How can early childhood practitioners best respond to cultural and linguistic diversity and ensure positive interactions with all children and families? Discover the power of Skilled Dialogue, a unique, effective, and field-tested model for interactions that honour the cultural beliefs and values of everyone involved. Going far beyond the fundamentals introduced in the first edition of this book, the fully updated second edition incorporates expanded coverage of today's most critical topics and reflects the real-world feedback of seasoned Skilled Dialogue users. With this proven model for respectful, reciprocal, and responsive communications, pre- and inservice educators and interventionists will: understand culture as a dynamic that shapes the behaviours and beliefs of all people; actively communicate respect for what others believe, think, and value; resolve issues creatively by integrating diverse perspectives from all parties; strengthen inclusive assessment and instruction; reframe differences between practitioners and families as complementary, not contradictory; avoid stereotypes based on culture and ethnicity; and gain critical insight into the effects of trauma and how it interacts with culture. To support professionals as they put Skilled Dialogue into practice, this edition includes explicit guidance, vivid examples, and practical reproducible forms to aid with assessment, instruction, and organization of key family and child information. With this comprehensive guide to a positive, highly effective model, early childhood professionals will establish skillful interactions that honour all cultures and perspectives, leading to stronger working relationships and better outcomes for families.

Ever needed to communicate or even collaborate with someone who just didnt agree with you or see things as you did? Think theres only two options: their way to your way? Barrera and Kramer propose a third option inclusive of both ways. They present an approach that goes beyond both-and to arrive at a third option: Skilled Dialogue, a field-tested series of strategies that can transform contradictory interactions into complementary ones. Readers will learn how to build mutually complementary relationships that honor difference access and mine the strengths of differences explore multiple ways of creating mutually satisfying options without the need for compromise apply the six Skilled Dialogue strategies in ways that generate respect (i.e., honor identity), reciprocity (i.e., honor voice) and responsiveness (i.e., honor connection) Case examples and sample scenarios allow readers to practice what theyve learned and provide them with models for their own interactions. An invaluable resource for all who interact across differences, whether professionally or personally, this book will help readers to resolve interactional challenges in ways that allow differences to enhance outcomes rather than detract from them.

A book that looks at behavior in a cultural context in order to manage children's challenging interactions and form trusting relationships with professionals.

Keep your cool and get the results you want when faced with crucial conversations. This New York Times bestseller and business classic has been fully updated for a world where skilled communication is more important than ever. The book that revolutionized business communications has been updated for today’s workplace. Crucial Conversations provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation—especially difficult ones—leads to the results you want. Written in an engaging and witty style, the book teaches readers how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, how to get back to productive dialogue when others blow up or clam up, and it offers powerful skills for mastering high-stakes conversations, regardless of the topic or person. This new edition addresses issues that have arisen in recent years. You’ll learn how to: Respond when someone initiates a crucial conversation with you Identify and address the lag time between identifying a problem and discussing it Communicate more effectively across digital mediums When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation poorly and suffer the consequences; or apply the lessons and strategies of Crucial Conversations and improve relationships and results. Whether they take place at work or at home, with your coworkers or your spouse, crucial conversations have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future. With the skills you learn in this book, you'll never have to worry about the outcome of a crucial conversation again.

Cross-disciplinary scientific collaboration is emerging as standard operating procedure for many scholarly research enterprises. And yet, the skill set needed for effective collaboration is neither taught nor mentored. The goal of the Toolbox Dialogue Initiative is to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration. This book, inspired by this initiative, presents dialogue-based methods designed to increase mutual understanding among collaborators so as to enhance the quality and productivity of cross-disciplinary collaboration. It provides a theoretical context, principal activities, and evidence for effectiveness that will assist readers in honing their collaborative skills. Key Features Introduces the Toolbox Dialogue method for improving cross-disciplinary collaboration Reviews the theoretical background of cross-disciplinary collaboration and considers the communication and integration challenges associated with such collaboration Presents methods employed in workshop development and implementation Uses various means to examine the effectiveness of team-building exercises Related Titles Fam, D., J. Palmer, C. Riedy, and C. Mitchell. Transdisciplinary Research and Practice for Sustainability Outcomes (ISBN: 978-1-138-62573-0) Holland, D. Integrating Knowledge through Interdisciplinary Research: Problems of Theory and Practice (ISBN: 978-1-138-91941-9) Padmanabhan, M. Transdisciplinary Research and Sustainability: Collaboration, Innovation and Transformation (ISBN: 978-1-138-21640-2)

Dialogue is one of the best vehicles for learning how to think, how to be reasonable, how to make moral decisions and how to understand another person's point of view. It is supremely flexible, instructional, collaborative, and rigorous. At its very best, dialogue is one of the best ways for participants to learn good habits of thinking. There is also substantial evidence that teachers currently talk too much in classes, often only waiting .8 seconds after asking a question before jumping in with the answer if a student doesn't quickly volunteer. This book guides teachers through the different types of dialogue and how they can be used to enhance students' learning.

Due to continuing immigration and increasing racial and ethnic inclusiveness, higher education institutions in the United States are likely to grow ever more diverse in the 21st century. This shift holds both promise and peril: Increased inter-ethnic contact could lead to a more fruitful learning environment that encourages collaboration. On the other hand, social identity and on-campus diversity remain hotly contested issues that often raise intergroup tensions and inhibit discussion. How can we help diverse students learn from each other and gain the competencies they will need in an increasingly multicultural America? Dialogue Across Difference synthesizes three years’ worth of research from an innovative field experiment focused on improving intergroup understanding, relationships and collaboration. The result is a fascinating study of the potential of intergroup dialogue to improve relations across race and gender. First developed in the late 1980s, intergroup dialogues bring together an equal number of students from two different groups – such as people of color and white people, or women and men – to share their perspectives and learn from each other. To test the possible impact of such courses and to develop a standard of best practice, the authors of Dialogue Across Difference incorporated various theories of social psychology, higher education, communication studies and social work to design and implement a uniform curriculum in nine universities across the country. Unlike most studies on intergroup dialogue, this project employed random assignment to enroll more than 1,450 students in experimental and control groups, including in 26 dialogue courses and control groups on race and gender each. Students admitted to the dialogue courses learned about racial and gender inequalities through readings, role-play activities and personal reflections. The authors tracked students’ progress using a mixed-method approach, including longitudinal surveys, content analyses of student papers, interviews of students, and videotapes of sessions. The results are heartening: Over the course of a term, students who participated in intergroup dialogues developed more insight into how members of other groups perceive the world. They also became more thoughtful about the structural underpinnings of inequality, increased their motivation to bridge differences and intergroup empathy, and placed a greater value on diversity and collaborative action. The authors also note that the effects of such courses were evident on nearly all measures. While students did report an initial increase in negative emotions – a possible indication of the difficulty of openly addressing race and gender – that effect was no longer present a year after the course. Overall, the results are remarkably consistent and point to an optimistic conclusion: intergroup dialogue is more than mere talk. It fosters productive communication about and across differences in the service of greater collaboration for equity and justice. Ambitious and timely, Dialogue Across Difference presents a persuasive practical, theoretical and empirical account of the benefits of intergroup dialogue. The data and research presented in this volume offer a useful model for improving relations among different groups not just in the college setting but in the United States as well.

"Since the highly acclaimed Courageous Conversations About Race offered educators a frame work and tools for promoting racial equity, many schools have implemented the Courageous Conversations Protocol. Now ... in a book that's rich with anecdote, Singleton celebrates the successes, outlines the difficulties, and provides specific strategies for moving Courageous Conversations from racial equity theory to practice at every level, from the classroom to the school superintendent's office"--Back cover.

Co-published with Intergroup dialogue has emerged as an effective educational and community building method to bring together members of diverse social and cultural groups to engage in learning together so that they may work collectively and individually to promote greater diversity, equality and justice. Intergroup dialogues bring together individuals from different identity groups (such as people of color and white people; women and men; lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and heterosexual people), and uses explicit pedagogy that involves three important features: content learning, structured interaction, and facilitative guidance. The least understood role in the pedagogy is that of facilitation. This volume, the first dedicated entirely to intergroup dialogue facilitation, draws on the experiences of contributors and on emerging research to address the multi-dimensional role of facilitators and co-facilitators, the training and support of facilitators, and ways of improving practice in both educational and community settings. It constitutes a comprehensive guide for practitioners, covering the theoretical, conceptual, and practical knowledge they need. Presenting the work and insights of scholars, practitioners and scholar-practitioners who train facilitators for intergroup dialogues, this book bridges the theoretical and conceptual foundations of intergroup relations and social justice education with training models for intergroup dialogue facilitation. It is intended for staff, faculty, and administrators in higher education, and community agencies, as well as for human resources departments in workplaces. Contributors:Charles Behling, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The Program on Intergroup RelationsBarry Checkoway, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, School of Social WorkMark Chesler, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The Program on Intergroup RelationsKeri De Jong, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, School of EducationRoger Fisher, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The Program on Intergroup RelationsNichola G. FulmerPatricia Gurin, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, The Program on Intergroup RelationsTanya Kachwaha, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, School of EducationChristina Kelleher, Institute for Sustained Dialogue, Sustained Dialogue Campus NetworkAriel Kirkland, Occidental College, Student facilitatorJames Knauer, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, Democracy LabJoycelyn Landrum-Brown, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Program on Intergroup RelationsShaquanda D. Lindsey, Occidental College, Student facilitatorDavid J. Martineau, Washington University, St. Louis, School of Social WorkKelly E. MaxwellBiren (Ratnesh) A. NagdaTeddy Nemeroff, Institute for Sustained Dialogue, Sustained Dialogue Campus NetworkRomina Pacheco, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, School of EducationPriya Parker, Institute for Sustained Dialogue, Sustained Dialogue Campus NetworkJaclyn Rodríguez, Occidental College, Department of PsychologyAndrea C. Rodríguez-Scheel, Occidental College, Student facilitatorMichael S. Spencer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, School of Social WorkMonita C. ThompsonNorma TimbangThai Hung V. TranCarolyn Vasques-Scalera, Independent Scholar Thomas E. Walker, University of Denver, Center for Multicultural ExcellenceKathleen Wong (Lau), Arizona State University/Western Michigan University, Intergroup Relations Center/Intercultural CommunicationAnna M. Yeakley, Independent Intergroup Dialogue ConsultantXimena Zúñiga, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, School of Education

This volume of case studies is the companion volume to Jane Vella's 'Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach'. It demonstrates how educators have used Jane Vella's methods in their own work.