Mindful Teaching in Moments of Tension

Suddenly, the mood in the room shifts. Maybe we expected it because of the content we teach or because of current events. Maybe the tension seemed to come out of nowhere, the product of things happening outside the classroom.

Either way, it’s happened. One person said something that others construed as political and strongly disagreed with. Perhaps they believed it threatened their way of life or denigrated their existence.

As someone who teaches future educators how to serve multilingual students and families, I’m familiar with these moments. People’s complex feelings about immigration are all over the news. It’s my job to educate my undergraduate preservice teachers about the benefits of English learners maintaining their home languages, about their parents’ legal rights to interpreters and about the Supreme Court case that guarantees undocumented students places in public schools—at least for now.

As we cover this material, students are likely to consider what they’ve heard from their families and communities about these issues. They may think back to the recent presidential debate, in which former president Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were stealing and eating pets. They may start to look around and wonder whom their classmates are planning to vote for.

I face election season with trepidation, and I know I’m not alone. Campuses are already divided by views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on abortion and on the Supreme Court’s rejection of affirmative action; the impending election stands to increase tensions even more. Some instructors may want to avoid sensitive conversations altogether. But given the university’s mission to provide a space for open discussion and consideration of varying perspectives, shutting down tough topics is no solution. As a former high school history teacher and current university instructor, I’ve had much practice facilitating difficult conversations about controversial topics, and I want to share what I’ve found helpful.

First, involving students in setting norms for discussion is key. This is best done at the start of the course, although it can be initiated later on as well. I have students express anonymously what helps them to feel comfortable in classroom conversations, and then we look at the responses as a group. We might review active listening guidelines and see what we want to add or subtract. Most important is that students feel empowered to develop the classroom culture: That way, they’ll be more likely to hold each other accountable than they would if the instructor introduced a set of rules.

Even while inviting students to participate in setting norms, it is important for instructors to have clear boundaries. Boundaries are not rules for other people, but commitments that we make to ourselves and others. I think of them as “if … then …” statements. Some of mine are:

• If a student makes generalizations about a group of people based on their political affiliation, I will ask them to be more specific.
• If a student uses a term that hurts or offends me or other students, I will ask them to use a different term.
• If I don’t feel confident to continue facilitating the conversation, I will pause the conversation.

Boundaries are important to consider in advance so that we don’t over- or underreact in the moment. There are obvious lines a student could cross that would cause me to ask them to leave the classroom—for instance, if they directed hate speech toward a peer, or if they became physically threatening. But I’ve been fortunate that those things have not occurred; what I described above is much more common.

Thinking in advance about boundaries is a good step, but unexpected situations may catch us off guard nonetheless. I find it helpful to have some go-to phrases to bring the discussion to the meta level. Here are some of my favorites:

• “This is an important conversation, and I’m grateful that we’re having it.”
• “Thank you for your honesty in sharing your experience.”
• “It sounds like that was difficult for you to share. Thank you for trusting us.”

These phrases acknowledge students’ contributions, even when their peers may not agree with what they’ve said. Then I can ask the student to elaborate, or open the floor up for others to respond.

If, despite our best efforts, a student has said or done something that has crossed a line, we may use one of these phrases:

• “I’m not comfortable with what just happened.”
• “I’d like to pause and talk about what just happened.”
• “I’d like to pause and have everyone write down how they’re feeling about this conversation. I’ll read your notes after class and we may return to this conversation when I have more information.”

These phrases have a lot of power to change the course of a discussion. The last one is useful when I am at a loss for how to continue, and I know emotions are running high. I prefer to pause rather than cut off or end conversations, which can lead to frustration and backlash from students who feel unheard.

In the moment, mindfulness practices allow us to check in with how our bodies and minds are reacting to tense conversations. A breathing technique called physiological sighing can slow the heart rate and reduce anxiety. I sometimes bring attention to my feet touching the floor to ground myself. Cultivating compassion for ourselves and our students may also be beneficial; these discussions can take a toll on all of us. Students don’t need to know we’re doing these practices, but we can cope with stress and take care of ourselves.

After the fact, I sometimes find I need to apologize for the role I’ve had in contributing to a discussion that went outside of our agreed-upon norms—either because I didn’t intervene soon enough, or because I was overbearing with my own opinion. In that case, it’s crucial for me to reflect after class, talk with trusted colleagues and then acknowledge what happened and give students some space to respond, whether in the moment or later (by email or in some other format).

In that regard, developing a community of other instructors who are also facilitating sensitive conversations can be empowering. Having colleagues to help us reflect on those tough moments is indispensable. At the University of Missouri at Columbia, I’m involved with a mindfulness in teaching community of practice through our Teaching for Learning Center, where we debrief about difficult experiences in the classroom and learn techniques for reducing our own and our students’ stress. These communities and practices can support us long after the election is over.