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gracious space in the classroom

5/30/2014

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I connected with the Center ten years ago through a Core Values workshop, and then attended two workshops on Gracious Space. I began to use the Center’s guidelines to help enact Gracious Space in my teaching process. I teach English as a Second Language to students at Bellevue Community College, and to teachers at the graduate level at Seattle Pacific University.

My students come from all over the world, and I needed a common way for us to talk about space and make the classroom a community where everyone felt safe to speak up. The idea of hospitality in the classroom is very important. Gracious Space creates that.

Now in every class I begin with the questions, “What is it in a community that makes you feel safe? How can you best learn, and what are some of the things that make you want to be the best student?” The Gracious Space guidelines help me focus on the spirit and setting, so the classroom feels encouraging and welcoming. Gracious Space gives a framework for engagement.

Another aspect of Gracious Space that comes alive in the classroom is Learning in Public. The classroom is public, so people have to feel comfortable speaking out. When people come to another country and don’t speak the language they literally have no voice. In teaching not just reading and writing skills, but the ability to speak up and be participatory citizens, literacy becomes empowerment. Gracious Space allows that part of literacy and education to come out because it honors people’s skills and stories. Gracious Space is not just learning a skill, but a way to open people up to their own empowerment.
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    Nancy McEacheran

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