Respecting Others' Points of View Is Theme of Our Response to Education Week's Classroom Q&A

The ability to understand and respect other individuals' points of view is a vital skill that students of all ages should learn. That was a theme that Donna and I stressed in responding to a question posed by Education Week as a part of the popular Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo.

The question for this blog post was: "When two or more students are having a conflict, what are the most effective ways teachers can respond to the situation?"

As we pointed out, students can be taught two valuable skills that will pay significant dividends throughout their lives—which is to identify, respect, and seek to understand points of view that differ from their own and to tailor their communications to their intended audience.

With the guidance of a passionate, effective teacher, classroom conflict can be used to help students develop the necessary skills they need for academic, personal, and future professional success. We recommend that teachers use the following strategies to help students achieve those skills:

• Model listening actively to students, paraphrasing what they say to verify understanding.
• Highlight examples of different points of view that are relevant in lessons and to students' lives.
• Encourage all students to share their thoughts and viewpoints and to listen objectively to others' perspectives. 
• Teach students the impact of point of view in literary, historical, and political writing.

To learn more about the importance of respecting other points of view, we invite you to read the entire post at the Education Week blog.