Brave Conversations
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Led by Dr Farid Zaid and Dr Daniel Heller, the Monash Brave Conversations Project is a Vice-Chancellor–supported initiative that equips educators to engage constructively with disagreement, uncertainty, and difference in contemporary teaching and learning environments.
As classrooms are increasingly shaped by social, political, and global tensions, educators benefit from skills to facilitate challenging discussions while maintaining learning, wellbeing, and respectful engagement. Drawing on cutting-edge research in psychology, education, neuroscience, and philosophy, and shaped by more than 18 months of intensive design and delivery at Monash, the project supports educators to navigate controversial and sensitive issues with clarity and confidence - without avoiding complexity or shutting down disagreement.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR EDUCATORS
We offer interactive professional development for educators across disciplines, tailored to the realities of today’s classrooms.
This includes:
- Professional development workshops for educators.
- Practical tools for facilitating difficult conversations in the classroom.
- Training in dialogue techniques and classroom management strategies.
- Resources for creating inclusive learning environments across disciplines.
Workshops are designed to build educator confidence before challenges arise, supporting learning, wellbeing, and respectful engagement in complex teaching environments. They provide research-informed tools grounded in real classroom scenarios and have already been taken up by more than 1,000 academics at Monash and beyond who have used it to enhance their practice in facilitating classroom dialogue to build understanding among students.