Speaking Up or Staying Silent

This Socratic seminar comparing and contrasting cultural appropriation with cultural appreciation was particularly animated. Students were really engaged, sharing examples from their own lives, while also engaging with texts they had read. Christina is a student who always has a lot of great ideas during class discussions. Unfortunately, she’s a quiet talker—frequently speaking too softly for the class and even for me, to hear. Early in the discussion, Christina shared a really important point about the real harm cultural appropriation can cause, but I had to ask her to speak up, as I didn’t think her classmates could hear her. The pattern repeated itself several more times, with Christina sharing a thoughtful insight and my having to ask her to speak up. I could tell she was growing increasingly exasperated and I worried that she might withdraw from the discussion entirely. She spoke up once more. As the discussion facilitator, I was so distracted by the quietness of her voice and wondering whether or not I would have to ask her to repeat herself again that I actually had no idea what she said. I was at loss: I could ask her to repeat herself—risking the possibility of discouraging her from participating again–while gaining an understanding of what she said so I could build from it and move the conversation forward. Conversely, I could pivot to a new question—meaning I wouldn’t have to awkwardly ask her to repeat herself, but risking the possibility that she might not feel heard since we moved on to a new topic and didn’t address the insight she had just shared.