During a recent faculty professional development day, teachers and administrators discussed a protocol designed to facilitate difficult conversations around topics of diversity, including race, class, ethnicity, and orientation. We learned how to assess where we stand on these issues and how that might affect the manner in which we approach the conversation. We agreed that learning how to have these conversations can be helpful in a myriad of ways and will allow us to model for our students how to engage in dialogue that may be sensitive.
As educators, it can be intimidating knowing the “right” way to respond when a student says something that is offensive to someone. We wish our classrooms to be places of open dialogue, and we want our students to be able to explore ideas without fear of ridicule or shame. We want all of our students to feel comfortable, to be themselves, and to be at home in our hallways and other areas of school beyond the classroom.
Don’t get me wrong. This is not about how to respond when a student uses profanity or says something that is patently racist, bigoted, sexist, or homophobic. Those are relatively straightforward to address; we correct students and tell them that certain words and types of language are not permissible. We may need to explain why those words and comments are wrong. This may lead to a dialogue on the derivation of those terms or the history of the stereotype behind the comment; nevertheless, we have a responsibility to teach students that words used in certain ways can be just as cutting as a knife, and they are not allowed.
It’s the comment made by a student in a class or hallway that may reflect a lack of knowledge or context that is more difficult. When a student asks why there are stereotypes about Jews and money or why a certain percentage of African-American men are incarcerated, if they query why so many immigrants are of Asian or Hispanic heritage, or why there may be a high rate of alcoholism on Native-American pueblos, our response may be to either ignore the comment or to reprimand the student.
While that kind of response may be expedient, we have lost the opportunity to teach that student and his/her classmates, and one could say that we have abrogated our responsibility as educators. Knowing how to deal with this type of comment is difficult; however, not dealing with it is not an option. Very often, we do nothing because we don’t want to escalate the situation, risk making a student feel uncomfortable, or we may be afraid of where the conversation may go. Sometimes, we do not respond because we’re unsure where we stand ourselves, and we feel like we are on shaky ground.
This is where actually learning how to engage in these conversations can be so beneficial. In the same way that we are constantly improving our pedagogy so we can reach all students intellectually, we need to strengthen our teaching tool kit so we are capable of speaking with students about diversity and inclusivity. Of course, it’s not easy but as a friend of mine always says, “If it were easy, it wouldn’t be worth doing.”
Some may look at teaching students to engage in difficult conversations as a frightening and burdensome responsibility; isn’t it enough that I have to teach my students math or science? I prefer to view it as an exciting opportunity.
I recently attended a wedding of a Sikh bride and an African-American groom. The all-day wedding and all-night reception was a celebration of diversity and inclusivity. People who might never come into contact with one another spoke, hugged, and cried tears of joy with each other. Guests of all ages and ethnicities danced into the morning to a mash-up of rap, R&B, and Bollywood, and for a moment as I stood on the side of the dance floor, I had a view of where our kids may be headed; I was inspired!
We have the chance to prepare our students for this kind of world. What could be more exciting, meaningful, and rewarding?
