Sage Sociology Exchange Sensitive Topics

Question:

What are some strategies for handling sensitive topics and discussions in the classroom?

Answer:

Provided by Sage Author: Robyn Rae Ryle, Hanover College

Discussing sensitive topics in the classroom requires empathy and grace. I’m a firm believer in allowing students to say the thing they need to say, even when it’s something I strongly disagree with. The only way to work through all the stereotypes and harmful ideologies is to bring them out into the open, which is such a scary thing to do as an instructor. You have to be able to manage your own emotions while also making sure your students feel both safe and heard. Doing all that takes trust. The students have to trust that you as the instructor won’t make them feel humiliated or dehumanized or singled out or allow other students to gang up on them. That trust has to be established over the whole course of the semester.

How do you build trust? Use students’ names over and over again, so they all come to see each other as individuals rather than a type (sorority girl, angry Black woman, dumb jock, etc.). Have conversations explicitly about how to have difficult conversations. Ask students to collectively generate their own guidelines for how to discuss sensitive topics. Do readings and listen to podcasts that discuss common pitfalls people fall into when discussing controversial subjects (I highly recommend Brene Brown’s conversation with Austin Channing Brown and their discussion of tap-out buttons). Give both yourself and your students the benefit of the doubt and encourage them to do the same for each other.