{"id":6484,"date":"2022-03-23T14:11:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T18:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=6484"},"modified":"2026-03-21T16:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T20:47:44","slug":"fostering-civil-discussion","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/fostering-civil-discussion\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering Civil Discussion about Controversial Topics"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"color: #d1190d\">Introduction<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;I\u2019m right, and you\u2019re a moron!\u201d There are as many possible routes to disagreements as there are opinions. In class, these routes often unexpectedly result in students and faculty struggling with \u201canger, fear, and guilt,\u201d and lacking skills and perspective to engage \u201ccontroversial\u201d topics respectfully. Controversial topics often elicit divergent viewpoints, with few individuals changing their views over the course of a discussion or semester. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thus our goal as educators is to teach students about \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">caring deeply, seeking to listen rather than change someone\u2019s mind\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/greatergood.berkeley.edu\/article\/item\/why_is_it_so_hard_to_change_peoples_minds\">Greater Good Magazine<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>President Jonathan Koppell has called on us to do more in and outside of our classrooms to strengthen students&#8217; abilities to engage in &#8220;civil debates and dialogue.&#8221; Read his article from <em>US News<\/em> (March 12, 2024) &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/president\/2024\/03\/12\/opinion-colleges-must-do-more-to-help-students-manage-conflict-and-have-civil-debate\/\">Colleges Must Do More to Help Students Manage Conflict and Have Civil Debates<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/peer-to-peer-support\/engaging-discussions\/political-discussions-in-the-classroom\/?wp_logged_in=true\">Political discussions in the classroom: Do&#8217;s and Dont&#8217;s<\/a> for help with navigating classroom situations that are immediately stressful.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d1190d\">Strategies &amp; tips at-a-glance<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Think twice before offering your political persuasion or position<\/strong>. In most classroom contexts, the instructor\u2019s role is to facilitate inquiry rather than take a particular political stance. Because of the inherent power dynamic, sharing your personal political views or views on politicians\u2014especially on contested issues\u2014can unintentionally narrow discussion, discourage dissenting perspectives, or signal to students that certain viewpoints are more valued than others. When relevant, it may be appropriate to acknowledge that multiple perspectives exist, but the emphasis should remain on helping students examine evidence, understand context, and develop their own reasoned positions. Prioritizing neutrality in this way helps create a classroom environment where all students feel able to participate openly and thoughtfully.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Validate\/Affirm students&#8217; concerns:<\/strong> Validate and affirm your own sense or a student\u2019s concern that an inappropriate or offensive assertion or remark was made. Quickly assess if the comment is a misstatement you can correct or something more inflammatory that needs more intervention or discussion. For example, a student who identifies as another gender is upset that you mistakenly used the incorrect name for them when taking attendance. A quick solution is to apologize and immediately acknowledge your mistake. Explain that their \u201cassumed\u201d name has not been updated on the roster, but that you will make a note for the future. Thank them for their patience and understanding. Not only does this provide a \u201cteachable tool\u201d for other students, it demonstrates \u201chow to\u201d de-escalate a misunderstanding without dismissing legitimate feelings. See<a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/\"> Essential Partners<\/a> tips for &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/resources\/interventions-5-things-facilitators-can-do-when-conversations-get-hot\">When Conversations Get Hot<\/a>.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Empathize<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>:<\/strong> Practice and showcase empathy: seeking to understand each point as well as expressed points of view. Help students to understand that even in disagreement on an issue there can still be kindness. When possible, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">share a personal narrative to humanize the subject matter.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Differentiate between topic and issue:<\/strong> Differentiate between \u201ctopic\u201d (or category of discussion) and \u201cissue\u201d (a matter that erupts, often from the larger topic of discourse). This can be introduced to students as a tool for mediating anger and opening up the discussion. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/pedagogical-strategies-that-support-learning\/discussing-equity-using-protocols-to-deepen-conversation-and-raise-intellectual-engagement\/\">protocols<\/a> to organize and structure discussions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Encourage students to practice academic reasoning: <\/strong>teach them to support broader statements with evidence and sources, in the classroom and beyond.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Teach students to use authentic sources: <\/strong>political platforms from each party or policy statements from each candidate, for example.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Use a collective inquiry approach: <\/strong>(Also sometimes presented as \u201cCollaborative inquiry,\u201d or &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/teaching-learning\/opinion-collective-inquiry\/2013\/02#:~:text=Collective%20inquiry%20is%20the%20process,sustain%20a%20strong%20teaching%20profession.\">shared knowledge<\/a>&#8221; ) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This approach allows faculty to strengthen their craft or \u201cknowledge\u201d and provide a shared vision with students. Examples might be to engage in collective inquiry in a subject such as University health protocols, or to a controversial topic or current event. A framework of collective inquiry helps learners understand how and why these topics are relevant to their lives and how to fairly and impartially address them. For example, introducing students to a collective inquiry approach to a controversial topic can serve to interrupt line-drawing and opinionating and re-focus attention on learning: gathering information, understanding the context and mapping out the controversy.\u00a0 Essentially, moving back to inquiry and learning, and away from staking out positions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Ensure that your use of examples is politically inclusive:<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you use an example (a text for analysis, etc) that leans toward one political persuasion, use another example in the future that favors a different political persuasion<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Shift to small groups:<\/strong> Shift from students listening only to the \u201cteacher\u201d by providing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">opportunities for them to share ideas, listen carefully to their peers, and practice being open to and respectful of others\u2019 viewpoints. Use small group work to identify what the issues are then create a safe open classroom forum to share solutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Establish discourse through classroom citizenship rules:<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Help students build knowledge and respectful discourse skills to facilitate effective participation <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">within the classroom and beyond. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Collectively set and follow classroom rules and structures that support respectful and generative discussion, online and off. Ask students to share their suggestions for useful rules. Another strategy is to establish and remind students of \u201cClassroom Citizenship\u201d agreements, what they are, and when those rules or policies have been breached. Inflammatory language, snickering, shouting or exaggerated physical gestures (pointing) can be perceived as rude, threatening, and discourteous.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Invite written reflection:<\/strong> At the end of class, ask students to reflect on the conversation or discussion briefly. Ask a few questions such as: &#8220;What are you taking away from that discussion?&#8221; &#8220;Do you think we learned from the discussion?&#8221; &#8220;What would you like me to do to follow-up on this discussion?&#8221; The goal is to give students a private way to reflect and process their experience, and to give you insights on all students&#8217; experiences.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Make clear to students that your assessments are politically unbiased.<\/strong> For writing or other tasks that require students to produce discourse, make clear to students that you evaluate their work based on the logic\/support of their arguments and not on the political ideas expressed therein.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pause the discussion: <\/strong>We need to be ready to facilitate constructive discussions, and when we&#8217;re not, we are allowed to stop. For more deescalation strategies, read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/teaching-resources\/inclusivity-and-diversity\/political-discussions-in-the-classroom\/\">Political Discussions in the Classroom: Do&#8217;s and Don&#8217;ts.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Organizations that Support Constructive Dialogue Across Differences<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/constructivedialogue.org\/\">Constructive Dialogue Institute<\/a> &#8212; a compendium of excellent, practical teaching strategies and lesson plans. Searchable-database.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.interactivityfoundation.org\/resources\/\">Collaborative Discussion Toolkit<\/a> &#8212; activities designed to improve creativity, critical thinking, cultural responsiveness, and civic collaboration.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/about-us\">Essential Partners<\/a>. An organization dedicated to helping &#8220;people build relationships across differences to address their communities&#8217; most pressing challenges.&#8221; Their <a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/resources\">resources<\/a> provide guides to facilitating potentially difficult but interesting dialogues. For example:\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/resources\/guide-dialogues-about-israel-palestine\">Guide to Dialogues about Israel-Palestine<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/whatisessential.org\/resources\/ep-guide-conversations-across-partisan-divide\">Guide to Conversations Across the Partisan Divide<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/heterodoxacademy.org\/resources\/\">Heterodox Academy, Teaching &amp; Advocacy Resources<\/a>. Heterodox Academy is a &#8220;nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization&#8230;comitted to advancing the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement.&#8221; For example:\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/heterodoxacademy.org\/resources\/increasing-open-inquiry-viewpoint-diversity-and-constructive-disagreement-on-college-and-university-campuses-a-toolkit\/\">Toolkit for Increasing Inquiry, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Disagreement<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/heterodoxacademy.org\/resources\/creating-connection\/\">Creating Connection to Enable Deep Discussion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Further reading\/viewing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Allen, D (2023, Nov 14). <a href=\"https:\/\/diversityforum.wisc.edu\/session\/danielle-allen-keynote\/\">How to be a confident pluralist<\/a>. Keynote at Diversity Forum, University of Wisconsin-Madison. (video)<\/p>\n<p>Patel, E (2024, June 21). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/how-colleges-can-prepare-for-a-chaotic-fall?sra=true\">How colleges can prepare for a chaotic fall. Hint: It&#8217;s not all about free speech<\/a>.\u00a0<em>Chronicle.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Shields, J. A. (2022, April 7). &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/07\/opinion\/conservative-safe-spaces-college.html\">Why conservatives like me should stop maligning safe spaces<\/a>.&#8221; <em>The New York<\/em><em>\u00a0Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schulten, K. (2016, Sept 29). \u201c<\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/09\/28\/learning\/lesson-plans\/talking-across-divides-10-ways-to-encourage-civil-classroom-conversation-on-difficult-issues.html\">Talking across divides: 10 ways to encourage civil classroom conversation on difficult issues.\u201d<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em> The New York Times<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\">Page drafted by Pam Booker, Writing Studies<br \/>\nAmended, EJI, VS<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><p><em>Last Modified: Saturday, March 21, 2026 4:47 pm<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction &#8220;I\u2019m right, and you\u2019re a moron!\u201d There are as many possible routes to disagreements as there are opinions. In class, these routes often unexpectedly result in students and faculty struggling with \u201canger, fear, and guilt,\u201d and lacking skills and perspective to engage \u201ccontroversial\u201d topics respectfully. Controversial topics often elicit divergent viewpoints, with few individuals [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":6488,"parent":0,"menu_order":103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6484","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6484"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15097,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6484\/revisions\/15097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}