69ý

School & District Management Download

Navigating Tense Conversations at Work: A Guide for Educators (Downloadable)

By Olina Banerji — October 02, 2024 3 min read
Polar opposite hands hold u a triangular flag. Teamwork, resolution, truce.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Tragic shootings. Culture wars. Threats of violence. Closures resulting from debunked, racist allegations against Haitian immigrants in Ohio. A lot has happened in schools in the run-up to a contentious and hotly debated national election.

But this year isn’t unique. 69ý have, historically, been a public space where polarizing issues have played out. In recent years though, these debates have become more high-pitched and polarizing with real-life consequences—sometimes even costing teachers and school leaders their jobs.

In a nationally representative survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center this summer, a quarter of teachers and school leaders polled said that politics, political ideologies, and/or politicians have contributed most to the polarization they’ve faced in their district or schools. Nineteen percent said the top contributor was social media.

See also

A scholar look up at a wave that is about to overtake them
Eva Vázquez for Education Week

Educators are also hesitant to bring up politically sensitive topics in class, even if these topics relate directly to a social studies lesson. In response, they’ve adjusted or changed their instructional approach, the same survey found: Thirty-five percent of teachers reported that they skipped an entire topic or subtopic because it would spark complaints from students, parents, or their superiors, while 23 percent said they had skipped a potentially “controversial” topic. Nineteen percent felt compelled to bring up diverse perspectives on a topic, even if they felt the topic didn’t need that treatment.

Teaching within these tight parameters can be exhausting—and could lead to quicker teacher burnout, which is already a significant problem. School leaders need to step in, and find ways to tackle the looming threat of polarizing conflict.

“The 21st-century superpower is facilitation. It’s not charisma-led leadership,” said Martin Carcasson, a liberal arts professor and the founder and director of the Center for Public Deliberation at the Colorado State University. Carcasson coaches school and district leaders to broach, and facilitate, difficult conversations within their district offices, with parents, and with the larger school community.

Conflicts within a school community over divisive issues like reading instruction, gun control, or the rights of transgender students can often mimic what’s happening in the political sphere, where the two-party system often reduces every debate to a political zero-sum game: Do everything in your power to make your opponent’s ideas fail.

“It’s a cynical view of the system,” Carcasson said in an interview with Education Week this summer.

Breaking the cynicism is hard. There’s a way to do it

School leaders, as facilitators, can turn a confrontational debate on its head. In some cases, when leaders can anticipate conflict, they can be proactive about diffusing it.

Not all conflicts can be avoided, though. For these times, it’s important for school leaders to build their facilitation muscles. Carcasson, in his own coaching, has relied on a guided map that can help leaders get in—and out—of a polarizing debate with a solution that works for every participant. It’s called the Groan Zone.

The “groan zone” framework for decision-making was popularized in 1996 by Sam Kaner, an organization development expert. It has three distinct stages:

  1. divergent thinking or collecting data,
  2. the Groan Zone, or the main debate, and
  3. convergent thinking, or coming to a resolution.

In each part of this process, the leader, as a facilitator, will need a different skillset. We’ve adapted this facilitation guide for educators to use in heated conversations with each other, parents, or even students during a class discussion on a controversial or polarizing topic.

    Related Tags:

    Vanessa Solis, Associate Design Director contributed to this article.

    Events

    This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
    Sponsor
    Artificial Intelligence Webinar
    AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
    Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
    Content provided by 
    This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
    Sponsor
    School Climate & Safety Webinar
    Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
    Content provided by 
    Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
    Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

    EdWeek Top School Jobs

    Teacher Jobs
    Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
    Principal Jobs
    Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
    Administrator Jobs
    Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
    Support Staff Jobs
    Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

    Read Next

    School & District Management Spooked by Halloween, Some 69ý Ban Costumes—But Not Without Pushback
    69ý are tweaking Halloween traditions to make them more inclusive to all students.
    4 min read
    A group of elementary school kids sitting on a curb dressed in their Halloween costumes.
    iStock/Getty
    School & District Management 69ý Take a $3 Billion Hit From the Culture Wars. Here’s How It Breaks Down
    Culturally divisive conflicts in schools have led to increased legal and security costs, as well as staff time spent on the fallout.
    4 min read
    Illustration of a businessman with his hands on his head while he watches dollars being sucked down into a dark hole.
    DigitalVision Vectors
    School & District Management Opinion The Blind Spot More Educators Need to Recognize
    A simple activity in a training session caused a chain reaction that strengthened an educator's leadership for decades to come.
    5 min read
    Screen Shot 2024 10 29 at 9.19.10 AM
    Canva
    School & District Management Opinion 9 Ways 69ý Can Improve Life for Teachers and 69ý
    Educators suggest low-cost strategies to improve the education experience for teachers and learners alike.
    8 min read
    Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
    Sonia Pulido for Education Week