The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University created a series of "tipsheets" on classroom diversity.

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TIPS FOR DEALING WITH HOT MOMENTS

Lee Warren, Derek Bok Center

Manage the Moment

I. Manage yourself

• Stop! Breathe. Think. Hold Steady.
• Prepare:
• Know your own hot buttons/biases, and devise strategies in advance
• Think ahead: know what to expect as much as possible
• Don't personalize: self vs. role
• Have partners
• Defer if necessary

II. Manage your students -- so they can learn from the hot moment

• Acknowledge the moment, name the elephant on the table
• Make it safe for all students -- establish norms for behavior
• Model respectful listening and engagement
• Take the issue off the individual, make it general
• Protect the lone outlier, regardless of his/her position
• Acknowledge tears or breakdowns
• See individuals after class, help them learn from the situation

Turn it into a Learning Opportunity

III. Read the situation

• Get up on the balcony, off the dance floor
• Listen for the song beneath the words
• Check that you have heard/understood correctly -- restate
• See how the hot moment reflects the topic under discussion or the initial event -- mirroring
• Get off personalities: it's about issues, not character -- about factions, not individuals

IV. Find and create learning opportunities for your students

• Know your Purpose and keep your eye on it
• Find the part in the hot moment that can be used to further the discussion
• Take the issue off the individual, put it on the table as a recognized, arguable position
• Require students to understand each other's position -- listen, restate
• Ask students to step back and think about what they can learn from the moment
• Use the disruption as an opportunity to discuss the learning environment in the group
• Go around the room and get all perspectives on the table
• Ask students to write about the issue -- in class, at home

Copyright © 2001-2010 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Permission is granted to non-profit educational institutions to print and distribute this document for internal use provided that the Bok Center's authorship and copyright are acknowledged. Accessed from the following link:

Want to read more "Tips" ?

Access more of the Bok Center's tipsheets on diversity.