Braver Education Community Network
By facilitating workshops, debates, and forums, we encourage school communities to become beacons of civil discourse where students can express their perspectives freely and fully while actively listening to others. Through these initiatives, we aim to cultivate critical thinking, enhance communication skills, and promote a culture of civil discourse.
Together, we’re making a difference by encouraging young people to embrace dialogue, find common ground, and become advocates for understanding in their communities.
Questions?
For high school and middle school programs, contact braver-ed@braverangels.org
For college programs, contact info@collegediscourse.org
Creating beacons of civil discourse in school communities
Programs
High School & Middle Schools
Colleges & Universities
Come participate in our civil discourse programming which invites everyone to express themselves freely in a collective search for truth.
ExploreGet Our Curricular Toolkit*The College Debates & Discourse is a partnership between Braver Angels, BridgeUSA, and ACTA
Civic Scholars Council
‘Don’t be a jerk’: How this college professor encourages his students to discuss controversial issues
What happens in a classroom that doesn’t just accept a diversity of opinions but actively encourages them? How can instructors invite students to listen conscientiously and share their opinions fearlessly but constructively?
‘The atmosphere is electrifying’: How Braver Angels debates are lighting up college campuses
Much like how the conception of Braver Angels was a natural response to what American people needed and yearned for, this debate program is “driven by the demand that’s surging in the higher ed space.”
‘We need to see each other’s humanity in all aspects of life’: One teen’s journey to tackling political division within her generation
Teenagers, like most people, feel worn out by the current political climate. Seventeen-year-old Josie Reich has found a new way to be politically engaged.
School Programs
Tailored Activities:
- How to Have Respectful Conversations When We Disagree
- Skills for Challenging Conversations: LAPP Skills for Teens & Adults – a non-political workshop without “red/blue” labels, 100 minutes
- Humble Conversations – a problem-solving model that turns debates into collaborations
- Shark Tank – depolarizing games for teens
Other Activities
- Fishbowls – on various hot topics
- Common Ground Workshop
- 1:1 Conversations
Workshops:
Managing Difficult Conversations with Colleagues and Constituents
- Depolarizing Within: For Teens and Young Adults, national workshop. Read: ‘We need to see each other’s humanity in all aspects of life’: One teen’s journey to tackling political division within her generation
- Skills for Challenging Conversations, workshop for 600+ seniors, Northwood High School, Orange County, CA. Read: How a divided high school took action towards depolarization
- Depolarizing Within, workshop for 100+ teachers, staff and administrations, Northwood High School, Orange County, CA.
- Race and Racism in Schools: A Common Ground Workshop, Orange County, CA (2023-04-23).
- Sex Education in High School: A Common Ground Workshop, in collaboration with YouthServe, Birmingham, AL.
- Managing Difficult Conversations with Constituents, workshop for 150 mayors, school boards members, and public school superintendents, CT.
Ways You Can Help
We’re looking for trained Moderators, Organizers, Ambassadors, and Braver Angels members with skills in communications, writing, marketing, graphic design, video editing, data management, and team building. If you’re interested in joining our team, we’d love to hear from you.
You can also help by sharing our programs with your school community and your network. To learn how you can get involved and connect with others already working in your area, please contact us at braver-ed@braverangels.org.