Session 1. Listening In the Age of Technology and Media
Date and Time:
November 5, 2026, from 9:00-10:00 AM
Description:
Listening is one of the few behaviors that communicates respect in every culture. When people need to be respected and understood, listening to them is essential before you can partner to share perspectives, see options, and make decisions. Yet, we often listen to meet our needs more than theirs. And, our technology and media are making it more difficult to listen well and when we most need to. That means it makes it harder for us to be listened to when that matters most. This session helps us realize how technology and media are listening barriers and how we can improve critical listening skills of refining – learning more and listening more carefully – to protect and build relationships especially when conflicts are happening. 1 CTLE Credit
Presenter:
Tricia Jones is a Professor of Communication and Social Influence and Director of the Center for Conflict Management and Media Impact at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. She is a senior consultant for CADRE, the national Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education. Dr. Jones brings more than 35 years of experience in conflict resolution to improving special education dispute systems. She designs conflict education, coaching, and mediation interventions that support students, families, educators, and state agencies, with extensive work in K–12 settings and statewide dispute resolution systems. Since 2013, she has strengthened special education dispute resolution across New York by integrating conflict coaching into the 62-county Community Dispute Resolution Center network and partnering with the New York State Dispute Resolution Association to train mediators and empower families, most recently through the New York State Education Department (NYSED) funding. She has also advised Maryland, Massachusetts, and California SELPAs on building capacity for conflict coaching and best practices for resolving special education disputes. Through her national consulting, research, and training—including directing the Conflict Resolution Education in
Teacher Education project, which has prepared thousands of educators in conflict resolution—Dr. Jones continues to advance equitable, accessible, and family-centered approaches to special education dispute prevention and resolution.
