In a time of heated moments in public discourse, faculty may face challenges facilitating meaningful dialogue on contested or controversial issues while maintaining a constructive classroom environment.
This blog post, written by Dr. Shelley Wigley and Dr. Peggy Semingson with contributions and ideas on de-escalation from Shelby Boseman, UTA Office of Legal Affairs, discusses ways to intentionally foster civil discourse in the classroom, especially when it covers contested or controversial issues. Ideas apply to both face-to-face and online settings.
Note: Ideas here are views of the faculty who authored this blog post and not those of UT Arlington or CRTLE.
Even if your course doesn’t inherently contain controversial topics, it’s possible that students may bring these ideas into classroom discussions either in-class or online. The key is to stay proactive and look at both the structure of your course and the ways in which you can facilitate educational and productive discussion.
We hope that faculty will not avoid open discussion in class (and/or online), especially when dialogue offers learning opportunities and a chance to share perspectives and insights about the curriculum.
To facilitate these discussions, we are providing the following brief set of tips for navigating teaching.
This post covers three main categories: 1) staying proactive and designing your course and instruction well, 2) de-escalating if needed, and 3) responding to a more serious or threatening situation (and documenting, if needed).
Intentional Course Design
Below are proactive steps you can take to strengthen your course and clarify classroom norms before the class even begins.
Set expectations early. Include discussion norms in your syllabus and on Canvas and revisit them before tough conversations and periodically.
- Establish discussion norms and state these in your syllabus, on Canvas and prior to class discussions.
- Example: We are exploring challenging material. Please interpret discussions within the full classroom context.
- Ensure topics you discuss connect with course material and make sure students understand the connection. Make the “why” clear. Connect controversial topics directly to course goals and content so students understand their relevance.
- Example: Today we are discussing __________(event/topic) because it provides an opportunity to apply the concepts of ________ and _______, which we read about last week.
- Establish ground rules for the discussion.
- Example from Shelley’s class: “We will look at this from the organization’s perspective. What is in the best interest of the organization? We will not examine personal feelings or opinions, but instead we’ll examine what is best for the impacted organization and its stakeholders.”
- Advice from Peggy’s teaching: A great video I recorded a few years ago was with my colleague, Dr. Leigh Hall, who uses the idea of the “Discussion Charter,” where students take ownership of what they expect from themselves and their peers in a discussion. Click the hyperlink to learn more about this student-centered idea from this short YouTube video: “Chat with Leigh Hall about Teaching in Higher Ed: The Discussion Charter”. I have done this with students prior to having them discuss different perspectives on children’s literature. You can ask them, “What works well in discussion? What doesn’t work well?” While the discussion charter is more focused on general discussion norms, it can be used as the groundwork for discussing more heated topics.
- Know your students. Conduct a pre-course survey using Microsoft Forms (anonymous is key) or QuestionPro to gauge students’ comfort levels with the topics and any experience or concerns they might have with difficult conversations.
- Start small. Create assignments to build up to complex topics beginning with lower-stakes assignments
- Online discussion
- In-class discussion
- Think-pair-share or small groups
- Model the behavior you want to see. Teach active listening and model this practice in the classroom. Provide a handout or other resources that guide students into active listening, or in the case of asynchronous online courses, active reading and responding on discussion boards.
- Be transparent. Include a section in your syllabus (and on Canvas) describing your course policies on academic freedom, civil discourse, and expression. Align curriculum with the course description: Connect classroom teaching to the learning objectives of the course, the course content, and the academic mission of the course and university.
De-escalation Tactics: Stay Calm When Things Get Heated
Because discussions can sometimes become emotionally charged or venture off track, we offer the following advice.
Pause and reset. Revisit discussion norms if needed.
Continue to model. As an instructor, avoid getting emotional or personal about any topics. Stay grounded in the topics, the research literature, and textbook(s)/readings. Redirect student ideas back to the readings: “Thank you for that comment. I want to shift our focus back to the evidence in the reading.”
Structure discussion to foster different ways to express views. For example, restate the connections of the course discussion to the textbook/readings/course materials and student learning objectives.
Take a short classroom break to allow emotions to cool.
Documenting and Responding
Finally, if a situation escalates, consider the following:
- Threats to others → Refer immediately to University Police Department. Dial 817-272-3003
- Threats of self-harm → First, contact the University Police Department. Dial 817-272-3003. Then, refer to the CARE Team (for students) or the Threat Assessment Team (for employees).
If off topic student discussions persist, you may let the class know that class may be stopped and a homework assignment given instead.
Address disruptive behavior privately, i.e., avoid calling a student out in class unless there is a safety risk. You may refer a student to Student Conduct for classroom behavior issues. If you are concerned a class has been recorded in unauthorized ways, contact Student Conduct.
As the instructor, you can end class at any time. You also have the right to ask students to leave class if their behavior does not conform to classroom standards.
Make notes after an incident regarding what occurred, who was involved, and how you responded.
If a disruption affected the entire class, consider discussing in the following class re-establishing classroom expectations.
Conclusion
We hope these tips provide insights into ways to keep discussions civil and what to do if you need to de-escalate. Stay tuned to this blog for further techniques on these same topics.
Final Proactive Tip: Keep the UTA Student Conduct website referral link handy and put the UTA Police Department in your phone on speed dial.
Please share the link to this blog post widely! For comments on this blog post, please contact CRTLE at: CRTLE@uta.edu