Issues of inclusion and exclusion within the AE classroom: ethnolinguistic, cultural and political issues by kentigar

How can you create safe spaces when you yourself are not a member of the community to which your students belong? What steps might you take?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:05:29 UTC

What is the effect of not speaking up? Do you think it has no effect?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:05:45 UTC

How do you reckon with your more powerful position as a teacher/practitioner—particularly if you are a member of 1+ dominant social groups—and students' ability to be self-determined in class?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:07:42 UTC

What do you do if you and your students don't agree on fundamentally political levels?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:08:04 UTC

How do you make space for transnational students who are in a process of self-reinvention (perhaps practicing '"elasticity' and 'ambivalence'" (Warriner, 2013, as cited in Duff, 2015, p. 62), processes which you may find confusing or even problematic?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:09:59 UTC

What do you do if students do not share with you their experiences of harm in the classroom? (There are many reasons why this might happen.) Is it still important to try to deal with this?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:11:09 UTC

What kinds of pedagogical practices have we already seen that could support you if you do decide to address this issue? What would you actively choose NOT to do?

kentigar — 2023-11-09 17:40:17 UTC

Every situation is different :)

2023-11-09 21:32:02 UTC

For example if the situation is limited and the assessment of the teacher is it can be contained within the small group, a talking to the group may be sufficient. However if the situation is impacting more people, a talking to the class might be appropriate.

Facilitate Open Communication: Encourage open communication among students. Create opportunities for them to share their experiences and viewpoints in a safe environment. This can help break down barriers and misunderstandings.

jerrytotheworld — 2023-11-09 21:32:32 UTC

Because this probably affects the people who are not involved as well.

2023-11-09 21:33:16 UTC

But not in a very explicit or direct way…so something like what we’re doing right now 😊.

I think that guiding a class activity that brings attention to how these behaviors impact the group, and individuals in a way that is not drawing attention to anyone (especially those being harmed) can be helpful

2023-11-09 21:33:18 UTC

2023-11-09 21:35:45 UTC

i wouldn’t speak to the class directly about the issues (ie. “there has been X happening that’s a problem”, but I would likely bring in texts, questions, facilitation, and opportunities to engage around the topic and develop conversations without directly ‘targeting’ the issue. In this bringing awareness to it through dialogue and not from a punitive positioning.

I would also depending on the situation would speak directly with students (will elaborate in that section)

This can be helpful if it is extreme

2023-11-09 21:36:11 UTC

If it reaches a point where it is clear who is involved, and it is causing disruption in the classroom dynamic for other students, it might be worth having a conversation one on one to mediate the conflicts.

In an ideal world…

2023-11-09 21:36:22 UTC

In an ideal world, if you’ve set yourself up as a person students feel safe to share their ideas or worries with and you create space and time outside of the classroom to connect, then maybe a student who is being harmed might be in a position to connect with you. If they ask you to address it, you can develop a solution together. Or maybe they just want to share it. I don’t think you can act based off of your own perceptions. I wonder about addressing it to the entire group because there are more opportunities for students to feel misrepresented or for them to feel it has nothing to do with them when in fact it might. Instead of having a group discussion (or lecture) maybe an anonymous check in like this is a good start with a follow up group chat. There is always an affect when you speak up or don’t. Both are actions.

It would be useful to separately talk to those students who may have conflicts.

2023-11-09 21:36:44 UTC

But I acknowledge that the professor’s social identity may affect the conversation they may want to have. So, maybe the professor may start asking what made them feel the way it did, maybe the source of the problem is just misunderstanding or some state of mind people may find themselves in. That said, if I was the professor/instructor, I would start having individual conversations first (in case we know them) before discussing it with the class.

If I decided to address this issue, I would then try to comprehend from different(if not all) perspectives, because a single story can be very biased. Referencing the TED talk "The danger of single story".

2023-11-09 21:37:33 UTC

create online forums with in each cultural background at the beginning , then mixed them, push students in each cultural background sharing into one or more different online forums. They will learn how other cultures deal with the same thing. all process are anonymous

2023-11-09 21:39:47 UTC

I would have individual talk with involved students but wont address the issue.

2023-11-09 21:39:49 UTC

Instead, will have an ease and relax talk to know about their situation and if they need any assistance. The aim is to build relationship and have more understandings.

Expanding on my other response in the whole class section

2023-11-09 21:39:52 UTC

Depending on the situation I may speak to students directly if they are causing ongoing and direct harm to other students and/or are creating an unsafe learning environment. I would hope to do this from a position of conversation and care and would be hoping to find ways to support those students within the space. Within this knowing that sometimes folks aren’t aware that their actions are causing harm.

Make the best judgement.

2023-11-09 21:40:48 UTC

Sometimes addressing the entire class is not that effective. speaking privately to the individuals who are proving this behaviour can be effective in this case because the students can be given a space to express their thoughts and work out a way with the teacher privately. otherwise, speaking genrally to the class sounds just fine.

It's complicated...

2023-11-09 21:41:01 UTC

If I know who the various actors are and I do not understand well the background of the students whom I feel do something harmful, I would come with an open, curious attitude to communication to try and address what is being perceived as the "harmful behaviour". Encourage the student who felt harmed (individually, anonymously) to express their feelings with "I feel" statements... But this depends on the rapport I have with the students and the context of the class (is it midterm? do I want to make the students feel like their grade depends on their addressing the situation?), the rapport they have with each other, of the harm reported, the frequency and intensity of the behaviour... I would not necessarily jump to conclusion and address something immediately unless someone had complained directly..

It would be great to speak one on one... A more respectful way

2023-11-09 21:41:02 UTC

Speak to the student individually to see if both sides can solve this problem, if not, discuss the reasons to be harmful...(backgrounds, political reasons, ethnicity...). But as a teacher or practitioner, it's hard to be united in some ways. People always have their own choices with complicated reasons.

Ask them, both side, the reason why they did this. Maybe the truth is not like what the majority thought of. Maybe there is a misunderstanding. I think it is really important for the instructors to have a clear idea what was going on before they decided what to response.

2023-11-09 21:42:03 UTC

2023-11-09 21:42:32 UTC

It's easy that people miscommunicate things, even with a same language or similar background. Especially if there are emotions aroused, people may shut down the conversation. So depends on the situation, if the situation is super urgent and escalated, firstly we need to insure no physical harm...

I think it is better to speak privately than to speak to the entire class so that the practitioner can listen and understand the circumstances more clearly (avoid unconscious bias/assumptions). When there is a space to speak privately, ask each student if having a group discussion would be helpful to resolve the solution and then form a group discussion upon agreement.

2023-11-09 21:48:44 UTC