Askwith Education Forum Explores How to Bridge Differences with Universal Dignity 

U.S. Special Olympics chair and co-founder of UNITE Tim Shriver shared a vision for treating others with dignity and grace at the latest Askwith Education Forum on Tuesday evening.  

Taking the stage amid a shifting political and educational landscape, the evening’s program highlighted ways violent and divisive rhetoric must be combatted and what educators can do to teach choosing dignity over contempt.  

HGSE Professor and Academic Dean Martin West introduced the Forum, highlighting how recent attacks on educational institutions have impacted the progress made elsewhere in teaching dignity and good communication skills.  

“The building blocks for inclusion in education are everywhere,” said West, “At the same time, we also seem to be at a quite different place where efforts toward greater inclusion are often misunderstood and mischaracterized and are even under attack with social media used as a tool to divide rather than empower.”

Shriver highlighted the divisive and oftentimes hateful rhetoric found on social media and in the political landscape as he introduced The Dignity Index, a 1-to-8 scale of evaluating how we talk to one another in an effort to ease divisions by reflecting on ways to “move you up” the scale to more inclusive and respectful language.  

The Dignity Index, Shriver explained, can be a valuable teaching tool to build “skills for dignified disagreement,” something often missing as political rhetoric continues to polarize.  

“The country’s in the midst of trying to reorganize itself in some way or another, and find a new energy, a new sense of possibility,” said Shriver. “People that are trying to tear things down, and people who want to pit us against each other, I’m sorry to say, they’re really well organized. If we want to try something different, we have to get out there.”

A panel discussion, moderated by Professor Stephanie Jones, director of the EASEL Lab, followed Shriver’s presentation. Shriver and Jones were joined by Professor Shawn Ginwright; Senior Lecturer Richard Weissbourd, faculty director of the Making Caring Common Project; and Sam Johnston, chief postsecondary and workforce development officer at CAST.  

The panel discussed how The Dignity Index goals reflect their own research and practice, as well as the larger challenges the project hopes to impact positively in society, government, and social media.  

“I think this constellation of work about fundamentally asking how do we treat one another as human beings is forcing us to ask questions and answer questions that will save our democracy,” said Ginwright. “This is the work that we need to do in our country right now. And it’s hard work.”

You can watch the full Askwith Education Forum in the video above.