Policies, Procedures and Forms

The guidelines and suggestions on this page are designed to help instructors facilitate classroom discussion around incidents of bias, malice, or hate which targets members of the University community based on their identities, perceived identities or beliefs, and other behaviors that express hostility, mockery, or violence.  The following guidelines help address incidents that happen specifically in the classroom or incidents that occur in the wider campus community that may infiltrate into the classroom.

Whatever the context, discussion about such topics will be most effective when it:

• is structured in a way that defines boundaries for the process, and that brings the discussion to closure within the classroom
• somehow includes all students in the class
• extends discourse beyond polarized and polarizing debates
• acknowledges that facts and interpretations of specific social conflicts may change with time, but tools for conceptual understanding and dialogue will continue to be useful past the current moment

Dealing with the Unanticipated

If, during class, a student raises for discussion an issue or incident involving hate or bias, consider the following strategies:

1. Acknowledge the student who raised the issue or example while noting that students may vary in their responses and concerns.
2. Decide whether you are ready and willing to engage with this topic right away.
3. Quickly assess whether the class would like to spend time sharing views about the topic. If students want to have a dialogue, decide whether you would like to engage the topic in the moment and use the strategies in the Spontaneous Discussion or if you prefer to schedule a discussion for a later class and suggest ways that students could prepare. Consider the strategies outlined in the “Planned Discussions” section below.
4. Offer safety, security, and support resources. Ask the student if he/she/they would like to meet with another staff member (e.g., UNOPD, Counseling Services, Dean of Students, Diversity Engagement Center, International Center, etc.) to discuss the incident. Ask the student how they feel about their level of safety and if any assistance (e.g., temporary housing, contacting professors, Counseling Center) is needed.  Encourage the student to use their support system on and off-campus.  Appropriately document the situation based on departmental expectations.

Spontaneous Discussion

When engaging with any topic, but especially sensitive topics, moments of heated exchange or uncomfortable moments are bound to happen. If you plan to engage in the moments as they happen it is best that the class has been set up to handle these discussions. In order to do that consider the following: 

• Set the tone on the first day of class: Set the tone for inclusivity by providing opportunities for students to introduce themselves, learn about their classmates, and learn about you. Clearly introduce students to the course’s learning goals and any methods they should expect to engage in regularly throughout the semester. If your class primarily involves discussion, for instance, then be explicit about discussion norms and conventions from day one. You may even come up with ground rules for group interaction together as a class; these ground rules can live on an online version of the syllabus or the course’s website. The first day is also a great time to articulate how you understand your course to be relevant to your students’ lives.
• Build rapport among the group: Give your students regular opportunities to interact with each other and you. Start classes with an icebreaker or opening ritual or routine similar to restorative justice community-building circles to help the group feel comfortable and aligned. You may ask students to take turns leading the opening exercise so that ownership over this part of the class is shared. Provide opportunities for students to share what social identities they identify with and what words and language to use for them and what cultural experiences they have had that may influence how they review, understand, and reflect course materials.  Throughout the semester, invite students to move around and work with different partners. This movement not only prevents classroom social dynamics from getting stale, but it also allows students an opportunity to get to know each other throughout the class’ duration. 
• Be mindful of language: Set an example with your language choice. What you model in language use will help the students understand what you deem as appropriate and acceptable. Language used while teaching is often culturally specific. Certain terms or ways of speaking may be alienating to students if they lack familiarity. If you personally feel uncertain about what language to use when speaking about a particular identity or community, for instance, then do some research. Acknowledge your position in relation to the identity or community of which you’re speaking. Don’t be hesitant to tell your class that you’re learning and might make mistakes; be open to conversation and feedback. If you decide to talk to your class about your learning process, be sure to avoid a confessional. This is an opportunity not to air whatever guilt or uncertainty you may feel about your knowledge gaps, but rather simply to acknowledge those gaps and your aim to ameliorate them. You might also share what has been constructive or meaningful for you in your work to cultivate mindfulness around language. Still, acknowledging gaps in your knowledge is vulnerable to be sure. But communicating that you’re learning will signal both that you recognize your limitations and that you’re taking the initiative to seek knowledge for yourself. Finally, know that you will likely make mistakes and be misunderstood at times. When it comes to mindfulness around language, it’s important to operate with a spirit of open-minded curiosity, humility, and goodwill.
• Acknowledge and respond to difficult topics: Not every hot moment requires and in-depth class discussions but they may still require an acknowledgment at least. Difficult topics come in many forms in the classroom. Some are rooted in course content; for example, a lack of diverse perspectives in the literature, or triggering material, such as accounts of genocide or rape. Some difficult topics take the form of current events that intersect with course content and/or the lives of people present in your classroom; for instance, hostile immigration policies, race-based violence, or pervasive sexual harassment. Difficult topics can also come in the form of uneasy realities related to your discipline – unbalanced gender and ethnic representation, unethical research practices, a history of systematically excluding certain voices, and more. Rather than ignore these uncomfortable truths, take time to acknowledge them. Ultimately you must decide how much of your teaching you want to dedicate to addressing such difficult topics. Offering even a brief, structured opportunity for everyone to acknowledge and communicate around the difficulty can be helpful. It’s especially effective to work towards linking up these conversations with whatever academic content you may be covering at the time.

Once you have set the tone and established guidelines for the course refer to this page which offers further resources on how to respond to “hot moments” in the classroom. 

Planned Discussions

Planning a discussion on an issue related to hate, bias, or discrimination benefits from consideration of the following topics, each of which is addressed below:

1. Identifying a clear purpose
2. Establishing ground rules
3. Providing a common base for understanding
4. Creating a framework for the discussion that maintains focus and flow
5. Including everyone
6. Being an active facilitator
7. Summarizing discussion and gathering student feedback
8. Handling issues that involve the instructor’s identity
9. Identifying university resources

Identifying a clear purpose

Starting a discussion with clearly articulated objectives can help shape the nature of the discussion and link it to other course goals. Examples of general objectives include:

• Connecting the topic with course material, including fundamental concepts and strategies for analysis and thoughtful reflection
• Increasing awareness about the topic by providing information that is not generally addressed in informal discussions
• Promoting critical thinking by helping students to understand the complexity of the issues
• Enhancing skills for dialogue that students can take into other venues
• Relating classroom discussion to the roles that students have as citizens within the university community and larger society

More specific objectives for discussion about social conflicts, especially those involving language of hate or bias, may focus on policies, social conventions, or civic responsibilities, including the following:

• Examining and developing positions on issues of social policy, university policy, or social convention.
• Identifying a core problem underlying social conflicts and exploring possible answers to the problem.
• Analyzing the root causes or reasons for a social conflict (i.e., a past-oriented discussion).
• Exploring possible consequences or implications of a conflict (i.e., a future-oriented discussion).
• Planning effective actions to reduce such incidents and/or to support vulnerable populations.

(This second list is adapted from Ronald Hyman, 1980, In Improving Discussion Leadership.  New York: Columbia University, College Teachers Press.)

Establishing ground rules or guidelines

In class, instructors can either work with students to generate ground rules or discussion guidelines, or they can present a set of guidelines and then work with students to accept or modify them. Ideally, instructors will have previously established course guidelines and this will be an opportunity to refresh or remind the students about the list. Referring back to these community guidelines can be very helpful if discussion becomes tense.  Some suggestions include the following:

• Listen respectfully, without interrupting.
• Listen actively and with an ear to understanding others' views. (Don’t just think about what you are going to say while someone else is talking.)
• Criticize ideas, not individuals.
• Commit to learning, not debating. Comment in order to share information, not to persuade.
• Avoid blame, speculation, and inflammatory language.
• Allow everyone the chance to speak.
• Avoid assumptions about any member of the class or generalizations about social groups. Do not ask individuals to speak for their (perceived) social group.

It is important that students agree on the ground rules before discussion begins. 

Providing a common basis for understanding

Providing students with a common basis for understanding from the start will help keep the discussion focused and provide concrete case studies or examples.  For instance, you can assign readings on a specific conflict, instruct students to select their own readings to bring to class, or show a video clip to prompt discussion. Another option is to have students review materials during class and follow up with a structured discussion.

You can also draw upon students' own knowledge to establish a common basis:

• In class, ask students to identify key points of information, stating their source.  (You can ask students to do this individually and then pool the information, or you can simply elicit information from the class as a whole.)  Make a list of these for the whole class.
• Use this elicitation as a time to distinguish evaluative, “loaded,” comments from less evaluative statements, and from statements of personal opinion or experience.  Acknowledge how difficult it may be to make these distinctions at times.
• In order to identify and situate threads of discussion that are extraneous to the focus, or are very speculative, ask for and identify information that students would like to know to clarify their understanding on these questions or tangents, even if that information is not available

Creating a framework for the discussion that maintains focus and flow

Because any social conflict or controversy is a complex topic, it is important to create a framework for the discussion in addition to having clearly defined objectives.  Your framework can be a guide, balancing the need to have clear purpose and direction while being open to student observations and interpretation.

The following strategies can help you maintain the focus and flow of the discussion:

• Begin the discussion with clear, open-ended but bounded questions that encourage discussion.
  • Avoid “double-barreled questions” which pose two problems simultaneously, or “hide the ball” questions that search for a specific answer.
  • Ask questions that prompt multiple answers rather than short factual responses or simple “yes” or “no” replies.
• Prepare specific questions to use if the class is silent or hesitant about speaking. Some examples include: “What makes this hard to discuss?” and “What needs to be clarified at this point?”
• Encourage students to elaborate upon their comments where needed. With probing questions, an instructor can prompt students to share more specific information, clarify an idea, elaborate on a point, or provide further explanation.
• Be prepared to redirect the discussion if students go beyond the intended focus. Drawing attention to the readings or reminding the class about the discussion objectives are useful management techniques.
• When students raise points that are extraneous to the focus, note that these are important but tangential.  Recap them at the end of class as other topics to think about on one’s own, to validate student contributions.
• Recap the key discussion points or issues at the end of class, in writing if possible.

Including everyone

To include all students’ perspectives can be challenging in a whole group discussion, especially if students are dealing with unfamiliar or controversial material.   Moving beyond a whole group discussion format allows all students to participate and helps prevent the most talkative or opinionated students from dominating the conversation.  Using small groups, your class can hear from students who may not speak otherwise, including those who may see their views as marginalized as well as those who want to explore ideas they are not sure about. 

Some methods for increasing the number of discussants include:

• The Round:  Give each student an opportunity to respond to a guiding question without interruption or comments. Provide students with the option to pass. After the round, discuss the responses.
• Think-Pair-Share:  Give students a few minutes to respond to a question individually in writing. Divide the class into pairs. Instruct the students to share their responses with group members. Provide students with explicit directions, such as “Tell each other why you wrote what you did.” After a specified time period, have the class reconvene in order to debrief.  You can ask for comments on how much their pairs of views coincided or differed, or ask what questions remain after their paired discussion. 
• Sharing Reflection Memos:  Prior to the discussion, have students write a reflective memo in response to a question or set of questions that you pose. As part of the discussion, ask students to read their memos, and/or share them in pairs or threes.

With each of these methods, the instructor needs to summarize the various responses and relate them to the discussion objectives.

Being an active facilitator

In order to keep a discussion focused and purposeful, it is important to be an active facilitator rather than a passive observer. Be careful to maintain some control but not over-control. Your role as an active facilitator can include rewording questions posed by students, correcting misinformation, making reference to relevant reading materials or course content, asking for clarification, and reviewing main points.

Students may expect their instructors to express their own point of view, or they may ask explicitly for this view. In deciding how to respond, instructors should consider their comfort in expressing personal views, and also the impact such expressions will have on this and future discussion in class. For instance, will sharing your perspective usefully model the way one can take a stance on a complex topic, or will it more likely shut down those students who may disagree with you? Or, will your sharing of your perspective helpfully respond to comments that marginalize or devalue students in your class?

Summarizing discussion and gathering student feedback

It is very important to save time at the end of class to conclude by summarizing the main points of the discussion. Students are more likely to feel that a discussion was valuable if the instructor, with the help of the class, synthesizes what has been shared or identifies the key issues explored.

To obtain student feedback about the quality of the discussion and to identify issues that may need follow-up, you can save the last five minutes of class for students to write a Minute Paper. Ask them to respond to some or all of these questions: 

• What are the three most important points you learned today?
• What important questions remain unanswered for you?
• What did you learn specifically from what someone else said that you would not have thought of on your own?

Review the student responses before your next meeting with the class. During the next class, briefly summarize the student feedback and thank the students for their participation.

Handling issues that involve the instructor's identity

Discussing an issue of social conflict can involve the instructor's identity in a number of ways. Students may make assumptions about the expectations an instructor has in leading the class discussion. Assumptions may be based on the students' perception of the instructor's identity, on the way that the instructor has handled other class sessions, and on their personal interactions with the instructor. 

In addition, some issues and events may trigger reactive responses in an instructor, and students may say things and speak in ways that trigger emotional reactions.  Instructors need to be aware of the possibility (or even the likelihood) of having an emotional response, even if a discussion is thoughtfully planned.  Recognizing the response and the trigger as such will help an instructor to stay even-tempered in leading the discussion. To handle statements that trigger emotional responses, instructors will want to draw on techniques that will allow them and the class to step back and gain perspective (e.g., naming the triggering issue, giving oneself time by asking students to do a brief writing exercise, working with the class to reframe or contextualize the triggering statement).  If an instructor needs to let such a moment simply pass by, it is important to find time later to talk through the experience, and to address the triggering issue with others who are outside of the class.

In the event that one or more students try to draw the instructor into an emotional response, the ground rules for discussion can play a vital role, and the instructor can model constructive behavior in demonstrating how to unpack such a heated moment by reviewing what had led up to it, in pointing out differences between baiting, debating, and discussing, and/or steering the discussion into a more useful direction.