Intergroup dialogue success in racially diverse high school classrooms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Today’s hyper-partisan world makes civil discourse across differences seem almost impossible for many adults, let alone young people. U.S. public schools are tasked with educating our young people with the goal that they each can be productive members of society. High-school students participating in an intergroup dialogue on race as part of their English classes report significant growth in their intergroup understanding, intergroup relationships, and intergroup action. Further, no evidence was found that high-school participants of one racial group benefit significantly more than participants of different racial groups. The IGD programme appears effective at advancing the multicultural education of young people so that they may be better equipped to have difficult dialogues across difference.