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Student View
1. Prepare for this journey.
Before you discuss diversity, race, and inclusion with your students, it’s important to educate yourself to address any confusion or identify any misinformation you may have. To get started, check out the strategy guides below, as well as the Vocabulary toolkit.
Collaborate with your administrators and fellow teachers. Share strategies and conversations with them so your whole learning community can grow together in creating a culture of mutual value and respect.
2. Set the stage by establishing classroom norms.
If you already have a discussion protocol, like Responsive Classroom, in place, use it while having these conversations. If you don’t, work together with your students to create a classroom discussion agreement.
- Define respectful as a class. What does it mean? What does it look and sound like?
- Ask students how they can be kind to each other while having a respectful conversation. Some “rules” could be to listen without interrupting, refrain from name-calling, and avoid making generalizations (e.g., use the word some instead of all when referring to groups of people). Some students may take time to warm up to conversing about the topic, so be patient.
3. Honor students’ experiences and feelings.
It’s important to recognize the diversity of your students. Be aware that certain language and topics will stir up different emotions in students. That doesn’t necessarily mean the topics should be avoided. The strategies below will help you and your students navigate classroom discussions.
Let students know that all their issues may not be resolved immediately and might require more thought—from you as well as them. This also may be a perfect opportunity to team-teach with a colleague and co-facilitate these conversations.
We know how important it is to talk with students about major issues in the news to help them understand the events that shape their world. Some of these discussions can be unpredictable and a challenge to manage, however. The following strategies and resources can help you foster constructive, meaningful conversations.
Set classroom expectations for respectful conversations.
- Remind students that their words can affect others. They should realize that what they say can be hurtful to others, even if that wasn’t their intent.
- Encourage students to challenge ideas, not people.
- Allow everyone the chance to speak.
- Stress the importance of listening to understand and without interrupting.
- Model an appropriate tone of voice for classroom discussions and how to remain calm when emotions run high.
- Practice simple steps to help students regulate their emotions during class discussions. Before responding to a classmate, they should:
- Take a deep breath and count to five. This will help students calm down, process their feelings, and carefully gather their thoughts before responding.
- Repeat what they heard a classmate say in their own words. This can help clarify any misunderstandings between what was actually said and what a student heard.
Stay on topic and keep conversations grounded in evidence.
- Providing conversation starters as a model can help students stay focused on the article instead of on what they may have heard about the topic online, on TV, or from others.
“In paragraph ____, the author states . . .”
“The main idea of this section is that . . .”
“According to the evidence in the article, ____ . . .”
- Encourage students to build onto classmates’ ideas with these stems.
“To connect to what ____ said . . .”
“I agree/disagree with ____ because . . .”
“When you said ____, did you mean ____?”
“After thinking about what ____ said, I now think . . .”
Encourage students to view situations and ideas from different perspectives.
- Remind students that their classmates may have different experiences and perspectives from their own. They should be careful to avoid making assumptions or generalizations about other people based only on their own experiences and opinions.
- Point out the value of hearing multiple perspectives. By putting themselves in someone else’s shoes, students may be more open to understanding and considering points of view that differ from their own
- Emphasize that understanding and explaining another person’s point of view is not the same as agreeing with it.
- Stress that hurtful or harmful speech will not be tolerated. Those comments violate classroom norms and expectations, and do not allow all students to thrive in that setting.
Support students who may be less comfortable speaking.
- Try asking questions students can answer with a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down.
- If you’re using conferencing software, you can invite students to share ideas using the chat feature or ask them to choose an emoji to represent their reactions.
- Technology tools such as Flipgrid, Nearpod, Padlet, and Jamboard have many features that can help amplify all voices in the classroom in non-verbal ways.
Use problematic comments and tough questions as teachable moments.
- If you hear students use stereotypes or make other problematic statements, respectfully correct them without assigning blame. Use it as an opportunity to discuss how to find reliable sources of information.
- Remind students that they must be diligent in thinking critically when digesting information and before sharing it. They should analyze and evaluate evidence, like historical data and quotes, presented in statements and/or comments, regardless of the source. This will encourage them to dig deeper and help them determine the reliability of a source on their own.
- Model how to use research to find answers. Guide students to use reliable sources, including encyclopedias, well-known newspapers and magazines, well-known organizations, and government websites. It’s important to model a culture of digital citizenship that guides students to be empowered learners.
Consider your own identity and how you might influence students.
- Be the facilitator. Keep the conversation going without dominating it. Allow students to take the lead when it feels appropriate.
- Be mindful about sharing your opinions with the class. Students shouldn’t feel pressure to say what they think you want to hear.
- Be self-aware and address any biases you may have as you work with your students.
- Be honest with your students when you make a mistake. Apologize and then correct the behavior or statement. Model the actions you want your students to exhibit.
Additional Resources
- Let's Talk is a guide from Learning for Justice to help teachers facilitate critical conversations with students
- Facing History and Ourselves has a civil discourse guide with ideas and four strategies.
Some articles in Teaching Our World include information about slavery, which can be a difficult topic to introduce and teach. Here are some strategies and additional resources to help you teach students about this important part of American history.
- Addressing slavery in the classroom can be difficult for both teachers and students. The topic can evoke sadness, rage, confusion, guilt, shame, or denial, and the dynamics may vary depending on the makeup of your classroom and your own background. You may feel more prepared for class discussions if you build your knowledge of slavery—and of the circumstances that sustained it for so long in the United States.
- Review classroom expectations about respect, listening, and multiple perspectives. The organization Facing History and Ourselves has student-centered teaching strategies that can be used with any content.
- Use primary sources to help students understand the experiences of enslaved people. Field trips to historical sites, museums, plantations, or other local places of interest can help students understand how slavery has affected their communities.
- Avoid simulations such as mock auctions or games about the Underground Railroad, which can minimize the horrors of slavery and traumatize students.
- Avoid Black history art projects that hold no value. For example, rather than have students complete a coloring page of Martin Luther King Jr., have them create art inspired by some of his powerful quotes.
- Notice that the articles use the term enslaved people rather than slaves. This language emphasizes that those forced into bondage were first and foremost human beings. You can point this out to students as an example of how language choices matter and have evolved over time.
- If students use any discriminatory language, take the opportunity for a lesson on hate speech. If students mention any misinformation, identify the misinformation and clarify facts.
- The article can lead students to think critically about many issues, including prejudice, stereotyping, tolerance, and responsibility. Encourage students to reflect on how learning about this topic can help them shape a more just, respectful, and caring world.
Additional Resources
- Learning for Justice has a framework for teaching about slavery.
- The American Federation of Teachers has lesson plans, resources, and a webinar.
Discussions of slavery can lead students to think critically and ask questions about this painful period in American history. Here are some questions your students may ask and some background knowledge to help you navigate hard history.
How did slavery in America get started?
Slavery in all the places that are now the United States began with the enslavement of indigenous people. European colonists expanded slavery by forcibly taking Africans to the Americas. In 1619, the Jamestown colonists bought 20 to 30 enslaved Africans from English pirates. Although Africans had already been living in the Americas, transported mainly by the Portuguese and Spanish, many historians point to the ship’s arrival more than 400 years ago to be the beginning of American slavery. By the end of the transatlantic slave trade in the early 1800s, about 12.5 million men, women, and children had been taken from their homes in Africa to North and South America.
Why was enslavement allowed to happen?
The main purpose of American slavery was to provide labor that would benefit enslavers. Enslavers used the many types of highly skilled work of enslaved people to make money for themselves. Slavery was central to the development and growth of the colonial economies and what is now the United States.
Enslaved people in the North were forced to work on farms and in homes. They were also forced to help build the early cities of Boston and New York, work on the docks, and do skilled labor, such as blacksmithing and shoemaking. The labor of enslaved people was seen as essential to economies of the South, especially on cotton plantations. The business of selling enslaved people was also critical in the South.
Enslavers controlled much of the federal government from 1787 through 1860. Additionally, protections for slavery were written in the founding documents of the United States. Enslavers passed laws and made court rulings that protected the practice of slavery.
Didn’t anyone fight to end the injustice of slavery?
Many people, both White and Black, worked individually and in groups to end slavery. These people, called abolitionists, fought to change the laws that protected enslavement. Eventually, national disagreements about slavery became so strong that 11 Southern states seceded (broke away) from the United States in an attempt to form their own country. This led to the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
Why were Southern states willing to go to war to protect the practice of slavery?
Slavery was essential to the success of the Southern economy. Enslaved people were seen as property and represented wealth. If slavery ended, enslavers would lose both property and labor. That labor was crucial to farming and many other industries. The end of slavery would bring about a financial crisis for the South. The North’s economy was less dependent on the labor of enslaved people, so the end of slavery would have had less impact on their lives.
Can people still be enslaved?
In the U.S., slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Most other countries also have laws against slavery. But in some parts of the world, people are still forced to work with no pay and little or no freedom. The United Nations and other groups are fighting to end modern slavery.
An important reason for studying the past is to understand why events happened and learn about how the present is influenced by the past. By studying facts, we can make sure we create a safe and equal future for all people.