why should we strive to have a brave space in our course interactions rather than a safe space

While learning may occur in these spaces, the ultimate goal is to provide support. A brave space encourages dialogue. Recognizing difference and holding each person accountable to do the work of sharing experiences and coming to new understandings - a feat that’s often hard, and typically uncomfortable.

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What is the difference between a brave space and a safe space?

There is an arguable difference, considering the implications of each term: 1 A safe space is ideally one that doesn’t incite judgment based on identity or experience - where the expression of both... 2 A brave space encourages dialogue. Recognizing difference and holding each person accountable to do the work of sharing... More ...

What are the principles of a brave space?

Essentially, a couple principles must be upheld to create a productive and respectful brave space. The principles of a brave space are synonymous with setting up classroom etiquette and guidelines, but with added intentionality toward diversity and social justice education.

How do you create a brave space in the classroom?

Lastly, the most important part in creating a productive and respectful brave space is to start where the group is. Essentially, this means setting realistic and attainable expectations for the group, which is why classroom etiquette should be a conversation.

What is social justice in Brave Spaces?

In the context of brave spaces, social justice is the “full and equitable participation of people from all social identity groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs.”1Essentially, we create a space where everyone actively participates.

Why is creating a brave space important?

A brave space allows students to express themselves, challenge one another in a positive way, and learn from one another. This facilitator's guide is useful for educators as they guide the conversation in a way that encourages respect, inclusion, compassion, and courageous intervention.

What is the difference between safe and brave spaces?

Institutions offer safe space support services for students that prove effective in tandem with holistic changes to campus culture. Brave spaces are used today in classroom settings as a mechanism to create supportive environments so that all students may equally participate in challenging dialogue.

How do you create brave space in the classroom?

Possible guidelines for brave classrooms Even if you are uncomfortable or unsure, contribute and take risks. Make space by sharing speaking time; try to speak after others who have not spoken. Listen actively, even and especially when people say things that are difficult to hear. View the candor of others as a gift.

Why are safe spaces important?

Safe spaces can provide a break from judgment, unsolicited opinions, and having to explain yourself. It also allows people to feel supported and respected.

What is a brave space at work?

In the case of building a brave space, empathy requires radical acceptance and earnest listening. It means not downplaying the experiences or ideas of others. It means actively working toward solutions to problems. And it means everyone leaves a meeting uplifted.

What are the brave space agreements?

We agree to struggle against racism, sexism, classism, ableism, transphobia, sizeism, ageism, and linguistic discrimination, and the ways we internalize myths and misinformation about our own identities and identities of other people. We agree that we are coming into this space as learners.

What is a brave space in the classroom?

Brave Space-a classroom environment that acknowledges the challenges that both students and faculty have when attempting to have discussion around difficult and/or sensitive topics such as race, power, privilege and the various forms of oppression for the purpose of learning.

How will you increase student opportunities for equitability in your classroom?

Seven Effective Ways to Promote Equity in the ClassroomReflect on Your Own Beliefs. ... Reduce Race and Gender Barriers to Learning. ... Establish an Inclusive Environment Early. ... Be Dynamic With Classroom Space. ... Accommodate Learning Styles and Disabilities. ... Be Mindful of How You Use Technology. ... Be Aware of Religious Holidays.

What is a university safe space?

Safe spaces are places reserved for marginalized individuals to come together and discuss their experiences. Marginalized groups may include women, people of color, survivors of abuse, and/or members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Why are safe spaces important for students?

Safe spaces are environments where students feel the freedom to make mistakes without lasting judgment or ridicule and where they can engage in critical, honest, civil, and challenging discussions about sensitive topics.

Why are safe spaces important in classrooms?

Safe spaces for students coping with trauma In K-12 schools, safe spaces and trauma-informed practices help students learn to self-regulate and process negative emotions like anger and sadness. They're able to develop long-term, self-management abilities that make room for academic success as they get older.

What it means to be a safe space?

Definition of safe space : a place (as on a college campus) intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations … student volunteers put up posters advertising that a "safe space" would be available for anyone who found the debate too upsetting.—

What is a brave space?

Brave spaces can look, sound and feel different from one another, but the general idea is to cultivate a productive dialogue where participants are encouraged to speak honestly and critically from their own experience toward the end of mutual learning and liberation.

Why do brave space agreements vary?

The beauty of a brave space agreement is that they vary because they are collectively generated, so the ground rules that make one group feel safe may be totally different from those another group creates . Still, you will probably notice some general patterns as you look through brave space agreements.

How is it different from a safe space?

It’s hard to define a brave space without bringing up its now ill-reputed sibling, the safe space. If you paid attention to the news in the mid- to late-2010s, you probably heard at least one university administrator or conservative talk show host frame safe spaces as antithetical to freedom of speech.

What does "safe" mean in safe space?

In other words, the “safe” in safe space meant participants aimed to protect one another from legal or bodily harm, at the hands of the state or otherwise (and not, as Ellison suggests, differing viewpoints).

What did queer activists do before Stonewall?

Pre-Stonewall, queer activists created safe spaces where participants could be “open about their respective identities , with lower risk of negative societal or legal repercussions at a time when many states still had anti-sodomy laws in effect,” Ali writes.

Who wrote "brave" on sticky note?

At our 126th Public Newsroom, host Nikki Patin wrote down “brave” on a big sticky note and “safe” on another, asking attendees to write down what they associated with each term. Afterward, she started a conversation by asking attendees, “Do you have a place where you feel safe, or moments when you feel safe?”

Can you control who attends a brave space?

They can’t always control who attends, they definitely can’t control what is said and they’re learning as they go, too. If you’re planning to facilitate a brave space, practice is the really the best teacher, but there are resources to get you started (try this, this, and this on for size).

Why is safe space important?

The purpose of safe spaces. It’s well-known that a little anxiety can boost our performance , but chronic anxiety can take a toll on our emotional and psychological health. Feeling like you need to have your guard up at all times can be exhausting and emotionally taxing.

What is safe space in college?

On college campuses, a “safe space” is usually one of two things. Classrooms can be designated as academic safe spaces, meaning that students are encouraged to take risks and engage in intellectual discussions about topics that may feel uncomfortable. In this type of safe space, free speech is the goal. The term “safe space” is also used ...

What unites most anti-safe space stances?

What unites most anti-safe space stances is that they focus almost exclusively on safe spaces in the context of college campuses and free speech. Because of this, it’s easy to forget that the term “safe space” is actually quite broad and encompasses a variety of different meanings.

What is safe space?

The term “safe space” is also used to describe groups on college campuses that seek to provide respect and emotional security, often for individuals from historically marginalized groups. A “safe space” doesn’t have to be a physical location.

Why is redefining the studio unproductive?

Redefining the studio has helped me see how focusing solely on safe spaces as a barrier to free speech is unproductive because it limits people’s willingness to engage with the topic as a whole — namely, how it relates to mental health.

Is lockdown on campus a hoax?

The increase in school shootings and threats has also had an impact on campus. In 2018, our campus went on lockdown after reports of an active shooter. It ended up being a hoax, but many of us spent hours huddled in dorms and classrooms sending messages to our families.

Is safe space a direct attack on free speech?

That said, critics often redefine the concept of a safe space as something that’s a direct attack on free speech and only relevant to minority groups on college campuses.

Why do we need brave spaces?

Brave spaces require a personal sense of accountability, respect for other people, and the willingness to sit with discomfort. Moving through this process inherently helps people grow and learn more about the world around them.

Why is respect important in a brave space?

Even if you don’t particularly like someone or their ideas, you need to respect them for who they are and what they bring to the discussion. Respect means avoiding jumping to conclusions, gossipping about others, or disrupting the safety within a group setting.

What Is a Safe Space?

A safe space ideally refers to a judgment-free environment where people can fully express and be themselves.

What if a Space Fails You?

What happens when you try to give it your all and it doesn’t work out? Or when you decide to truly be vulnerable, only to be met with shaming or invalidation?

What is the role of accountability in brave space?

Members must be willing to hold themselves responsible for how their words or actions affect others. Even if their motives aren’t intentional, they must recognize the impact certain decisions can have on a system.

Why do parents want to be safe?

Parents often want to ensure that their children feel supported as they grow up and learn how to navigate the real world. This task can be daunting, especially if parents struggled to feel safe when they were growing up.

How to teach your child to be safe?

First, it’s important to remember that initial safety starts at home. Let your children know that they can always come to you with any feeling or concern. Never punish a child for simply having an emotion- always validate and normalize feelings as they arise.

What is safe and brave space?

Safe and Brave Spaces is a framework of dialogue for diversity and social justice. The idea of a Brave Space is said to be developed by scholars Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens (according to our trusty friend google). You can check out ‘From Safe Space to Brave Space: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice”.

How to be honest with directors?

Directors be honest -- emotionally honest: Listen, you all are people too and being vulnerable can be challenging. If you are feeling challenged by the day, let us know! It is up to you how much you want to divulge. It could be as simple as “Hey all, I got some things going on. I do apologize if I seem off. Have patience with me during today’s rehearsal.” Something that simple gives the actors and your team a glimpse of your head space.

Is it mandatory to have a mini affinity group?

It is not mandatory, but the space is there for you all!”. You have options. Mini affinity groups (Creative teams + Actors): This could be a stretch, but important, and could also be helpful with larger casts. You can follow the same guidelines as in number 8.

What is the book from Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces by Arao and Clemens?

In 2013, Arao and Clemens published a book entitled, “The art of effective facilitation: Reflections from social justice educators.” Chapter eight of that book, “From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces,” asserts that students accustomed to safe spaces conflate “safety with comfort,” and may be afflicted with a tendency to “discount, deflect or retreat from a challenge.”

What is the power of safe spaces?

The power of safe spaces was this: Marginalized students could express, interpret and connect over shared experiences of marginalization and struggle as a community without fear of repercussion. A safe space is a space where I can sink into a sofa and vent my frustration with that one teacher who misgenders me in class without passersby interrogating me on what the “transgender experience” is on campus, what gender is, why pronouns are important, why Caitlyn Jenner isn’t all she’s hyped up to be, ad infinitum. What brave spaces do is take this exact interaction and formalize it within an educational setting. The “dialogue” becomes a one-sided stream of narratives, trauma, critical theory and lived experiences going from the marginalized to the not-marginalized, a “brave” space for privileged people to challenge their own preconceptions – and a miserable space for the marginalized people forced to do that labor of education.

What does it mean when a college withdraws its support of a speaker?

A college choosing to withdraw their support or invitation of a speaker has nothing to do with the first amendment, it has to do with symbolism. In fact, if that speaker wanted to come to campus despite the withdrawal of the invitation and speak in White Plaza publicly, we could do nothing to stop them. That's their right to free speech. We have homophobic, transphobic bigots doing just that every week or so, and those of us affected just avoid the area if we don't want to deal with it. What activists are doing when they are protesting is symbolic; we are pressuring Stanford to take a stance on what ideas it supports and what ideas it doesn't, as an institution that cannot remain apolitical.

What are some misconceptions about social justice?

It’s a set of ideas that plays into some of the most tempting misconceptions about social justice that we can hold: that we are all coming from different but equal points, that we are all as likely to hurt and be hurt by each other and that, simply put, historical inequities and power dynamics are irrelevant.

Where does the push back on safe spaces come from?

The push back on safe spaces comes from their continued expansion into other areas; namely, the classroom, campus and the world at large. There, you will have to endure questions and criticism from others of all shapes and sizes.

Does brave space suck?

If privileged people are gaining knowledge at the expense of marginalized peoples’ well-being, then your brave space sucks. And if your brave space absolutely, necessarily requires marginalized people to be doing the teaching – then you damn better be paying them a living wage for their work. Or your brave space will suck.

Is it social justice to expect marginalized people to perform the labor of education?

Expecting marginalized peoples to perform the labor of education is not social justice; it’s exploitation. Every single space in which we exist as trans people, indigenous people, Black and brown peoples, disabled people, women and femmes, queer people and/or working class people is a “brave space.”.

2. Safe Space vs Brave Space – Kristi Lonardo Clemens and Brian Arao

So often I hear participants (usually White) share that they are reluctant to participate because the space isn’t safe. Usually, the facilitator rushes in, falling all over themselves to apologize, revisit the ground rules, and ask what the group can do to make this a safe space.

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