Tackling Sensitive Topics in the Secondary Classroom

If you’re reading this blog post, chances are you’re a teacher—and probably a secondary teacher. If so, I’m willing to bet you’ve encountered one of these moments (or maybe all of them):

*a student makes an unexpected, divisive remark

*a student shares a controversial opinion

*a student is visibly uncomfortable with a topic or class discussion

The thing is - sensitive topics can arise at any moment, sometimes from the literature we teach and other times from the realities of the world around us. Whether anticipated or not, these moments bring both challenges and powerful opportunities for learning.

If you’re an educator, and if you haven’t encountered this yet, heads up – eventually, you will! The most important thing is to be prepared so that when it does happen, you can guide the conversation while keeping the classroom environment inclusive and productive.

There is no time like the present to broach this topic.  In the United States, we are days away from a contentious national presidential election.  Social media is ablaze with polarized opinions, strong emotions, and conflicting perspectives. In times like these, students will likely bring their questions, concerns, and opinions into class discussions.

But sensitive topics aren’t limited to politics. Whether it’s a national election, debates over social issues, or complex topics and themes in the literature we read in class, students are naturally curious and eager to make sense of the world around them. As educators, our role is to provide the tools and framework help them navigate these conversations thoughtfully and respectfully.  This does require a delicate balance: how do we foster critical thinking and open dialogue without letting the classroom become a battleground for opposing views?

So, how do we as classroom educators approach discussions that involve controversial and sensitive topics?  Here are my BEST tips:

1.     Create a Safe Space for Open Discussion

Students need to know that they can openly share their thoughts and opinions without fear of judgment or ridicule, knowing their ideas will be met with respect and thoughtful discourse.  As with anyone, our students will have differing perspectives.  While this can lead to some emotionally charged discussions, these often turn into the BEST discussions.  Here are tips to create a safe discussion space:

1.  Start Discussions Early: And by early, I mean the first week or two of school.  My students know right from the get-go that this is a class where they are expected to be active participants, and we have some type of discussion activity almost every day! So, we are regularly encountering differing opinions.  That means I need to be sure my students know what is expected right from the beginning.

2.  Establish Guidelines: I have a broad and basic framework of guidelines for discussions.  When I introduce these at the beginning of the year, I ask for student input, and together, we establish our discussion guidelines.  Each class’s set of guidelines might be slightly different, but they hit the same key ideas.

3.  Don’t force Participation on all topics: Some students may feel especially uncomfortable discussing sensitive issues like politics or social justice because of their personal backgrounds. If we are going to discuss controversial or sensitive topics, I give students options for alternative participation such as allowing students to engage through written reflections rather than spoken contributions.  Honestly, this rarely occurs because most of my students jump at the chance to dive into what we call “juicy” discussions! 

4.  Practice! Give students multiple opportunities in various formats (whole class, small groups, pop-up discussions, hot seats, etc.) on low-stakes debatable topics at first.   This variety builds their confidence and skills and helps them learn to share and disagree respectfully in a range of settings.  It’s important to start with simple and fun topics like “Waffles or pancakes,” “Is it better to have a day off during the week or a three-day weekend?” or “Should school start later?”  This will allow all to participate and learn the rules without the added pressure of a controversial or personal issue.

2. Focus on Critical Thinking, Not Personal Opinions

Depending on the topic (and politics is a good one for this), shift the focus from personal opinions to critical analysis. In an ELA classroom, you can do this by turning discussions about elections or social issues into exercises in examining language, rhetoric, and argumentation.

Some activity ideas:

• Analyze Campaign Rhetoric: Encourage students to look at the way language is used in political speeches, debates, or campaign ads. Instead of focusing on who they support, ask them to evaluate HOW candidates use rhetorical strategies like ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade voters. By analyzing the structure of the argument rather than its content, students engage critically without letting personal biases dominate the discussion.

• Fact-Checking and Source Evaluation: In this day and age, this is a CRITICAL skill, so why not take the opportunity to help students hone their media literacy skills by fact-checking claims made during the election season. Teach them how to identify reliable sources, recognize bias, and critically evaluate the validity of information. Assign tasks where students must research multiple perspectives on the same issue and analyze how different sources present the information.

• Media Literacy Activities: Compare how different news outlets cover the same political event or issue. Have students identify language that reveals bias or is meant to provoke emotion. This can turn a potentially contentious discussion into a teachable moment about the power of language and the importance of evaluating information critically.  One of my favorite sites for this activity is Allsides.com. 

3. Encourage Exploration of Multiple Perspectives

A healthy classroom discussion encourages students to understand perspectives other than their own. These discussions can be used to broaden students' thinking and help them appreciate the complexity of differing viewpoints.  My favorite thing is when I hear a student say, “I never thought of it that way.”  And it happens way more often than you might think!

Ideas for Encouraging Exploring Multiple Perspectives:

• Use Literature to Bridge to Current Events:  I love encouraging the exploration of multiple perspectives through the literature we read.  How? 

•Literature often deals with themes like justice, leadership, and moral decision-making, which are easily tied to current events. For example, when I taught To Kill a Mockingbird, I brought in content that explored the themes of justice and fairness.  A great way to do this is drawing parallels to modern-day social justice movements and cases.  Ask students to do the work and ask them where they see these themes reflected in today’s world. Challenge them to think critically about how these themes have evolved—or remained the same—over time.

On a side note, I’m teaching The Hunger Games for the first time this year, and we are already having such rich and vibrant discussions, and we’re only just beginning.  There are so many parallels to the modern day, and the novel lends itself well to some potentially controversial topics like power, leadership, and the role of government in society.  Reality television and media manipulation of the facts are perfect for exploring how facts can be distorted and perspectives shaped in today's media landscape.

• Use Structured Debates and Discussions: Use structured formats like a Socratic Seminar or a formal debate to guide students through sensitive discussions. This is my best tip with this - assign roles where some students must defend perspectives they may not personally agree with.  This will push them to consider the validity of multiple viewpoints and also help shift the focus away from personal feelings and onto evidence-based reasoning.

4.  Maintain Objectivity and Neutrality

This one is huge to me, and I have a BIG pet peeve about educators who use open social media platforms to blast their political opinions.  Secondary students are on social media, and you can believe that if you are using your name, they have checked out your social media feed.  That's why I believe that as an educator, blasting one’s political stance on social media takes away the opportunity for those students who have differing views to have a voice.  Granted, some won’t be shy about speaking up, but many will.

If you will be discussing social or political topics in your classroom, it's imperative that you remain neutral and do not share your thoughts and opinions on open platforms (and please note, I’m talking about open platforms!).  Our role is to guide students in thinking critically and forming their own well-informed conclusions not to impose our own opinions.  

In addition to keeping our own stance private, here are some other guidelines:

• Present Balanced Resources: Provide students with a range of materials that offer multiple perspectives. This could include news articles from different outlets, speeches from different political figures, or essays that present contrasting views. In this way, you help them develop a more broad view of the topic and allow them to form their own opinions. 

• Focus on Facts, Not Emotions: Encourage students to focus on analyzing facts, data, and language rather than basing arguments on personal feelings. This helps maintain a more objective tone in the classroom while promoting evidence-based reasoning.

Final Thoughts

Sensitive topics are often unavoidable in the classroom, but they don’t have to lead to division. Instead, they can be powerful opportunities to teach students how to engage critically and empathetically with the world around them. It IS possible to create a classroom environment where students feel safe to explore and discuss even the most challenging topics.  With the right strategies in place, you can guide students through these conversations all while helping them develop as both critical thinkers and informed citizens.

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