Description
Face-to-face workshop | 5 August 2026 | South Melbourne | 9.00 am – 3.30 pm
Schools and educational settings increasingly navigate disagreement, conflict, and polarisation driven by identity threat, misinformation, social media dynamics, and differing perceptions of justice. This full-day workshop, delivered by The MacKillop Institute and Click Against Hate, builds educator capability to facilitate difficult conversations, interrupt harmful speech respectfully, and de-escalate conflict using structured protocols aligned with trauma-informed practice and co-regulation principles. Participants move from understanding the drivers of escalation to practising dialogue protocols, de-escalation techniques, and in-the-moment responses through guided scenario work and facilitation coaching.
Designed for classroom teachers, curriculum leaders, wellbeing coordinators, and school leaders seeking practical strategies for managing charged conversations in classrooms, staffrooms, and parent meetings.
Outcome
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
-Distinguish disagreement, conflict, and polarisation in school and community contexts and identify common escalation patterns, including the difference between intent and impact.
-Set and communicate discussion boundaries and "conditions for participation" that protect psychological safety and reduce harm.
-Use structured dialogue protocols, including turn-taking, paraphrasing, question stems, and respectful interruption language, to reduce heat and increase clarity in difficult conversations.
-Apply trauma-aware de-escalation and co-regulation strategies when stress responses emerge in group learning spaces, including adjustments to tone, pace, body language, and environment.
-Develop an individual de-escalation plan and school-level action plan for sustaining these practices over time, including escalation and support pathways.
Price: $199 per participant. Discounts apply if buying multiple tickets or tickets to this workshop and the Teaching Without Harm workshop on 4th August. Please email for further information.
Pay by Invoice:
To register and pay by invoice please email institute@mackillop.org.au with:
-Number of participants
-Names
-Email addresses
-Job title
-School
-Dietaries
Pay by Card:
To register and pay by card please click below.
