Global Perspectives on Dialogue in the Classroom: Cultivating Inclusive, Intersectional, and Authentic Conversations

This book explores globally-informed, culturally-rooted approaches to dialogue in the classroom. It seeks to fill gaps in communication and education literature related to decolonizing dialogue and breaking binaries by decentering Eurocentric perspectives and providing space for dialogic practices grounded in cultural wealth of students and teachers. We first describe the book's genesis, contextualize dialogue within the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and share guiding concepts of inclusion, intersectionality, and authenticity in dialogue and pedagogy. We also distinguish dialogue from other practices and times in which dialogue may not be possible. The book brings fresh and urgent perspectives from authors across different disciplines, including ceramics, religious studies, cultural studies, communication, family therapy, and conflict resolution. The chapters distill the idea of dialogue within contexts like a bible circle, university sculpture studio, trauma and peacebuilding program, and connect dialogue to teaching, learning, and emerging ideas of power disruption, in-betweenness, and relationality. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

“No One Really Likes Crying in School”: The Influences of Classroom and Institutional Dynamics Upon Student Absenteeism During COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the already problematic issue of student absenteeism. This study uniquely employs an ecological agency approach to better understand student absenteeism during COVID-19. Using a case study methodology, the study captures the experiences of two absentee students within a United States suburban high school during the 2020–2021 school year to better understand the institutional structures motivating their daily decision to attend or miss school. In the remote learning environment, rigorous curricular expectations, minimal social interactions, teacher-led instruction as a response to student disengagement from student-led instruction, and lower teacher expectations contributed to the participants’ daily decision to miss school. In the remote, hybrid, and full-time in-person learning spaces, staff apathy toward bullying, minimal space to escape feelings of anxiety, and fewer tutoring outlets motivated student absenteeism. Therefore, the school environment can better promote attendance during COVID-19 by establishing an in-school space to escape heightened anxiety, academic supports to reduce grade-induced anxiety, shifting from nonintervention to prosocial instructional interventions in all learning environments, teacher voices in policy design, reducing teacher-led instruction, and shifting teacher beliefs to an asset mindset. Recommendations for future research are included. © 2022 The Author(s).

Breaking out of the lecture rut: Using Zoom to build classroom connections

The Covid-19 pandemic brought momentous changes to higher education regarding how students attend classes and how faculty teach. While the effects of these changes will be evaluated and debated for some time, this past year has shown that technology can help build connections between students in the virtual classroom. This short paper will reflect on existing research regarding virtual classroom practices and build on that work by demonstrating how breakout rooms were used in two graduate engineering communication courses to facilitate collaboration and build relationships between students from diverse backgrounds and locations. © 2021 IEEE.