highlights of pedagogy theory
The Teaching & Learning Center (TLC)
Embedded Files
The UC Santa Cruz Teaching & Learning (TLC) guide, "Addressing Critical Current Events and Holding Difficult Conversations in the Classroom" is adapted from a guide at UCLA; it is findable at the TLC website under "Teaching Resources."
The guide is informed by several areas of pedagogical research: trauma-aware pedagogy, healing- and wellness-oriented pedagogies, antiracist discussion pedagogy, intergroup dialogue, and broad social justice education research and practices.
It includes guidance for instructors and TAs alike on: preparation and planning; responding “in the moment” when we or others are activated; and getting connected to other campus resources when needed.
It is a collection of tools and resources; we recommending diving into the links!
1. Emotions | 2. Skills and Practice | 3. Facilitation of Learning | 4. Mutual Wellness
1. Emotions
How might we acknowledge and leverage powerful emotions as part of the teaching and learning process?
Educational scholars who research effective practices in social justice education remind us how important emotions are to both the teaching and learning process. We share a few quotes below from Harbin, Thurber & Bandy 2021 to illustrate the significance of acknowledging and leveraging emotions, for both students and teachers.
“[W]e know that topics related to race, racism, and racial justice often require emotional capacity and interpersonal skills that are just as important to the learning process. Indeed, affective learning goals related to race point to an entirely different set of skills that must be acquired...”
(Harbin, Thurber & Bandy 2021)
“When we educators fail to appreciate the importance of students’ emotions,
we fail to appreciate a critical force in students’ learning.”
(Immordino-Yang and Damasio 2007, as cited in Harbin, Thurber & Bandy 2021)
“[N]eglecting social-emotional dimensions of learning can restrict educators’ understandings of the affective investments they themselves make in their disciplines, research, and interactions with students.”
(Harbin, Thurber & Bandy 2021)
2. Skills and Practice
How might we explicitly incorporate and teach “difficult conversations” skills?
How can we build in multiple opportunities for students to practice and reflect on these skills during our courses?
What would it look like to center these skills as learning outcomes?
The TLC guide contains resources (tools and handouts) for educators and students alike on the skills of:
Comparing discussion, debate, and dialogue
How to listen actively
How to respond with curiosity and questions to work toward understanding
How to communicate compassionate boundaries
How to respond to microaggressions or interrupt bias
How to apologize
3. Facilitation of Learning
How might we facilitate learning, self-reflection, and critical thinking – and “resist the urge to correct” students?
Long-term learning is more likely to happen when students can identify their own misconceptions or gaps in understanding and actively construct new understanding.
We can “adopt a stance of inquiry” in our facilitation and in-class activity structures to support this transformational learning. (Zembylas 2012, cited in Harbin et al. 2019)
Resources on reflective journaling
Sentence stems for practicing responses to activating moments
Resources for students to practice responding to each other in an inquiry-based way
Anticipate common “bottleneck areas” or common misconceptions and plan for them
4. Mutual Wellness
How might we structure our teaching and learning environments such that both students and teachers are cared for?
How can we internalize that students’ learning should not come at the expense of an educator’s wellness?
“Pedagogical wellness” is an approach to teaching and learning that seeks to foster mutual care, compassion, and respect among instructors and students. (UC Irvine Pedagogical Wellness Initiative)
Anticipate the need for flexibility and accessibility while protecting instructor workload and emotional labor
Use resources and preparation to mitigate exposure to retraumatizing experiences for both students and teachers
Communicate compassionate boundaries (e.g. your availability, knowing what you are not equipped to handle)
Acknowledging social positionality and how teachers are differently vulnerable to student bias, pushback, and more
Resources compiled by Kendra Dority and Roxanna Villalobos of the UCSC Teaching and Learning Center. For further information, see the TLC website.
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