Disagreeing Well: pluralism education in action

Grade 7 and 8 students gathered at Community Time recently to do something that may seem a little unusual: disagree.

“It’s okay to disagree,” Cath Wachter, Director of Grade 7-8 reminded the students. “We can learn to disagree tastefully and respectfully.”

The February community time activity was a follow-up to the Disagreeing Well workshop held in the Fall for all students from Grade 7 to 12. There, students were invited to practise disagreeing after hearing tips about how to do so and watching their teachers practice too.

Disagreeing well requires three main skills, said Ryan Vachon, Director of Academics and Pluralism. 

At the community time consolidation, students were invited to pair up and choose a “controversial” topic to discuss through several provided statements (for example, Taylor Swift is the best musical artist in the world, or, “movie theatres are becoming less relevant”). The students were invited to share their viewpoints, and importantly, listen to their peers.

The Disagreeing Well workshops are part of the thought diversity professional development and pluralism education that Greenwood has undertaken in recent years.

Greenwood defines pluralism as, “recognizing and valuing differences such as identity, beliefs or politics. Differences are not seen as threatening; instead, these are opportunities to learn from one another, enriching our community with new perspectives and ideas. Everyone belongs”.

“Ensuring representation across diverse identities such as race, gender, or sexual orientation is important,” said Elanna Robson, Vice-Principal, Student Learning. “However, it would be a mistake to stop there because diversity of thought is an equally important component of pluralism.”

Dr. Thomas Weber, an author and professor of history and international affairs at the University of Aberdeen who recently spoke to Greenwood students on a panel alongside three other professors, agreed. “It is important to embrace intellectual diversity just as much as we embrace any other kind of diversity.”

 

Professional development efforts in this area at Greenwood have centered on equipping teachers to curate, model, and encourage pluralism in their classes, with intentional inclusion of competing arguments, Ryan explained.

“With respect to intellectual diversity, if an opinion or belief is reasonable, informed and well-intentioned, it should be included,” Ryan Vachon said. “When curriculum collides with unsettled and complex topics, our job is to teach students how to think, not what to think.”

“It’s important to demonstrate political nonpartisanship when presenting ideas to students, to examine our own biases and leanings, and to expose ourselves to other viewpoints and opinions that may be different from our own,” Ryan continued. “We want students to value nuance, curiosity, and disagreement without dislike. Students feeling a sense of expressive freedom, under effective classroom norms, matters to both learning and inclusion. Independent thinking, skepticism, and perspective-taking are increasingly important, and we consider these skills vital to much of what matters most in our world – from science to art to understanding the very fabric of reality.” 

Dr. John Austin, Head of School at Deerfield Academy, writes that “providing the foundation for students to think for themselves, test their views, and empower them to grow into distinct thinking individuals is a worthy aspiration for every school.” 

“This work isn’t easy,” says Elanna. “It’s a skill that requires a lot of practice, but it’s so worthwhile for our students because it prepares them to live well in a pluralistic society.”