Encourage your students to participate in class discussion by practising deep listening to cultivate non-judgemental and empathic interactions. This is a valuable skill to develop when communicating with those from diverse backgrounds. Activity Give your students a topic statement or question to discuss.In pairs, each student provides a verbal response to their partner.Ask students to practise deep listening by trying to: focus complete attention on the speaker listen with a quiet and undistracted mind notice any non-verbal gestures or modes of communication (e.g. body language, facial expression) allow space for silence to give the speaker time to think reflect back to the speaker their attitudes, values and perspectives summarise the speaker's response in their own words avoid: interruption, judging right or wrong, correcting, solving or shifting focus away from the speaker to themselves (Adapted from University of Virginia 2015)