CHICAGO — In an increasingly polarized world, tough conversations can pop up virtually anywhere, including the K-12 classroom. When that happens, teachers need to be prepared to serve as moderator so students can have productive and meaningful discussions with each other, says DePaul University professor Hilary Conklin. In her College of Education classes, Conklin prepares future teachers to lead these difficult discussions.
College of Education leaders are doing the same. This year, the college hosted a pair of virtual forums to discuss democracy topics in the classroom. “Educating for Democracy in a Contentious Election Year” and “Educating for Democracy: Teaching Opportunities and Challenges as the 2024 Election Approaches” are both available to rewatch on the college’s YouTube channel.
Conklin, chair of the Department of Teacher Education, Kinesiology and Educational Studies, is a former middle and high school social studies teacher. In this Q&A, Conklin discusses how she trains future teachers to navigate difficult conversations in the classroom and why the classroom is an appropriate venue for these discussions.
How do you prepare future teachers for difficult conversations in the classroom?
With every lesson I lead with prospective teachers, I’m trying to model best practices for them to use in their future classrooms. In my experience, these tough conversations aren’t possible without first building trust. It’s essential so that students have greater comfort interacting with each other.
Trust is built in part through several exercises. We share stories and experiences that shape our values. Students are asked to rank their values, which helps them see that they may have a lot of similar values with individuals who might be different in other ways.
I often ask students to get into groups with classmates who they don’t know. Working with a rotating group of their peers gives them a chance to talk to people who might bring different perspectives on topics to the table. In those groups, students engage in a discussion format in which they argue both for and against controversial topics. The goal isn’t to persuade anyone to think differently; it’s about becoming more willing and open to understanding that people do have different positions and why they might hold them.
I ask the students how they might implement these activities in their future classrooms. What do they need to think about to implement these discussions with care? How are they going to decide what issues to discuss? How will they take their specific community and set of students into account? How are they going to frame issues to ensure that the humanity and dignity of all people impacted by the issue is upheld?
What are best practices for teachers as they moderate classroom discussions?
A lot of the best practices for leading controversial issues discussions as a teacher center around being well prepared. Teachers certainly need to practice how to respond to students in the moment. However most often, when students raise something that seems like it has the potential to be controversial, I often recommend trying to put a pin in it. You can say something like, “That’s such an important idea that you’ve brought up. I want us to take a little bit more time to prepare to talk about that in a thoughtful way.”
Then you can plan a careful discussion about it that includes high-quality sources and materials. Often, what can cause controversy is someone saying something that’s misinformed. As the teacher, you can locate some good sources on the topic, ideally representing diverse perspectives. Or you can guide students to locate their own information and support them in discerning how to find reliable sources.
When teachers do the community building work well, it lessens the chances of a difficult conversation boiling over to a place where it’s not productive.
What would you say to someone who thinks the classroom isn’t an appropriate place for difficult conversations?
I think teachers are in a unique position to help shape more well-rounded, thoughtful, informed citizens who are open to different perspectives and can listen to their fellow humans with empathy and an open mind.
Teaching these issues isn’t about promoting any particular position. Instead, teachers can place these topics into a larger context. So, how can we teach about political polarization and why it’s happening? Why have conservatives and liberals grown so far apart and become more extreme in their views? Or we can teach about the voting process.
When controversial issues arise, teachers can help students look at multiple perspectives and locate reliable information. I think we all want future generations who are equipped with the skills to navigate complex social issues. If we can bring different perspectives into the mix and thoughtfully listen to each other, we are going to come to better solutions.
###
