Promoting Constructive Dialogue on Contentious Topics

Constructive dialogue refers to respectful and collegial dialogue between individuals or groups who may hold differing opinions or beliefs. Promoting constructive dialogue in the classroom is difficult, but key to teaching our students critical thinking skills, respectful discussion techniques, and how to be members of a global community.

Developing a plan for discussing a contentious topic

It is helpful to think through any discussions in class, regardless of the topic. You may find it helpful to review our resource on facilitating class discussions, which includes information about how to prepare for class discussions, discussion techniques to use in class, and how to evaluate the success of class discussions. However, there are additional strategies instructors should consider when discussing contentious topics; therefore, we offer a series of techniques below to help you plan your discussion, address challenging comments during the discussion, and debrief after the conversation.

Before a Conversation

Include a syllabus statement on respectful dialogue.

Co-create classroom norms/guidelines.

  • Review our The First Day of Class resource for more information about the value of setting norms with students, and guidance on how to do so.

Define participation.

  • Helping students understand what you expect of them, and how to meet those expectations, is crucial to planning an effective discussion on contentious topics. Participation is a learned skill and may require different actions in different classes. For example, participation may include speaking, active listening, asking questions, and preparing for class, among other actions, and therefore needs to be defined with and for students. Review our resource on Promoting and Assessing Student Participation here for tips on how to do so.

Develop goals for the discussion.

  • Developing goals and/or learning outcomes for your discussions can help you frame the conversation effectively and ensure that your students get the most out of these conversations. Review our resource on Developing Student Learning Outcomes Using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students should understand why they are having the discussion, what they are supposed to learn or ‘take away’ from the discussion, and how those connect back to the course’s larger goals.
  • Consider working with your students to develop these goals. This promotes buy-in from students as they have more agency over their learning. Even if you do not develop the discussion goals with students, it is vital to be transparent and share with students the goal of the discussion and the connection to course goals/outcomes.

Plan for challenging comments.

  • What are possible viewpoints that students could take? How might these differ, interact, and potentially create conflict?  
  • What happens when students leave the boundaries of appropriate behavior?  
    • See below for a suggested technique, calling in, to address challenging student comments. 

During a Conversation

Remind students of classroom norms.

  • Prior to engaging in a discussion, it can be helpful to review the co-created classroom guidelines together as a class. 

Encourage participation from all students.

Emphasize dialogue over "winning."

  • As students discuss and disagree, remind them that curiosity and exploration are key academic traits and that the goal of the discussion is not to come to an agreement, but instead to share and listen to different opinions, facts, and to explore a topic together. 

Model respectful communication.

Step in if things get heated.

  • As the instructor, you should act as a moderator for the class discussion, guiding students through the goals of the conversation. If a challenging comment is made, you must be prepared to step in. Not intervening can erode trust between students and instructors and make students more hesitant to engage in future conversations.

Handling Conflict: Calling In

Regardless of how well a discussion is planned, at any point, a participant may make a challenging comment. Instead of calling out the person who made the comment, try calling that student back in.  

Calling Out: publicly pointing out that a person is doing something oppressive. 

Calling In: a deliberately compassionate practice, pulling back in folks who have intentionally or unintentionally caused harm. As explained by Ngọc Loan Trần, calling in means “loving each other enough to allow each other to make mistakes.”  

Techniques for calling students in include:

Pause before responding.

  • When a challenging comment is made, many of us feel an instinct to respond immediately; however, it is important to remember that you don’t need to have a perfectly thought-out response to each challenging comment as soon as it occurs. It is ok to take a few moments to collect your thoughts, give the entire class 5-10 minutes to pause and reflect, and/or even return to the topic during the next class session with more information and preparation. 

Clarify and redirect specific comments.

  • Ask students for clarification on what they said or what they meant to communicate. You may also try helping them re-word their statement and attempt to pull the positive intentions of they were trying to say. This offers students the opportunity of self-correction. 
  • Examples:  
    • “How do you see that connecting to [topic]?” 
    • “Keeping [respectful practice, classroom guidelines] in mind, can you tell me more about that?” 
    • “What do we/you think [group] would say about that?” 
    • “I understand what you’re saying, but I also am thinking of how [group/ perspective] would find that assumption hurtful.” 
    • “I think I might know what you’re saying, correct me if I’m wrong…” followed, if needed, by one of the above sentences. 

Emphasize community learning rather than targeting individuals.

  • When responding, it may be helpful to reference the classroom community and clarify that a comment is being addressed because doing so provides a learning opportunity for all students to be more respectful. 
  • You should also hold students accountable to the classroom community and any guidelines set forth as a group. 
  • Examples:  
    • “Last class, the word ‘handicapped’ came up during our discussion, and I want us to address why we should use other wording.” 
    • “Let’s just remember to keep [respectful practice] in mind.” 
    • “We should be careful about using certain terms.” 
    • “How can we be more careful with our words around this issue?” 
    • “Speaking like this breaks our classroom guidelines.” 

Communicate hurt.

  • If the above techniques do not effectively address the challenging comment, or if particular students emerge as leaders in making challenging comments, directly communicating hurt can be an effective way to help students understand why their statements are hurtful and inconsiderate. Students are learning and may not recognize their statements are hurtful.  
  • Examples:  
    • “I was hurt when you said…..because….” 
    • “I want to explain why some people in class may feel uncomfortable with what was just said.” 
    • Make sure to use “I” statements.  
  • If all else fails and a student is not responding to any of the techniques, it is within your right as the instructor to ask a student to leave class. 
    • In this case, it is vital to follow up with that student and discuss what went wrong, how they can improve, and how they can reintegrate into the classroom space. 

Review this recording of a workshop: “Compassionate Responses: Utilizing Calling in to Address Challenging Comments” from August of 2023, which provides more detail around the calling in technique. 

After a Conversation

Follow up with student(s) who were harmed and students who harmed others, especially if they were asked to leave the classroom.

  • Communicate with students asynchronously via Canvas or class announcements.
  • Have 1-to-1 meetings.
    • You may find it useful to meet with students who asked questions or with those that caused tension or had a challenging interaction in the conversation.

Collect student feedback on how the discussion went, what worked, and what can be improved for next time.

  • Invite comments or suggestions from students.
    • This can be done via anonymous Google Document or Google Form.
  • Start class with a reflective pause. Provide framing questions, such as:
    • What could have been different about the previous class session?
    • How will the class proceed in this and future discussions?
  • Consider reviewing or adapting the class guidelines and norms.

Accept responsibility in your role as instructor, if needed.

  • Did you say or do something that contributed to or caused the discomfort? 
  • How do you rebuild connections with students?  
  • It’s okay to acknowledge that you should have addressed a comment, and acknowledging mistakes helps students understand that everyone is still learning and even their professor has room to improve. 

Reflect on the discussion as an individual.

  • What went well? What didn’t go well?  
  • Could different preparation have changed how the conversation went?  
  • What would you change for future discussions?  

Creating an environment that emphasizes both community and agreed–upon expectations for discussion is vital for facilitating meaningful conversations around contentious topics. Building your classroom as a community embraces differences in thought and perspectives. It speaks to a common goal in an academic environment of acknowledging differences of opinion and creating space for difficult conversations. It also supports intellectual engagement and multiple perspectives, and it speaks to respect and mutual agreement that all voices have value. When students view their peers as part of a community, they are more likely to care about the ways in which they communicate and challenge alternative perspectives. 

References and Additional Resources