We see and “HEAR” you.

One last thing, one of my colleagues, Mina Harris, attended several CA related diversity events recently.  Here is her reflection; she will have the “last word.”

One of the many perks of working at CA, for me, is the opportunity to attend diversity training and lectures. Just this week I was fortunate to attend both the NCAIS Diversity & Inclusion Conference and the PTAA panel discussion on Generational Similarities & Differences. I feel that it’s important for all of us to continuously strive to improve our ability to relate to and empathize with one another and these two sessions both focused on this issue. The common thread, though discussed from different perspectives, was that in order to improve our relationships and interactions with others we need to do two things: (1) try to see issues/situations from the other person’s perspective and (2) become aware of our own unconscious biases. I appreciate being involved in discussions and learning about studies that help me make myself and my community a better place. ~ Mina Harris