Office for Faculty Excellence

Using Protocols to Deepen Conversation and Raise Intellectual Engagement

Using protocols in your classes when discussing sensitive topics will allow structured conversation, thoughtful listening, and pausing to deepen intellectual engagement and mutual understanding.

The following material is adapted from a presentation given by Dr. Patricia Virella, Professor of Teaching and Learning, Montclair State University. 

The Challenges of Discussing Equity

  • Increased polarization in society
    • Lack of ability to agree about realities and accept facts
    • Increased violence/threat of violence
    • Unwillingness to engage with differing opinions
  • Our broader context
    • Multiple topics that are hot button issues
    • Disagreement about what’s most important – the “Oppression Olympics”
    • Feeling that certain people aren’t allowed to take up space right now or weigh in on issues: “Ugh! Equity again!”
  •  Our virtual realities
    • Loss of informal processing space –such as engaging in “watercooler conversations”
    • Limitations on non-verbal communication
    • Competing for participants’ attention

As Derald Wing Sue (2013) summarizes: “Race talk is generally filled with intense and powerful emotions (Bell, 2003), creates a threatening environment for participants (Sue et al., 2011), reveals major differences in worldviews or perspectives (Bryan, Wilson, Lewis, & Wills, 2012; Young, 2003), and often results in disastrous consequences such as a hardening of biased racial views (Zou & Dickter, 2013). Unless such topical discussions are instigated in some manner, the majority of people in interracial settings would prefer to avoid them and/or to minimize and dilute their importance and meaning (Valentine, Prentice, Torres, & Arellano, 2012).”

Despite its Challenges, Discussing Equity Presents Many Opportunities

  • Pew Research (2020) has found younger US generations (specifically Gen Z) to have greater diversity in race and ethnicity and a greater openness to engage with and confront social inequity. 
  • Wing Sue (2013): Discussion allows for fruitful engagement with critical topics.
  • Glenn Singleton: “There is a continuum that goes from silence to violence in this racial paradigm. And in between that continuum of silence and violence is conversation.” (Motley, 2020, 26:30)

Other useful pages include:

For more information or help, please email the Office for Faculty Excellence or make an appointment with a consultant.

Last Modified: Friday, March 28, 2025 2:43 pm

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