Speaker
Susan Gevelber
Program Manager for the Discussion Project
Susan Gevelber is the Program Manager for the Discussion Project, serving as curriculum designer and instructor, project developer and researcher. She spent 30 years in the classroom creating and teaching a wide array of high school social studies courses in Fairfax County, Virginia, San Francisco, California and most recently in Madison, Wisconsin. In school-based leadership positions, Susan engaged in curricular reform and professional development initiatives. Using discussion and deliberation techniques, Susan’s teaching focused on the transformative potential of historical inquiry. Currently, Susan is an instructor of Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Speaking in
The Discussion Project, Day 2
Successful Discussion Requires Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Participants will be introduced to the work and research findings of The Discussion Project at UW–Madison. Presenters will offer a definition of discussion and why discussion is an integral part of a student’s educational experiences. We will focus on the ways in which high quality discussion requires that instructors take responsibility to build inclusive and equitable learning environments that draw strength from the diversity of students in the classroom. The presenters will detail methods for building classroom community and explain how instructors can cultivate and maintain a classroom climate that helps produce a “discussion class,” and participants will take part in case study discussions that require instructors to take leadership in repairing classroom climate and relationships when a rift occurs.