A writer-editor-teacher’s quote of the week 209

Again and again I witness a communication breakdown in classroom settings when individuals who were speaking found not only that they had sharp differences of perspective but that attempting to engage in dialogue across these differences aroused intense passions, including anger and sadness. Tears and sorrow were easier for students and teachers to cope with than expressions of disagreement evoking covert and overt feelings of rage. The pressure to maintain a non-combative atmosphere, however, one in which everyone can feel safe, can actually work to silence discussion and/or completely eradicate the possibility of dialectical exchange.

– from the chapter “Conflict” in Teaching Critical Thinking by bell hooks

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