Ethical & Guiding Principles

Ethical & Guiding Principles

Considerations for creating a transformative, caring, and accessible space for dialogues across difference  

The following practice introduces the principle of universal design. It de-centers  access to visual input as a determinant of who gets to follow along and  participate during discussions. We ask all conference organizers, speakers and  attendees to do the following during both structured and unstructured  discussions. By “speaking” we include speaking through an interpreter or  Assisted and Augmentative Communication (AAC). 

Please state your name when you begin speaking: “This is [your name].”

Please indicate when you have finished speaking by saying: “Peace.”  

Particularly during unstructured conversations, please allow a couple of seconds’ pause after each person speaks. This creates more opportunity for any given participant to respond, including but not limited to people needing more time to process the information, and people experiencing a lag due to the quality of their wifi connection.

1. Kindness, critical consciousness, and respect for one another as human beings 

• We all have intersecting identities and multitudes of experiences  shaping our worldviews in ways we may, or may not, realize. 

• Respect for other human beings regardless of perceived or  expressed differences in perspectives. 

• Consider how dynamics of privilege, oppression, and power (e.g., in numbers, by means of institutional role, or by means of social  positionality) may shape your own and others’ ability to have your/their perspective given full consideration. 

• Find creative ways to amplify discourses others are bringing to the table that may otherwise be relegated to the margins. 

• Use “I” statements, position yourself in your experiences and identities.

• Use “I wonder…” statements. Consider inviting others to expand upon their perspectives and how they arrived there before concretizing an opinion around what they have expressed. 

• Challenge microaggressions and dynamics of erasure when you see them. 

• Take responsibility for co-creating a space, using your words, actions, and thoughts about others, where everyone feels welcome and acknowledged, as part of a process of shared learning. Consider creative ways in which you might take responsibility for calling attention to where this may not be the case. 

2. Courage and Humility 

• Openness to learning, having divergent views, and receiving feedback non-defensively

• Openness to realizing that you may share more common ground with another than was previously clear

3. Bring compassion for your own and others’ process in deciding what to  share and what not to share. 

4. Create an accessible learning environment on Zoom 

• Being respectful of others’ sharing includes muting yourself when not speaking and showing nonverbal engagement. 

• Rather than clapping after someone shares, try raising your palms to  the video to share gratitude and blessings to the person sharing. 

5. Co-create a transformative, caring, and accessible space for dialogues  across difference  

• This co-creation may involve connection, empathy, vulnerability, and empowerment. 

6. Thank you all for showing yourselves and each other compassion and  grace, as we engage in dialogue together