Engagement Strategies Convey that all questions and opinions are important

A number of the strategies listed and described in this site may seem obvious. This may be one such strategy for you. Here is the key, though: We know what is best to do and yet do not do it, or we often do not do it with intention.

Conveying that all students' questions and opinions are important can take many forms. We will go over a few here.

The Key to Success with this Strategy

Listen to and watch yourself carefully.

Do you unintentionally offer more encouragement and support to particular students in your classes?
When particular students ask questions are you quick to affirm that their questions are good, or do you answer the question and quickly move on?
When students share opinions or ideas, is there an unintentional pattern to how you respond to their input?

Our patterns of interaction with others are often unconscious, learned over time and embedded in our mind and behaviors without our overt knowledge. As mentioned above, this strategy is about examining and intentionally adjusting how we respond to students.

Using this strategy is culturally responsive because...

Conveying that all students' questions and opinions are important addresses the following:

Our unconscious biases affect how we communicate with students. Shifting to conscious/intentional validation of each student's contributions helps to manage those biases.

Our encouragement makes a difference, especially for students with prior negative experiences in school. Hearing that your questions and opinions are important - that they are welcomed, considered, discussed, validated or explored and reshaped - creates inclusion. This inclusion goes beyond the sense of welcome created by knowing and using students' names and checking in with them about how they are doing; it says they are learners who have contributions to make, and they belong in college and their future career field.

Inviting student contributions provides the foundation for 8) Make student contributions central to the class.

From Hammond's definition of CRT: Positive and constructive responses to students' contributions create opportunities for students to connect what they know to new concepts, fostering learning and enhancing motivation.

How do I Implement this Strategy?

Inviting Questions and Opinions

Very clearly communicate when and how students may ask questions and contribute ideas in your class.
Actively ask questions of students when you want to expand on a topic (versus expanding upon it yourself).
Review and implement the following strategies in this guide:
If you do not use random response strategies, check in with each student individually to see what questions they may have.
Ask, "What questions do you have?" instead of "Do you have any questions?"

Responding to Student Questions and Opinions

Consider adopting some of the following responses when students ask questions in class.

Thank you for having the courage to ask a question/share your thoughts.
I am really glad you asked that question. It connects to.../It reminds me to cover.../I was worried I wasn't clear about.../Going over that again is helpful for everyone.
That is an excellent question/idea. I am really interested in hearing more about...?
Does anyone else have any other questions/ideas related to this one?

What about questions that are off-topic?

There are a few options:

Gently ask the student to explain how their question connects to what is being discussed.
Offer the connection you see.
Ask (or inform) the student, after affirming their question, if you can come back to their question in a little bit. Write it on the board or in chat or on scratch paper used for "Questions to respond to later."

What about opinions that are "wrong"?

Occasionally, students will share ideas, thoughts, or opinions that do not align with the facts, best practices, or community standards of your classes. The following responses can give you the opportunity to help them explore further, to reframe their thoughts, or to respectfully correct them.

Can you tell me more about your opinion and how it connects to what we are learning in this class?
Let's open this up for broader discussion. What other experiences, studies, examples, etc. can we consider in addressing this viewpoint?
While you have the right to your opinion, in this class we do not allow...and it is my job as the professor to ensure all students demonstrate responsibility for the expectations in the syllabus/that we set at the beginning of the quarter.