DePaul Teaching and Learning Conference 2022

Zoom Link: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/96065383956?pwd=L2xtbVVHd3orOHdXTExQQUM0Z256QT09
Feedback Link: bit.ly/22tlconsessioneval

This round table discussion is aimed to engage participants in a conversation about oppressive discourse and the concepts of silence and listening within the classroom. Dialogue, as a crucial element in critical pedagogy, can be displayed in many different ways, depending on social, cultural, and linguistic differences. Kaufmann (2010), for example, considers whether critical dialogue has facilitated social empowerment that seeks to overcome oppressive discourse practices. The potential that dialogic exchange offers can only happen when students believe that they can safely share their “experiences, beliefs, and standpoints” (p. 460). In fact, Kaufmann noted that each instance of critical reflection and critical consciousness occurred when students felt “camaraderie and/or connection” (p. 472) with each other. Kaufmann also discusses the cultural aspects of speech and silence, urging teachers to act as facilitators of all voices in the classroom without de-centering non-dominant voices and centering dominant ones. The goal of this round table discussion is to share experiences and practices with these concepts and foster critical reflection on our own teaching practices in tandem with said concepts.