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Civil presence

Civility is about listening as much as it is about speaking. The perspectives that can sharpen our understanding of a problem often come from people who think we are wrong. Yet, if we shut down communication with those people, we might miss hearing the hard truths we need to hear. Use this activity to talk about “staying present” even when we’re tempted to shut down these tough conversations. 

   Tool

   10 minutes

   By: Principled Innovation® (PI)

   Educator-prep | Leader-prep


Making connections:

Principled Innovation asks us to work with others and recognize the limits of our own knowledge so that we can better understand and tackle the complex issues our communities face.

More on this topic:

Civility: does it matter?

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  8 minutes

  By: National Conference of State Legislatures

Civility: a core component of professionalism?

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  By: American Psychological Association, Nadine J. Kaslow and Natalie N. Watson

Is civility a sham?

  Video

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  By: TED, Teresa Bejan

You don’t have to be nice to political opponents. But you do need to talk to them.

  Article

  12 minutes

  By: Teresa Bejan, Washington Post

How to talk politics when you disagree

  Video

  12 minutes

  By: Ciaran O'Connor, TEDx

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