Lana Parker

Working through uncertainty through exposure to varied voices and perspectives is both ethical (Levinas, 1989; 2011) and productive for learning (Parker, in press). In this interactive session, I will share some of my experiences teaching at the Faculty of Education this past year, where I sought to create the conditions for uncertainty and for listening through use of diverse content and high yield instructional strategies. Primarily, this session will highlight my experiences using case studies and readings arguing for contrary perspectives as a launching point for small group debate and discussion; secondarily, I will discuss and demonstrate some of the focused-talk and focused-listening strategies that I employed in supplement to the content to engage the whole group in the conversation, including four corners (Guillaume, Yopp, & Yopp, 2007), the fishbowl (Crawford, Saul, Mathews, & Makinster, 2005), and circle viewpoints (Ritchhart, Morrison, & Church, 2011).