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I found it really interesting and important to clearly define the difference between dignity and respect. Dignity is an intrinsic value. You are born with dignity. You are born with a value you are worthy. No one can take that away from you no matter how against what your own values are.

Marcela P.

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This video made me think that as educators we have a voice in making sure that every single colleague, family member, student, community member understands their value and that we honor them for WHO they are. Respect is a consequence/reflection of our dignity for ourself and our understanding of the value of others.

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"Not making assumptions" about people! What if... the dog really ate the homework? 

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"Not making assumptions" about people! What if... the dog really ate the homework? 

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It calls my attention how the definition of dignity is not clear enough to most people because it is often confused with the word respect. 

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It calls my attention how the definition of dignity is not clear enough to most people because it is often confused with the word respect. 

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I think that not everyone deserves respect but we need to treat that person with DIGNITY because they are human beings. 

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I think that not everyone deserves respect but we need to treat that person with DIGNITY because they are human beings. 

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Dignity you are born with it, and no one can take it away from you......respect , you earn it.

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Dignity you are born with it, and no one can take it away from you......respect , you earn it.

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Dignity: We are  worthy !
Yesika

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Lo que más me llamó mi atención es lo siguiente "Dignity prioritizes emotional safety and depersonalizes conflict because it doesn’t weaponize shame or hierarchy".  Todos merecen vivir con dignidad en cualquier ámbito que se desenvuelvan; ya que eso brinda seguridad emocional  y por ende todo fluirá  mejor con un ambiente digno y seguro.
Yesika

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A big take away from this article, is that my perception of respect does not necessarily imply that others are being disrespectful. My perception of respect is just that, my own and something that I was taught by personal experiences and others. As such, I should be unbiased when my perception of respect comes into any situation. I personally liked the reference to eye contact, I was brought up to believe that this was a sign of respect, and ultimatley wanted my children to continue on this path. This article has opened my eyes to this and allowed me to be more perceptive of why someones would not look another in the eyes instead of thinking that this is a sign of disrespect. GREAT ARTICLE! Gema P.

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by Megan Saxelby

We need a collective pause, a collective reflection, and a collective reckoning with the idea of respect.

I have spent the last seven years studying dignity and encouraging prosocial critical thinking in classrooms, organizations, and individuals. My work is grounded in the research of Donna Hicks Ph.D, a pioneer in operationalizing the idea of dignity, specifically as an international conflict resolution expert. In her own words, the dignity model "is an approach I developed to help people understand the role that dignity plays in their lives and relationships. It is my response to what I have observed to be a missing link in our understanding of conflict: our failure to recognize how vulnerable humans are to being treated as if they didn't matter."

A core facet of understanding dignity is making the distinction between dignity and respect, two concepts that are frequently conflated. Dignity is non-negotiable-it is the inherent worth and value of every human. Respect, on the other hand, is negotiable. It is earned or lost through an individual's or organization's choices, actions, and behaviors.

This is not how society teaches us to think about respect, and there-in lies a problem. We have been taught that there is a universal definition of respect, which is just not true. If you look at the dictionary definition of respect you will find many terms like, " a feeling of deep admiration for," or " to consider worthy ." The commonality between the definitions is that they imply personal opinion and context. You were not born with an ingrained idea of respect, you were taught a definition based on your context, your culture, and how you have been socialized. We are all coming to every interaction in our lives with a socialized idea of respect, and this largely unacknowledged fact has major repercussions.

Our perceptions of respect impact our choices, actions, and behaviors, as well as the experiences of others.

Respect cannot be guaranteed and it cannot be demanded. We each have individual definitions of what respect means. An example to clarify this point is holding a door for someone. Do you hold doors for others? Do you hold the door for everyone? Elderly people? Women? Men? Young people? Someone of a different race? Is holding of a door an act of respect, or is that simply an acknowledgement of our common humanity? Dr. Hicks argues that individuals, " earn respect through their behavior and actions. Earning respect means doing something that goes above and beyond the baseline right to be treated well." Does holding a door for someone go above and beyond their baseline right to be treated well, or is simply acknowledging humanity a basic part of the social contract? If I am that person rushing to catch that door, what conclusions might I jump to if you, accidentally or not, let it slam in my face. Our perceptions of respect impact our choices, actions, and behaviors, as well as the experiences of others.

Our individual perceptions of respect translate to workplaces, to schools, and to our communities. Ask yourself, whose behavior is disproportionately policed by the intersection of respect and power? For example, if you are a leader in an organization who thinks eye contact and active participation are essential signs of respect, how does that ripple out and impact others? Are you overlooking the value of introverts in your organization? Will your unconscious bias stop you from connecting with or valuing those who find direct eye contact intimidating? Will someone with a stutter not make it past an initial interview process or be able to succeed in your organization or classroom? What about those whose experiences with bias have taught them if they participate actively they are more likely to have their responses coded in stereotypes, so they hold back, and are thus perceived as less engaged?

Organizing relationships and communities around respect creates a system that is inherently biased because it uses an individual, socialized definition to police the perceived value and participation of others. Demanding respect does not create the relationships you want because they are not based in admiration and mutual respect. Demanding respect creates relationships based in fear, humiliation, and mutual insecurity. Socialized ideas of respect deny the myriad of factors that impact who is able to access spaces, who is seen as valuable, whose voices carry weight, who gets to succeed, and whose humanity gets to matter.

Recognition that our concept of respect is socialized and therefore not universal, has the potential to transform our organizations and relationships. Denial of this reality will continue to perpetuate systemic bias and oppression. Too many individuals and organizations support oppression, either consciously or unconsciously, because they rely on their concept of respect as a way to measure an individual or group's perceived value and contribution to relationships, organizations, and society at large. Respect based social contracts are dangerous because they support unconscious dehumanization. Recognizing how you came to your individual definition of respect, and how it impacts those around you, is an essential first step towards being a more aware and equitable human.

We are not born knowing how to honor individual and collective dignity, we have to choose to learn how.

Using dignity in place of respect is positively disruptive because it replaces biased concepts of respect with universal recognition of worth and value as the foundation for culture and relationships. Coming to every interaction, conflict, project, relationship with the mindset, We all matter the same amount no matter what , is a radical shift in the way we have been taught to view human behavior.

We are not born knowing how to honor individual and collective dignity, we have to choose to learn how. Learning about dignity and basing schools, organizations and relationships in it is transformative. It prioritizes emotional safety and depersonalizes conflict because it doesn't weaponize shame or hierarchy. Creating cultures of dignity takes work, but it is work you are capable of.

Get curious about your understanding of respect. Ask yourself:

How do I define respect? How did I come to understand my definition of respect?

How did the experiences of my life influence who I respect, who I do not respect, and what actions earn respect?

How am I imposing my definition of respect onto others? How do I use my perception of respect to police the behaviors of others?

Does my socialized perception of respect limit how I see others' value?

Why do I feel my perception of respect gets to be the "right" one? How does that limit my ability to acknowledge the dignity of others?

Why are other perceptions of respect, especially if they challenge mine, dismissed or denied? How might my definition of respect impact someone else's ability to succeed, especially if I hold a position of power in my community or organization?

How can I train myself to get curious about other people's definitions of respect?

How can reflecting on my definition of respect transform my relationships?

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The Relationship Between Respect and Bias - Cultures of Dignity

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We need a collective pause, a collective reflection, and a collective reckoning with the idea of respect. I have spent the last seven years studying dignity and encouraging prosocial critical thinking in classrooms, organizations, and individuals. My work is grounded in the research of Donna Hicks Ph.D, a pioneer in operationalizing the idea of dignity, specifically as an international conflict resolution expert.

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I found it interesting the last line of the video when she said that even if we can't respect what a person is doing or the way they are treating others we still need to treat that person with worth.

The quote makes me think of all our students, they are all beautiful souls and as teachers it is our job to treat each of them with dignity and respect. They deserve to feel joy and feel loved in our classrooms. It is also our job to model this and promote a culture of dignity and respect within our classrooms.

-Karen Z

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What thoughts or feelings came up as you watched this video?

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What difference do you think there is between dignity and respect?

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What are your take aways from this article?

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by Megan Saxelby

We need a collective pause, a collective reflection, and a collective reckoning with the idea of respect.

I have spent the last seven years studying dignity and encouraging prosocial critical thinking in classrooms, organizations, and individuals. My work is grounded in the research of Donna Hicks Ph.D, a pioneer in operationalizing the idea of dignity, specifically as an international conflict resolution expert. In her own words, the dignity model "is an approach I developed to help people understand the role that dignity plays in their lives and relationships. It is my response to what I have observed to be a missing link in our understanding of conflict: our failure to recognize how vulnerable humans are to being treated as if they didn't matter."

A core facet of understanding dignity is making the distinction between dignity and respect, two concepts that are frequently conflated. Dignity is non-negotiable-it is the inherent worth and value of every human. Respect, on the other hand, is negotiable. It is earned or lost through an individual's or organization's choices, actions, and behaviors.

This is not how society teaches us to think about respect, and there-in lies a problem. We have been taught that there is a universal definition of respect, which is just not true. If you look at the dictionary definition of respect you will find many terms like, " a feeling of deep admiration for," or " to consider worthy ." The commonality between the definitions is that they imply personal opinion and context. You were not born with an ingrained idea of respect, you were taught a definition based on your context, your culture, and how you have been socialized. We are all coming to every interaction in our lives with a socialized idea of respect, and this largely unacknowledged fact has major repercussions.

Our perceptions of respect impact our choices, actions, and behaviors, as well as the experiences of others.

Respect cannot be guaranteed and it cannot be demanded. We each have individual definitions of what respect means. An example to clarify this point is holding a door for someone. Do you hold doors for others? Do you hold the door for everyone? Elderly people? Women? Men? Young people? Someone of a different race? Is holding of a door an act of respect, or is that simply an acknowledgement of our common humanity? Dr. Hicks argues that individuals, " earn respect through their behavior and actions. Earning respect means doing something that goes above and beyond the baseline right to be treated well." Does holding a door for someone go above and beyond their baseline right to be treated well, or is simply acknowledging humanity a basic part of the social contract? If I am that person rushing to catch that door, what conclusions might I jump to if you, accidentally or not, let it slam in my face. Our perceptions of respect impact our choices, actions, and behaviors, as well as the experiences of others.

Our individual perceptions of respect translate to workplaces, to schools, and to our communities. Ask yourself, whose behavior is disproportionately policed by the intersection of respect and power? For example, if you are a leader in an organization who thinks eye contact and active participation are essential signs of respect, how does that ripple out and impact others? Are you overlooking the value of introverts in your organization? Will your unconscious bias stop you from connecting with or valuing those who find direct eye contact intimidating? Will someone with a stutter not make it past an initial interview process or be able to succeed in your organization or classroom? What about those whose experiences with bias have taught them if they participate actively they are more likely to have their responses coded in stereotypes, so they hold back, and are thus perceived as less engaged?

Organizing relationships and communities around respect creates a system that is inherently biased because it uses an individual, socialized definition to police the perceived value and participation of others. Demanding respect does not create the relationships you want because they are not based in admiration and mutual respect. Demanding respect creates relationships based in fear, humiliation, and mutual insecurity. Socialized ideas of respect deny the myriad of factors that impact who is able to access spaces, who is seen as valuable, whose voices carry weight, who gets to succeed, and whose humanity gets to matter.

Recognition that our concept of respect is socialized and therefore not universal, has the potential to transform our organizations and relationships. Denial of this reality will continue to perpetuate systemic bias and oppression. Too many individuals and organizations support oppression, either consciously or unconsciously, because they rely on their concept of respect as a way to measure an individual or group's perceived value and contribution to relationships, organizations, and society at large. Respect based social contracts are dangerous because they support unconscious dehumanization. Recognizing how you came to your individual definition of respect, and how it impacts those around you, is an essential first step towards being a more aware and equitable human.

We are not born knowing how to honor individual and collective dignity, we have to choose to learn how.

Using dignity in place of respect is positively disruptive because it replaces biased concepts of respect with universal recognition of worth and value as the foundation for culture and relationships. Coming to every interaction, conflict, project, relationship with the mindset, We all matter the same amount no matter what , is a radical shift in the way we have been taught to view human behavior.

We are not born knowing how to honor individual and collective dignity, we have to choose to learn how. Learning about dignity and basing schools, organizations and relationships in it is transformative. It prioritizes emotional safety and depersonalizes conflict because it doesn't weaponize shame or hierarchy. Creating cultures of dignity takes work, but it is work you are capable of.

Get curious about your understanding of respect. Ask yourself:

How do I define respect? How did I come to understand my definition of respect?

How did the experiences of my life influence who I respect, who I do not respect, and what actions earn respect?

How am I imposing my definition of respect onto others? How do I use my perception of respect to police the behaviors of others?

Does my socialized perception of respect limit how I see others' value?

Why do I feel my perception of respect gets to be the "right" one? How does that limit my ability to acknowledge the dignity of others?

Why are other perceptions of respect, especially if they challenge mine, dismissed or denied? How might my definition of respect impact someone else's ability to succeed, especially if I hold a position of power in my community or organization?

How can I train myself to get curious about other people's definitions of respect?

How can reflecting on my definition of respect transform my relationships?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Relationship Between Respect and Bias - Cultures of Dignity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We need a collective pause, a collective reflection, and a collective reckoning with the idea of respect. I have spent the last seven years studying dignity and encouraging prosocial critical thinking in classrooms, organizations, and individuals. My work is grounded in the research of Donna Hicks Ph.D, a pioneer in operationalizing the idea of dignity, specifically as an international conflict resolution expert.