Strategies for Teaching Contentious Topics
In this section of the workshop, we review strategies to engage students across the stages of a discussion. We will consider how you can adapt and apply these strategies to meet the needs of virtual or online classrooms and review suggestions for how you can prevent and respond to “hot moments” that might derail classroom conversations. In each section, we have also included recommended resources for you to bookmark and explore after completing the workshop.
Describing Your Teaching Context:
First, try describing a real or hypothetical discussion in “Section 3: Describing Your Discussion” on your Teaching Contentious Topics Worksheet. Include a brief overview of the topic and one learning outcome or goal for what you hope your students will (or could!) achieve by discussing this topic. If you’re unsure of what topics might be addressed in the course, look to the course syllabus or consider one of the example topics below.
Example Topics:
- The future of artificial intelligence and the human workforce
- Censorship and freedom of speech
- The death penalty or capital punishment
- Abortion and reproductive rights
- Civil rights
- Religious freedoms
- Gender expression and inequality
- Racism and white privilege
Setting the Stage
To have a productive discussion that facilitates student learning, it is essential for both you and your students to be and feel prepared. You can prepare by familiarizing yourself with the topic and materials, identifying possible contentions, and considering how you will prevent, recognize, and respond to hot moments.
If you are a new instructor or TA for a course, start by understanding your role. Request information about who has taught the course previously and if they had any insights to share about what challenges they experienced and how they recommend preventing and responding to those challenges.
You can support your students leading up to the discussion by creating community guidelines, outlining your expectations, preparing discussion prompts with learning in mind and assessing student preparedness.
As you review each of these strategies below, complete “Section 4: Set the Stage” of your Teaching Contentious Topics Worksheet by answering the following questions:
- What strategies will you incorporate into your teaching practice and how?
- What questions do you have for your instructor about preparing yourself and your students for discussions on contentious topics?
Review the strategies below.