Facilitating Controversial Discussions
To be honest, while I care about politics and current events, my course just isn’t about those things. I’m concerned that even trying to bring up something like the election in class might lead to things getting out of hand. What if a student says something that upsets others? What if I inadvertently use the “wrong” language and face blowback from students? It’s tough for me to see the value in giving up class time where we could be covering course content to discuss unrelated material that I don’t think of myself as having particular expertise in.
I can’t wait to get back in the classroom this semester. We have so much to talk about! I’m looking forward to foregrounding important conversations about issues of equity and social justice in my course and making space for students to have challenging discussions about our current political moment and the historical factors that have brought us here. I want to challenge them to think critically and examine events like the election through a historically-informed lens.
The vignettes above illustrate the range of challenges Brown instructors might face as they prepare for the next academic year. Whether you are approaching the term with excitement or with trepidation — or somewhere in between — we offer these evidence-based guidelines to help with your course planning. The first part of this newsletter focuses on strategies applicable to the first vignette, or small strategies to develop a positive classroom climate that can be used by nearly all instructors. The second turns to strategies associated with the second vignette, with courses that foreground discussion or with course content related to hot topics.
To be honest, while I care about politics and current events, my course just isn't about those things...
Chemist Brian Coppola (2002) writes that even if you think you do not have a teaching philosophy, you likely have an implicit one. Similarly, even instructors who think that their teaching does not relate to diversity or social justice can still participate in inclusive teaching, which Sheridan defines as, “an explicit intellectual and affective inclusion of all students into our fields and disciplines, through course content, assessment, and/or pedagogy.” As two STEM faculty explain, “Given our daily roles in fostering student academic development, we faculty have an important opportunity, and responsibility, to effect change in our STEM classrooms” (Killpack & Melón, 2016).
Teaching strategies that require a low time commitment have been featured in other Sheridan newsletter posts and include:
- Acknowledging your concern for students: Even a brief acknowledgement of your concern for students during difficult events signals your interest in student well-being while also focusing class time on key course objectives.
- Connect with students: A variety of studies suggest that approaches such as first-day surveys, name tents, and very brief in-class writing about students’ values or daily lives help students experience a sense of belonging. A brief first-day introduction about what pulled you into your field and what excites you about the course can also help with student engagement (O’Neal et al., 2007).
- Emphasize that you have high expectations, but know that all of the students in the course have the ability to meet them (Steele, 2011).
- Syllabus statements: Brown examples come from a range of disciplines and may be appealing to instructors who prefer a more “scripted” approach or feel more comfortable communicating to students in writing.
I'm looking forward to making space for students to have challenging discussions...
Strategies we feature here are targeted to instructors who anticipate facilitating controversial discussions or teaching course content that addresses identity, privilege, and power. Here, we focus on teaching strategies but instructors seeking suggestions for course readings may wish to consult the Department of History’s recommended readings on engaging oppression in the classroom or Applied Math faculty Björn Sanstede’s course syllabus, “Race and Gender in the Scientific Community.” The next section offers proactive plans — such as examining your identity and discussion guidelines — as well as reactive approaches, including calling in, which reframe a discussion productively and inclusively.
If you would like to discuss any of these strategies as they apply to your own classroom, please contact the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning: sheridan_center@brown.edu.
This resource was authored by Dr. Mary Wright, Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, and Professor (Research) in Sociology, with input from Sheridan Center colleagues.
References
Adams, M., Bell, L. A., & Griffin, P. (2007). Teaching for diversity and social justice (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Arao, B. & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brace spaces: A new way to frame dialogue around diversity and social justice. In L. M. Landreman (ed.) The art of effective facilitation: Reflections from social justice educators, (pp. 135-150). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Coppola, B. Writing a statement of teaching philosophy: Fashioning a framework for your classroom. Journal of College Science Teaching, 31(7): 448-453.
Cote-Meek, S. (2014). Colonized classrooms: Racism, trauma, and resistance in post-secondary education. Halifax, NS: Fernwood.
DiAngelo, R. (2011). White fragility. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy, 3(3), 54-70.
DiAngelo, R. & Sensoy, Ö. (2014). Calling in: Ways of speaking, thinking, seeing: Cultivating humility, curiosity, and vision in service of anti-racist practice. Journal of Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 4(2), 191-203.
DiAngelo, R., & Sensoy, Ö. (2014b). Leaning in: A student’s guide to engaging constructively with social justice content. Radical Pedagogy, 4(2). Retrieved from http://www.radicalpedagogy.org/radicalpedagogy.org/Leaning_In__A_Student...
Fox. H. (2017). “When race breaks out:” Conversations about race and racism in college classrooms (3rd ed.). New York: Peter Lang.
Jonassen, D. H. (1997). Instructional design for well-structured and ill-structured problem-solving learning outcomes. Educational Technology Research & Development, 45(1), 65-94.
Khalek, N. (2017, April). Islam, Islamophobia, and Teaching 'Difficult Subjects' in the Age of Trumpism. Presentation given at Brown University. More information here: https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/provost/initiatives/islam-isl...
Killpack, T. L., & Melón, L. C. (2016). Toward inclusive STEM classrooms: What personal role do faculty play? CBE Life Sciences Education. Available: https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.16-01-0020
King, P. M., & Kitchener, K. S. (1994). Developing reflective judgment: Understanding and promoting intellectual growth and critical thinking in adolescents and adults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Nadal, K. L. (2014). A guide to responding to microaggressions. CUNY Forum, 2(1), 71-76.
O’Neal, C., Wright, M., Cook, C., Perorazio, T., & Purkiss, J. (2007) The impact of teaching assistants on student retention in the sciences: Lessons for TA training. Journal of College Science Teaching, 24-29.
Steele, C.M. (2011). Whistling Vivaldi: How stereotypes affect us and what we can do. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Trần, N. L. (2016). In M. McKenzie (Ed.), The solidarity struggle: How people of color succeed & fail at showing up for each other in the fight for freedom (pp. 59-63). Oakland, CA: BGD Press.