Teaching sensitive topics in the classroom
- 1. Teaching sensitive topics in the classroom
- 2. Students’ behavior and engagement depend greatly on the atmosphere that is created in the classroom. For teachers, practicing good classroom management is essential to achieving this.
- 3. It’s more difficult and challenging when the debate topics for students are sensitive (e.g. religion, politics, and mental health). These topics can evoke thoughts and feelings at a very personal level which can result in the expression of extreme opinions that other members of the group may find abhorrent.
- 4. Matt C. Pinsker, an adjunct professor describes his approach to this issue: The way I prepare my students is by reminding them that they are adults, so if they feel uncomfortable, buck up. The notion that students, especially in college, need to be babied and protected with trigger warnings and safe spaces is absolutely ridiculous, and I refuse to participate in the infantilization of higher-ed…Many have even expressed the notion that if you keeping treating people as weak and needing protecting, they themselves will eventually start to believe it.”
- 5. Three paradigms that will allow teachers to control these topic discussions in the classroom. Liberation Pedagogy. The aim is to develop a “critical consciousness” among students. They are encouraged to bring their own experiences and perspectives to the problems investigated in class. Civic Humanism. Students need to have a sense of social responsibility and teaching should help them be prepared for the responsibilities of active citizenship. Academic Detachment. The aim is to make sensitive topics list into objects of academic investigation and analysis rather than just having random and subjective discussions about them.
- 6. After deciding which approach is more convenient for your class, you should employ some specific strategies to give your students the best chance for success.
- 7. 1. Make clear rules. Tell your students what will not be permitted during discussions and warn them about consequences if they ignore the rules.
- 8. 2. Don’t go above and beyond the material. You do not want your class to devolve into a debate about current events. Try to use real-world problems to make them more interested in the ideas raised in the lectures and readings.
- 9. 3. Avoid ugly arguments. When the discussion is turning into an argument, you can prevent it by making the opinion-sharing anonymous. Create open-ended questions with Swift Polling and let them share their feedback about the topic in the classroom anonymously.
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