The Teacher's Sphere
The Teacher's Sphere
Podcast Description
The Teacher’s Sphere podcast amplifies the voices of practicing educators who share how they successfully create spaces for civil discourse and viewpoint diversity in today’s schools. Episodes feature educators’ personal stories, practical applications, and thoughtful reflections on fostering respectful dialogue across differences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast focuses on civil discourse practices, educational leadership, and viewpoint diversity, featuring episode topics like the development of leadership toolkits for fostering respectful dialogue and personal narratives from teachers about implementing these practices in their classrooms. Specific examples include discussions on educational initiatives and research findings related to teaching about race and gender.
The Teacher’s Sphere podcast amplifies the voices of practicing educators who share how they successfully create spaces for civil discourse and viewpoint diversity in today’s schools. Episodes feature educators’ personal stories, practical applications, and thoughtful reflections on fostering respectful dialogue across differences.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode Description: In this episode, Kobi Nelson talks with Sphere program manager John Snoad, a former high school teacher and football coach of more than 30 years, about practical ways to bring civil discourse into any classroom. John shares how he retooled his own curriculum around curiosity-driven questions instead of binary thinking, unpacks Sphere’s “Who Should Decide?” four-corners activity in detail, and offers advice on building a classroom culture where students feel safe voicing an opinion.
Main Topics
01:25 – John talks about his background
06:03 – Retooling curriculum questions and moving past true/false thinking
08:26 – Introducing civic engagement and the “Who Should Decide?” activity
15:39 – Guiding students without imposing personal bias
17:59 – Building norms and sentence frames to spark curiosity (the AWARE framework)
22:40 – Advice for teachers with limited time or a scripted curriculum
24:56 – Starting with writing before discussion, and students’ fear of being “canceled”
27:20 – Creating a safe space and drawing out quieter students
29:35 – Knowing yourself as a facilitator
Resources Mentioned:
- https://www.sphere-ed.org
- https://www.sphere-ed.org/publication/principles-civil-discourse-primer
- https://www.sphere-ed.org/sphere-summit
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Disclaimer
This podcast’s information is provided for general reference and was obtained from publicly accessible sources. The Podcast Collaborative neither produces nor verifies the content, accuracy, or suitability of this podcast. Views and opinions belong solely to the podcast creators and guests.
For a complete disclaimer, please see our Full Disclaimer on the archive page. The Podcast Collaborative bears no responsibility for the podcast’s themes, language, or overall content. Listener discretion is advised. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for more details.