Dialogue coaches help teachers broach tricky subjects
A Brussels university college is sending out coaches to local secondary schools to help teachers tackle touchy subjects like evolution theory and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
No taboos
The idea for the new initiative, called Democratic Dialogue, came from Sigrid Van Eepoel, head of the teachers’ studies programme for secondary education at the Brussels college.
She was inspired by a 2014 study conducted by the King Baudouin Foundation that found that differences in religion and beliefs, particularly between Muslims and non-Muslims, were causing increasing tensions in Brussels schools, which in turn led to more topics becoming off limits in the classroom.
Still, Van Eepoel emphasises that the new project doesn’t just aim to improve classroom conversations about Islam, but also other potentially sensitive issues, like bullying, far-right politics, sexuality, conservative Christianity and Zionism. “Our initiative also aims to investigate which issues are harder to bring up in class,” she explains.
Secondary schools’ official learning plan requires teachers to give lessons on certain sensitive topics. But many teachers lack the time or skills to lead constructive classroom conversations centred on such subjects, Van Eepoel explains.
“Many biology teachers, for example, are not able to integrate a discussion on religious opposition to the evolution theory in their lessons because they have too many other subjects to explain or are insufficiently trained to do so,” she says.
A safe space
That’s where the dialogue coaches – a team of psychologists, philosophers, Islam experts and teachers, all selected and trained by Van Eepoel – come in.
I ask them profound questions without immediately judging their responses
After a school signs up for the Democratic Dialogue service, which costs €1,980, two experts who complement each other travel to the school to assist the teachers. After an introductory intake meeting, the two coaches conduct three half-day sessions with students.
These coach-led sessions in many cases consist of group discussions – either with the entire class or with smaller groups of students. The coaches try to streamline the conversation by setting certain rules to make sure that students express themselves assertively but not aggressively. Students are, for instance, expected to wait for their turn to speak, to offer arguments or counterarguments calmly and to be ready to examine things from a different perspective.
“This way, fellow students can, for example, learn that a Jewish student can also be critical of Israeli politics,” says Van Eepoel. “It can also help break down prejudices about gay people, for instance.”
Expand views
One of the coaches, Eef Cornelissen, is a philosopher who specialises in the Socratic method. “This consists mainly of asking people profound questions without immediately judging their responses,” he explains. “When students feel that you are not lecturing them, you create more space to calmly discuss things together.”
The Socratic method teaches students to think critically, to argue in a constructive manner and to reflect on issues in a group setting. “They also learn to identify which feelings and ideas are hidden behind certain statements and reactions they themselves or others make,” Cornelissen explains.
Meanwhile, the team’s Islam expert can help expand the views of Muslim students on religious topics, such as the Koran’s passage on the creation of the world in six days. An Islam expert can point out to the young adults that the word used for “day” in that particular passage can also mean “era”.
In addition, the Koran also mentions that one day on Earth equals thousands of years for Allah. This insight might help abate some students’ rejection of the evolution theory, allay their fears of not obeying religious precepts and maybe even have an effect on radical positions.
The Democratic Dialogue initiative was launched with the support of the government of Flanders.
Photo courtesy Erasmushogeschool Brussel
Educational system
million school-going children in 2013
million euros Flemish education budget for new school infrastructures in 2013
percent of boys leaving secondary school without a diploma
- Education in Flanders
- Secondary education reform
- European Encyclopaedia on National Education Systems
