Accidental Adversaries: How Implicit Practices Undermine Constructive Conversations and Student Success

Faculty-student relationships are influenced not just by course policies but also by subtle, often unconscious behaviors and dynamics. This session will explore how "accidental adversarial" practices—such as prioritizing evaluation over learning, avoiding difficult conversations, or conveying defensiveness through body language—can erode trust and belonging in the classroom. Drawing from interdisciplinary research and the presenters’ experiences across three institutions and roles as directors and associate directors of teaching centers, we will examine how language, mindset, and embodied presence shape faculty-student interactions.

Participants will engage in reflective and interactive activities designed to foster awareness, dialogue, and connection. Strategies such as cocreating classroom norms, naming tensions, and cultivating intentional presence will be modeled and discussed. Grounded in restorative and inclusive pedagogies, this session will offer practical tools for transforming adversarial dynamics into opportunities for trust and engagement—supporting faculty in creating classrooms that are not only inclusive but relational and responsive.