There are some things that you can do to prepare both yourself and your students for challenging discussions.
Prepare your students
Be upfront at the beginning, and throughout, the semester about the role of academic discomfort in fostering learning and developing critical thinking skills.
Encourage your students to consider content from multiple perspectives as well as sources by modelling this in your content and interactions. Question who wrote texts and from what perspective. Discuss what is missing and how a more complete perspective could be achieved. This gives students low-stakes practice being open to others’ views and applying different lenses to issues.
Using lived experiences
If reading about mental health, ask, “Has the text been written by a person with lived experience of mental illness?”.
In discussion about the use of public spaces and public transport, ensure a variety of users of different ages, genders and contexts been considered and consulted.
If considering a topic from a marginalised perspective, try to source content created by people in that group rather than someone writing about the group. While a single person from a group does not necessarily represent the views of that group, their lived experiences can be enlightening and transformative to consider.
Below, select from some ideas of what you can do to prepare your students.
- Remind students of the importance of active listening. One way to frame it is: “Listening and understanding is not the same as agreeing. Being willing to listen and understand is how learning happens. Learning takes courage” (Teaching by the Case Method: Diversity and inclusion (opens external website)).
- Provide opportunities for students to practise with less sensitive issues before engaging with challenging topics to ensure that they know the ‘rules of engagement’. Pace (2003) provides several strategies for shaping classroom experiences (opens external website).
- Ensure the students know what to do if academic discomfort becomes distress. This should include information about ANU support services for students.
Prepare yourself
It is important that you also prepare yourself for discussing difficult course topics, noting that sometimes unplanned discussions can also occur.
Below, select some ideas for what you can do to prepare.
- Think about how you might model the kind of behaviour you want to see from students.
- Consider how you would respond should you be asked for your view during a challenging discussion. Weigh up the importance of academic freedom (see the ANU Policy: Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech) alongside implications for student wellbeing and think about whether expressing your view usefully models a stance or shuts down discussion.
- Speak to colleagues and especially to any other teaching staff in your course about how they are planning to approach challenging topics in their courses.
- If you are a course convenor, ensure sessional tutors are also adequately prepared and supported. This includes advance notice of the content, expectations around how that content will be managed, and direction to resources for maintaining their own and their students’ wellbeing. See the Support services page for more information. Follow up with tutors after activities involving challenging topics are scheduled.
