Commitment to Responsibility
Commitment to Responsibility
Across Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12, students are already developing many capacities that support meaningful dialogue: listening, inquiring, considering different perspectives, refl ecting, and learning with others.
This approach to dialogue brings students together for a one-hour facilitated exchange through preparation, dialogue, and refl ection. Students frame the topic and establish shared norms before exploring three questions: What is your experience? What is your perspective? What has shaped your perspective? They conclude by refl ecting on a new insight, question, or shift in thinking.
This structure can grow with students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12. While the format remains consistent, topics evolve through a developmental lens considering age, readiness, and context— from What does it mean to be a good friend? and How might we cultivate belonging in a community? to increasingly complex matters involving environmental sustainability, artifi cial intelligence, and democracy.
“ Students need a safe and manageable structure to engage in discussions about complex and controversial topics,” Ms Chow, Teacher, Social Studies, Senior School, observed.“ The dialogue approach we are developing is simple but focused. It is repeatable. It is malleable. It is transferable. Students and educators can do this.”
Through this shared structure, students practise the capacities to connect, communicate, and collaborate across differences.
DESIGNING A PRACTICE OF DIALOGUE
To cultivate a whole-school practice of dialogue, the School has engaged in a research-informed, collaborative,
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