6 The Big Conversation’: In recent years, we have had several ‘Big Conversations’ in school, on a variety of topics, from sexuality to politics, mental health to sexism.With growing awareness on these issues raised by events such as the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Black Lives Matter movement and many more, an increasing number of people have opinions on such matters than ever before. But the concept of the ‘Big Conversation’ (if we apply that term to both in school and out of school) has itself not been discussed. So, why are these conversations more relevant now than before? Why should we talk about these things rather than keep our opinions to ourselves? First, it is important to define what we mean by a ‘Big Conversation’. In this context, people often blur the lines between ‘conversation’ and ‘argument’, and I think there’s an important distinction to make. To give the Cambridge English dictionary definition, an argument (in this context) is ‘a reason or reasons why you support or oppose an idea or suggestion, and the process of explaining these reasons’. Notice the lack of ‘discussion’ or ‘debate’; it seems to be very two-sided - you either support or oppose an idea, and stick strongly to your belief regardless. On the other hand, a conversation is a ‘talk between two or more people in which thoughts, feelings, and Why is it Important?
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