UNM Faculty Senate Undergraduate Committee

Guidelines for Faculty Members:
Classroom Discussion of War Related Events

You may find that you or your students have a need to discuss the war and current events as they unfold in the immediate future. As the leader of the class and the person facilitating the discussion, it is important for you to maintain a safe and open classroom environment in order to guide the discussion appropriately. The following suggestions are intended to help you prepare for and facilitate these discussions:

1.  Think through supportive ways to introduce and close the session.

2.   Ask the class to establish ground rules for the discussion. Some ideas you might want to propose to students before they begin discussion include:

A. Avoid blame and speculation.

B. Respect each other's views and avoid inflammatory language.

C. It is okay to share personal stories and feelings. (Be prepared for students to be emotional, and try to support and comfort them.)

D. It is okay to express anger and frustration within appropriate 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.)

3.  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 shocking news that has shaken us all and second by misguided generalizations.

4. Create a framework for the discussion. Possible discussion topics include:

A. What hopes and fears have you felt about these events when you have discussed them with others?

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 conflict (e.g., give blood, support students new to campus or far from home)?

5. 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.

6. Other ideas for instructors to consider:

A. Join sections together to have more than one leader. In large classes, consider breaking students into small groups with discussion leaders. Discussion leaders should be people who are able to moderate the discussion according to the principles expressed in these guidelines.

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.

7. Exchange ideas and strategies with other instructors, including debriefing the class discussion.

These guidelines were inspired by, and modified from, a document available at http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tragedydiscussion.html

The University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching wrote guidelines for UM instructors, who had been requested to discuss this week's tragic events in their classes. We are indebted to Constance Cook, Director, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, Associate Professor of Higher Education, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan for sharing this information

At the September 14 meeting of the Faculty Senate Undergraduate Committee, there was some discussion of the role of faculty in supporting our community and guiding our students toward appropriate and healthy reactions to the current crisis in our nation.

The Committee has considerable concern about the potential for inappropriate outlets being chosen for the anger, grief, and other emotions that these events inspire in all of us. Many of us are very concerned about the potential for hate crimes motivated by racial or religious categorization. We have chosen to honor and celebrate diversity; we would like to ensure that those values are supported even when they may be challenged by fear.

We as faculty believe that it is crucial that we take a leadership role by allowing and facilitating the processing of these events when we are interacting with students. It is our hope that active support within the academic environment might reduce the possibility of inappropriate and damaging actions by members of our community.

We urge you to address these issues and any further events that may occur with your students. Even if you only take 5 minutes at the beginning of class to allow a "check-in" on how students are feeling and reacting, you will be doing tremendous good.

If you identify students who are having particular difficulty coping, please refer them for crisis intervention and support. We cannot make any assumptions about how others will react based on our own feelings; the only way to support each other is to be open to finding out how others are doing.

Please rest assured: our intention is not that faculty should be therapists to their students. If you have students that need therapeutic intervention, they need to be referred appropriately to those services.

These guidelines are intended to aid you in keeping any discussions you may want to have regarding these recent and ongoing events safe and controlled. We hope you find them helpful.

Robin I. Miller, MS, RN, CNS
Visiting Lecturer
UNM College of Nursing
UNM Geriatric Education Center
(505) 272-8842