Skills for Bridgebuilding
How do instructors prepare students to deeply engage in a classroom discussion? One effective approach can be to incorporate bridgebuilding activities. “Bridgebuilding” is the practice of meeting differing perspectives with curiosity rather than judgment, and using empathy and respect as the foundation for rigorous, critical inquiry. In addition to supporting classroom discussions, bridgebuilding can also be an effective approach to support critical thinking, communication, and collaborative teamwork skill development.
This resource offers four concrete bridgebuilding skills, each paired with an in-class activity, aligned with the Respect – Relate – Cooperate framework from Pedagogies for Pluralism. Together, these skills help students build the habits needed for critical and constructive dialogue.
These resources are designed to help instructors facilitate productive dialogue across lines of difference, and the CTL is happy to work with all instructors as they implement pluralism in the classroom. Please reach out to the CTL at CTLfaculty@columbia.edu with any questions or concerns, or to set up a one-on-one consultation.
Why build bridges in the classroom?
Students’ fears, anxieties, or assumptions about what their peers think can prevent them from speaking up or keeping an open mind to alternative perspectives, particularly if they anticipate disagreement. How can instructors keep this scenario from stifling discussion in their classrooms, where students are supposed to test out and hone their ideas with one another as they sharpen their communication skills?
Teaching bridgebuilding skills can help students engage respectfully, understand one another’s perspectives, work toward shared understanding, develop the habits needed for educational dialogue, and build the trust necessary to tackle contentious issues with intellectual rigor. Introducing these skills early in the semester can lay the foundation for connection across differences and deeper learning.
Preparing students to build bridges often involves cultivating classroom norms in which students agree to:
- Engage with each other in ways that respect each other and their identities (especially during disagreements);
- Develop mutually inspiring relationships (including between students and instructors); and
- Maintain a shared commitment to learning and growth.
Skill for respect: Listening to understand
Listening with the intention to deeply understand what another person is trying to express is a foundational skill for intellectual respect. It requires curiosity, attention, and openness to new ideas and perspectives that may challenge one’s own.
Students may overestimate how well they listen. Misunderstandings arise from assumptions, quick judgments, or preparing a response rather than truly processing what is being said. Teaching intentional, active listening helps counter these tendencies.
One way to help students to develop their listening skills is to invite them to complete a listening-self assessment individually before engaging them in a classroom discussion about how they want to grow as listeners. This can prime students for more intentional practice throughout the semester. Another strategy is the looping approach described below.
Example activity: Active listening and looping
Looping (or “footprinting”) helps students develop as listeners, specifically practicing skills in paraphrasing, checking for understanding, and listening without judgment.
Duration: 10-15 minutes
Instructions: Students break into pairs for practice conversations in which the students will alternate Speaker and Listener roles through a series of steps:
- Speaker shares uninterrupted for 1.5-2 min: The Speaker responds to a prompt (e.g., “Describe an experience that shaped your worldview.”). The Listener pays attention to what seems most important to the Speaker.
- Listener reflects back: The Listener reflects back what they understood from the Speaker, aiming to use the Speaker’s own words as much as possible. In using the same language as the Speaker, the Listener is demonstrating that they are “following in the footsteps” of the Speaker.
- Listener checks for accuracy: The Listener asks the Speaker, “Did I get that right?” If needed, the Speaker clarifies, and the Listener tries again.
- Listener digs deeper: The Listener digs deeper and asks the Speaker, “Tell me more about [x].”
- Switch roles: After 5-10 minutes, the Listen and Speaker switch roles.
Skill for relating: Connect through story
Stories are a powerful tool for human expression and connection. They help students understand the experiences, values, and motivations that shape each other’s viewpoints. Sharing stories early in the semester helps support discussing challenging topics later in the semester.
Three types of stories to consider asking students to share include:
- Origin stories: experiences that shaped who they are
- Stories of success: moments of growth or overcoming challenges
- Stories about the future: hopes and aspirations
Example activity: Sharing stories
Duration: 15-20 minutes
Instructions:
- Ask students to share a story that inspired them (which could either be from their own life, from history, or from fiction). Give the students two minutes to draft their narrative using the following narrative framework:
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- Characters: Who are the people we relate to or find interesting in the story?
- Plot: What is the central challenge or turning point that shaped the story?
- Resolution: What decisions were made and why? How was the tension resolved? How did that experience shape who you are today? What do you carry with you?
- After students have drafted their stories, ask them to pair up and alternate sharing their stories. After the Speaker shares their story, the Listener can ask some follow-up questions to more deeply understand the Speaker’s story. After the Speaker responds, the Speaker and Listener switch roles.
- Close with a whole-class reflection, during which instructors could ask:
- How did it feel to share your story?
- What surprised you?
- What did you learn from this exercise?
Skill for cooperation: Making meaning together
Cooperation means thinking together, building on one another’s insights, and co-constructing understanding – even when differences remain. To help build cooperation skills, provide students with structured practice seeking insights, recognizing tensions, and synthesizing perspectives that differ from their own.
Example activity: Jigsaw
Duration: 20-30 minutes
Instructions: Divide a complex task into several parts, and divide the students into several small groups. Assign a different part of the project to different student groups, and have each student group develop working expertise on their part of the project. After 15 minutes, rearrange the groups so that every student group now has an expert on each part of the project. In their new groups, students share their expertise about each part of the project, and after they have all shared, they can now complete a new complex task that requires them to synthesize the information they have all shared.
In jigsaw activities, students practice their cooperation and collaboration skills in both the initial “expert” groups (in which they need to develop a shared understanding with their groupmates) and in the second “synthesis” groups (in which each student contributes their group’s specific expertise while learning the expertise developed by the other groups to answer the final synthesis question.).
Skill for engaging tension constructively: Intent and impact
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of classroom discussions is holding emotions in check. Students may react strongly when encountering unfamiliar or opposing views, especially if they feel judged or personally attacked. Instructors can support productive engagement by: building trust early in the semester; normalizing discomfort as part of learning; teaching listening and self-regulation skills; and using structured dialogue formats.
Before a challenging discussion, it can help to begin with an activity that builds empathy and connection. For example, the “Connect through story” activity described above can forge connections between students and help them to see each other as colleagues, rather than as “opponents” during later discussions. Activities such as these humanize classmates, strengthen trust, foster belonging, and develop listening skills that lay the groundwork for rigorous, critical classroom conversations.
By practicing these bridgebuilding skills with our students, we lay the foundation for deeper understanding, richer discussion, and truly inclusive classrooms. Learning to deeply listen to and work with people with different perspectives is a continual process. By developing these skills together, we can create classrooms where students feel comfortable expressing themselves openly and honestly, even on contentious topics, knowing that every voice is heard, respected, and valued.
Events
For information about live events related to this topic, please visit: Pluralism in Action: Crafting Inclusive Teaching and Learning Communities at Columbia or Supporting Constructive Dialogue and Inclusive Pedagogy at Columbia.
CTL on-demand resources
- Community Agreements. TeachingTalks by Columbia CTL
- Community Agreement: Make Space, Give Grace. TeachingTalks by Columbia Faculty.
- Community Building in the Classroom
- Collaborative Learning
- Learning Through Discussion
- Navigating Heated, Offensive, and Tense (HOT) Moments in the Classroom
- Fostering Belonging in the Classroom: Strategies for Instructors
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