President Kirwan has reminded us of the need to maintain Ohio State as a welcoming learning environment for all of our students in the wake of the recent tragedy. As the leader of a class, it is important for you to offer appropriate opportunities for students to process and learn from events, but also to maintain your authority over the classroom environment in order to guide the discussion appropriately and to avoid backlash. Here are a few suggestions to help you prepare for class.
1. Last week's tragedy has deeply affected many of our students, so it needs to be acknowledged. You may simply begin class by saying something yourself and then move on to other topics, or you may choose to have a discussion.
2. If you have a discussion of the tragedy, think through supportive ways to introduce and close a discussion of events. Create a framework for the discussion. Possible discussion topics include:
A. What hopes and fears do you have about this discussion?
B. In what ways are you personally affected by these events?
C. How might these events affect your/our future?
D. What positive actions can individuals take in response to this tragedy (e.g., give blood, support students new to campus or far from home)?
3. Ask the class to establish ground rules for the discussion. Some ideas you might want to propose to students before they begin include:
A. Avoid blame and speculation.
B. Respect each other's views and avoid inflammatory language.
C. It is okay to express anger and frustration within limits.
(While it is important for students to express themselves, it is also vital to control the class and maintain an environment that feels safe for all students.)
D. It is okay to share personal stories and feelings.
(Be prepared for some students to be emotional, and try to support and comfort them.)
4. Allow everyone a chance to talk (when possible), but don't force students to participate. Ways to accomplish this include:
A. Use a "round" (give each student a chance to speak in response to a guiding question without interruption or discussion, allowing students to pass if they desire). Following the round, open the discussion for general response.
B. Divide students into discussion partners or groups.
C. Give students a chance to write before speaking.
5. Other ideas for instructors to consider:
A. Join small sections together to have more than one leader. In large classes, consider breaking students into small groups with GTA discussion leaders.
B. Where you can, explore links to the content of your class or discipline.
C. Try to balance emotional with intellectual approaches.
D. Ask students to do some writing when discussion seems to be getting out of hand.
E. Exchange ideas and strategies with other instructors, including debriefing class discussion.
6. Be prepared for the fact that, sometimes, in the wake of these tragedies, when a particular group gets blamed in the media, there is a backlash against people who share an ethnic/cultural/religious heritage with those accused. It is important that students not be doubly hurt by this tragedy -- first by the horrific news that has shaken us all and second by misguided generalizations. It may also be important for you to make an explicit statement that all students are welcome in your class, and that you expect students to treat one another with respect.
7. If you are an instructor who fears that, because of your ethnicity, religion, nationality, or appearance, backlash may be directed at you, consider the "buddy system." Invite a US native colleague to join you for the first few classes or ask your department to find you a teaching partner. You can simply introduce this person, if necessary, as a colleague or mentor who works with you on teaching. But if the conversation does become inappropriate, this person can help keep things civil.
Also, it may be even more important for you to be proactive in mentioning the events of 9/11 and express your sympathy with the victims, etc. Some possible ways to raise this include the following:
"People I've talked with in my home country were shocked to hear about these tragic events, and they expressed their sorrow in a moment of silence on. . . ."
"Everyone I have talked to has expressed great sympathy for the families of all the innocent people who were killed in this tragic event. . . ."
"In my country we have been fighting terrorism for many years, and I know how it is when people cannot even feel safe in their own home. We feel very bad that people in this country have had to experience this. . . ."
8. Extensive counseling support is being offered to students through each of the residence halls and in central locations such as the Counseling and Consultation Service in the Younkin Success Center. Students who have questions or need support can call 292-5766.
9. Counseling and Consultation Service also offers support for international faculty and TAs who may be concerned about backlash. Instructors who have questions or need support can call 292-5766.
10. The University Faculty and Staff Assistance Program is available for faculty and staff who need counseling support. Ohio State faculty and staff who need support or who have questions about their work situation should call 293-2442.
11. Consultants from Faculty & TA Development (FTAD) will be available to talk with you by phone (292-3644), by email (ftad@osu.edu), or in person (260 Younkin Success Center). Please feel free to discuss with us the issues you face in the classroom as a result of the tragedy we all have experienced. There are no right answers or approaches, so we all need to learn from each other.
Adapted from Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) University of Michigan 9/11/01
and Center for Instructional Development & Research (CIDR), University of Washington 9/19/01
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Teaching in the Wake of Terror
The following is one instructor's description of her experience teaching on Wednesday, September 12, 2001:
I had class at 11 am today. I didn't know what to do, but I knew that I could not go into that room filled with freshmen and teach as if nothing had happened.
I asked if anyone wanted to talk about yesterday, and was met with a deafening silence. I acknowledged that we don't really know each other yet, and it might be hard to talk in a room full of 40 strangers, and I told them about the counseling center - where it is and that it's confidential, etc. etc.
Then someone asked, in a small voice, what it all meant. And I realized that my students were looking to me for answers that I don't have... I said "I don't know." And then they started to talk. And talk. They told stories of people they know whose lives have changed forever. One student lives in Jersey City and watched the skyline change. Another student baby-sits for two children whose parents both worked in the Twin Towers, and she doesn't yet know if they're all right. The students expressed bewilderment and grief and disbelief and anger. The guidelines Matt posted were especially helpful then (see above).
Eventually I did come up with a few bits of "wisdom" to share:
1) stop watching the video footage of the tragedy! Every time you see that plane fly into the building, or the buildings come down, it's a fresh shock to your system. We need to go through the grieving process, and re-setting the clock doesn't help.
2) yesterday the newscasters kept saying how none of us would ever be the same. So I challenged them to think about how they would be changed, and how they could change themselves for the better as a result of this awful event. In the earlier discussion, a student speculated as to how awful it would be if someone had had a fight with a loved one the night before, and then they never came home again. I referred to that, and said maybe they would change themselves by apologizing more quickly; maybe they would change themselves by becoming regular blood donors; maybe they would change themselves in another, more personal way.
3) if we allow ourselves to become paralyzed, then the terrorists have won. We have to continue to fly on planes, we have to continue to go into NYC, we have to continue on with our lives. And, in the spirit of that thought, I asked for a moment of silence (many students prayed quietly) and redirected us back to class.
Have a better day today.
Fran
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Francine S. Glazer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
Assistant Director,
Center for Professional Development
Kean University
Union NJ 07083
fglazer@kean.edu
www.kean.edu/~fglazer
Updated 9.19.2001