Umoja-AFFIRM Porch Talk

To say at all times "What Is Really Going on Here," a learning environment should be open, respectful, and playful; there should be argument, dissection and revision. It should be personal, political and philosophical. The porch can often be candid and sometimes even painful.
Storytelling is privileged and sometimes song breaks out. Porch talk invites humor, noise, sometimes unruliness. A classroom with such honesty and visibility can produce frustration and also acceptance. Needless to say, trust is at the found at ion of a Porch talk learning environment and trust has to be earned, modeled, practiced, openly reflected upon, and revisited. Porch talk is intentional, for example, the instructor looks for an opportunity to draw out, celebrate and dignify the quieter students, so all the voices in the room make up the porch. The porch is a place where our students safely communicate and advocate for themselves.