There are many strategies available to you while engaging in a potentially challenging discussion with your students that can reduce the risk of the discussion becoming disrespectful or unsafe.
Facilitate the discussion
During the discussion, it is essential that you monitor interactions between students and proactively keep the discussion productive and respectful.
Below are some techniques you could consider.
Model asking questions when you do not understand something a student has said or if you think other students may not understand. Do not assume you know what students are thinking or their motivations. For example:
- I’m curious about…
- Could you please explain why you said…
- What would you expect to be the outcome of….
- How would you expect X approach to be experienced by Y group of people?
Invite students to paraphrase what others have said, to confirm they have heard and understood correctly. Take care with this technique, however, not to single out students to paraphrase statements that they may find confronting or distressing.
If a controversial statement is made by a student, try paraphrasing it before you or another student present an opposing perspective. This technique may take more time, but reducing the likelihood of misunderstanding and can encourage students to stop and think before responding. For example:
- What I think I heard you say was X. Is that right?
- I think you are saying X. Have I understood correctly?
Model appropriate ways to refute a statement. You could:
- Pause and take the time to consider your response to the statement.
- Listen to the statement fully and check your understanding first. Actively try to show your understanding of the statement in your response.
- When speaking, use respectful tone and body language. Don’t elevate your voice or talk too rapidly in a way that may be perceived as agitated, upset or angry. Avoid making prolonged or unbroken eye contact that may be intimidating. Use politeness to model that disagreement can be respectful and friendly in a professional environment. Remember your relative position of power in relation to students.
- Don’t disregard or downplay the statement. Objectively respond to the full argument or its most important points and its intended meaning, not omitting large parts of the statement and/or the likely intention of it. By systematically refuting each aspect, there will be less room for interpretation or doubt.
- Acknowledge any strengths or truths in the statement and represent them accurately so as not to undermine your credibility.
- Be specific and objective, avoiding emotive or moralising language.
- Avoid vague or general statements and focus on specific examples, data or other evidence.
- Cite objective sources and be open about any biases or weaknesses in your sources rather than hiding or misinforming about them.
- If using statistics or other data to refute a statement, clearly cite your source ensure that the students have full access to the information.
- Keep an open mind and consider the statement and the perspective of the person making it.
Model intellectual vulnerability and honesty by saying “I don’t know” “I was wrong” or “I have changed my position” when appropriate. This is very hard to do, and it is crucial that students have visible models of how it can be done.
Ask students to identify the sources that they are basing their statements and opinions on.
Distinguish between types of information – such as evaluative, “loaded” comments, less evaluative statements, and statements of personal opinion, or experience. This applies to what students say but also the sources they use to support what they say. Acknowledge how difficult it may be to make these distinctions at times.
Be proactive in politely but firmly redirecting the conversation if it becomes overly personal, outside the objectives of the learning activity or conflicts with your duty to foster the wellbeing of staff and students under the ANU Policy: Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech
Intervene in accordance with the agreed expectations and boundaries if a student’s behaviour or language is disrespectful, inflammatory, or harmful, and redirect the conversation back to a constructive and respectful tone. For example:
- I’d like you to pause for a moment. Could you try rewording that in a more objective way?
- I’ll need to stop you there. As I mentioned before the discussion, this type of language is harmful/discriminatory. Would someone else be prepared to try to paraphrase the core of this point in a respectful way?
- I’ll need to stop you there. As we have all agreed in our discussion guidelines/expectations/boundaries, this is not appropriate language to use.
Be prepared to pause or completely stop the discussion if you believe it is becoming unsafe or heated. Be careful that in doing this, you have not inadvertently prevented some students from being respectfully heard. You can pause or defer the conversation in a range of ways.
- Pause for reflection: have students reflect silently with an individual writing activity.
- Defer the discussion: explain to the class why you are closing the discussion for now and when and how the discussion will be reopened.
- Provide avenues for post-class follow-up (more information provided below).
Be alert for student conduct that could be regarded as inappropriate or targeting behaviour. Examples could include:
- One student specifically pointing out another student and seeking their views/opinions, particularly if they are from a minority group, e.g. “Sarah, I’m sure you have an opinion on this as an international student.”
- Any blanket statement or stereotyping that lacks nuance or understanding of broader perspectives or individual experiences, noting that discussions in early undergraduate courses may often contain generalisations.
Statements or slogans that groups have identified as offensive. However, also be aware that people sometimes label things offensive simply because they disagree with them. You will need to use your judgment, thinking “what would a reasonable person do?” (see the ANU Policy: Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech)
Be aware that a student from a marginalised or underrepresented group may not wish to speak or may not feel safe doing so. To ensure representation of all voices in the discussion, consider how you could present different perspectives that are missing from the discussion. This can increase safety for students who may hold a position they do not feel safe disclosing. You may choose to show a brief video of a person explaining their perspective, include quotes or transcripts, or represent that perspective yourself.
Do not make assumptions about a student’s identity or to expect them to speak for an entire demographic, ethnic, religious, or cultural group. Student identities should never be revealed or used in the classroom by an educator or another student. The potential missteps concerning student identity (opens external website) guide from the Harvard Business School provides some excellent guidance.
Be aware of the complicating aspects of invisibility. Students may belong to marginalised groups that others do not expect them to, e.g. a person may not have any visible signs of their disability. Avoid making assumptions about students and consider explicitly asking the student group to do the same.
When acknowledging others’ differing experiences and identities, avoid presenting commonly represented viewpoints as the standard or normal. This reinforces the invisibility of privilege. Investigate this perspective when it does occur, e.g. looking at inclusion/exclusion criteria for clinical trials.
Be aware of the complicating aspects of intersectionality. Social categories of race, class, gender, sexuality, etc can be overlapping and interconnected, producing unique experiences of privilege or marginalisation for individuals. Ensure students consider issues from more than an either/or viewpoint and encourage an intersectional lens. This provides students practice in identifying and understanding others’ perspectives during challenging topics. You might like to:
- Present resources from intersectional perspectives and discuss the nuances of how they differ, to demonstrate the need for intersectional input. This might include comparing the perspectives of an Indigenous person who is transgender, compared to cisgender (a person whose sex and gender assigned at birth corresponds to their gender identity), or comparing a female and male perspective of immigration from another country.
Avoid representing social categories as mutually exclusive and avoid separating and discussing only one underrepresented or marginalised social category at a time. Discuss the implications if this occurs. For example, if looking at the practice of identified or protected positions for women in physics, investigate the potential intersectional impact on disabled women and why disability is an infrequently identified or protected position.
Manage unplanned discussions
It is possible that unplanned discussions around potentially challenging topics may arise at some point in the semester. Many of the suggestions and recommendations already provided are applicable to unplanned discussions. However, you can click below for some additional considerations.
Decide whether you are willing to engage with the topic and if you are prepared emotionally and pedagogically to continue.
Consider if the discussion pedagogically supports the learning outcomes or provides opportunities for students’ skills development.
Instead of proceeding, you could simply acknowledge the issue, validate experience, and either move on or schedule a later discussion that you and your students could prepare for.
If the discussion topic is not relevant to your learning outcomes and if applicable, point out the available forums on campus and encourage students to attend them, stay informed, and share their concerns.
Get a quick sense from your students if they would like to devote time to sharing views. It might be most appropriate to do this anonymously, on pieces of paper or an anonymous poll.
Set a time limit for the discussion, and then look to the strategies provided previously for suggestions about facilitating the discussion.
Be prepared to step in proactively to protect students from inappropriate behaviour from other students using techniques provided above.
Acknowledge the concern of the student who raised the issue but also point out that all those in the room have their own individual experiences and concerns. Statements such as “This has been one of the world’s most intractable conflicts for many, many decades or longer” is both accurate and provides everyone some cover.