It has become increasingly clear to me this year that the tensions of our contemporary political climate are entering into the classroom. Teaching in an arts institution has previously allowed conversation in my taught seminars and classrooms to unfold without much controversy, sometimes seemingly like an echo chamber of liberal leftist ideas, in this year I have witnessed more conflict – varied opinions that brought more heated debate, and worst into the classroom. Yet, the solution is not to quash these conversations from occurring as they exist in the world, but it would be useful to develop strategies for brave spaces, where we could hold oppositional views in a co-existing space, to unpack and develop our understanding of these viewpoints with empathy. This intervention begins with a workshop about facilitating brave spaces for teaching staff.
‘Safe spaces’ have been co-opted by dominance and privilege, to in many ways, deny accountability for social justice or quiet discomforting conversations and feelings. Arao and Clemens describe how White privilege can use the framing of safety to mitigate how issues of race and racism should be talked about. ‘People of color are then expected to constrain their participation and interactions to conform to White expectations of safety – itself an act of racism and White resistance and denial’ (Wise, 2004 in Arao and Clemens, 2013, p. 140). It is necessary to recognise that conversations about privilege and accountability may cause discomfort, thus ‘brave spaces’ have defined a newer framework of social justice in learning that may cause discomfort. My intervention includes introducing a workshop for facilitators to explore how to implement these practices in classroom, particularly strategies of how to mitigate and moderate difficult conversations.
Works Cited
Arao, B. and Clemens, K. (2013) ‘From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice’ in From The Art of Effective Facilitation. Ed. by Lisa M. Landreman. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 135-150.
Additional Sources
Center for Research on Learning & Teaching, University of Michigan. Hot Moments. https://crlt.umich.edu/taxonomy/term/113 (Accessed on: 27 May 2025)
Palfrey, J. (2017) Safe Saces, Brave Spaces: Diversity and Free Expression in Education. Cambridge, MA and London, UK: MIT Press.
2 replies on “IP Intervention Proposal: Brave Space Workshop”
Such an important idea Christin, you always bring such thoughtful and nuanced perspectives to pedagogy, and this approach to brave spaces is no exception: it’s timely, necessary, and deeply impactful. As classrooms increasingly reflect societal tensions, your proposal resists the urge to retreat into safety and instead embraces discomfort as a catalyst for growth.
Brave space work isn’t just about managing conflict, it’s about disrupting complicity, inviting vulnerability, and modelling the kind of classroom, and world, we want to build. Your intervention goes beyond responding to division; it’s a step toward institutional transformation. From co-creating agreements to reflecting on positionality, you’re offering tools that empower educators to lean into complexity with care and courage.
How might we support educators in becoming facilitators who not only manage difficult conversations, but welcome them? And what would it take for the institution itself to become a brave space? I’m excited to see where you take this!
I think this is a really positive and much-needed intervention. Starting with teaching staff before bringing these ideas into student spaces is a smart and strategic approach. Your reflection on the arts classroom previously feeling more ideologically homogeneous and how more oppositional views are now surfacing really resonated with me. It reminded me just how unprepared many staff members are to facilitate these conversations when they turn uncomfortable or confrontational.
Beyond the standard UAL online training modules (like unconscious bias), I’m not aware of any meaningful preparation that equips staff to manage conflict or navigate these dynamics. It feels like the university is relying heavily on the personal values and knowledge of tutors, without offering structured support or accountability. That makes your intervention framework feel even more urgent and necessary.