Policies

Welcome to the Fall 2015 semester and Health Psychology D920!

Below is a set of ground rules specific to discussions held in class and online.  These are important to remember so that every member of the classroom feels respected and safe when discussing topics that are sometimes personal and powerful.

  1. Listen actively — respect others when they are talking.
  2. Speak from your own experience instead of generalizing (“I” instead of “they,” “we,” and “you”).
  3. Do not be afraid to respectfully challenge one another by asking questions, but refrain from personal attacks — focus on ideas.
  4. Participate to the fullest of your ability — community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice.
  5. Instead of invalidating somebody else’s story with your own spin on her or his experience, share your own story and experience.
  6. The goal is not to agree — it is to gain a deeper understanding.
  7. Be conscious of body language and nonverbal responses — they can be as disrespectful as words.

 YOUR TASK:  It is now your job to create any additional class ground rules you may feel necessary. You may also use this opportunity to ask a question about any particular policy and stimulate conversation among your classmates.  If you chose not to add a rule, please be sure to elaborate on one of the rules presented above.  You are encouraged to reply to other’s suggestions about these guidelines for meaningful discussion among one another.

 

Reference:

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activities/groundrules.html

11 thoughts on “Policies

  1. I agree with all the policies listed above. I mostly agree with policy # 7, Some people usually get angry and one of the ways they show it is by their body language and facial expressions. An example of that would be rolling of the eyes and hand gestures.

  2. I have carefully read all of the ground rules provided above. I agree with all of them. Because I found all of them neccessary to enhance a easy going and comfortable class environment. My favorite rule is #6 ” The goal is not to agree — it is to gain a deeper understanding.” I think this is an open invitation to raise your questions and concerns while not feeling weird. It is our right not to agree with everything that is being said. Everyone has their own perspectives based on their religion or culture. So it is always good to raise questions about something that we are not agree with or having trouble to understand something.

  3. I think all the rules above are very encouraging to me, because it contains rules that are respect of myself and others in a learning environment. One rule I’d like the most is rule number 7 because unconscious body language is an aspect of disrespecting, I hate people laughing at me for having an accent, this discouraging me for speaking up in class.

  4. I read the policies for the course and I agree that in order to create a safe and respectful environment, everyone should follow step one. As a member of the classroom I would like to be heard without interruption and listen to opinions from other members of the classroom without feeling judged or disrespected.

  5. I totally agree with all the policies mentioned above. The policies mentioned above is an absolute need for a class to be conducted in a efficient way. I liked policy #4 , because when we are in a class and a discussion is going on, I most of the time feel like the class might not understand what i am trying to explain. Or that the class might get me wrong so I refrain myself from the discussion. But as mentioned in policy #4 “Participate to the fullest of your ability — community growth depends on the inclusion of every individual voice.” It sounds pleasant and gives me a knowledge that I should participate.

  6. I’d like to add be kind, and non judgemental. Some things are hard for people to talk about. We don’t know anyone’s true story or what they’re going through in life so keep an open mind!

  7. I would like to elaborate on rule #6 by adding that humility is the key to gain such deeper understanding. It is great to feel proud of our ideas and who we are, but it is even better to be the kind of person who considers other people’s opinion as an opportunity to learn and broaden one’s horizons.

  8. I agree with all the policies stated above, but #3 I stand by the most. It implicates that we should be able to agree to disagree with someone’s opinion about something. We should also be able to have a discussion without anyone getting upset, and seeing the other person’s point of view

  9. Like the other students from the class I agree with all the classroom policies. They are all understandable and should make our discussions more tangible. I plan to recommend these policies to my other professors during future lectures and discussions.

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