Managing Ourselves
We shouldn't forget that a primary
task of a teacher is to find ways to manage ourselves in the midst of
confusion.
Hold steady.
If you can hold steady and not be visibly rattled by a hot moment,
the students will be better able to steady themselves as well—and
even learn something from the moment. Your behavior provides a holding
environment for students. They can feel safe when you appear to be in
control. Your control enables them to explore the issues. Your behavior
also provides a model for the students.
Breathe
deeply. Take a moment.
Collect yourself. Take time if you need it. Silence is useful —
if you can show that you are comfortable with it. A pause will also
permit students to reflect on the issues raised. Deep breathing is an
ancient and highly effective technique for calming adrenaline rushes
and restoring one's capacity to think.
Don't
personalize remarks. Don't take remarks personally, even
when they come as personal attacks. Such attacks are most likely made
against you in your role as teacher or authority figure. Remembering
to separate self from role can enable you to see what a student is saying
more clearly and to actually discuss the issue. It's not about you.
It's about the student and that student's feelings and thoughts, though
often articulated clumsily and from an as yet unthought through position.
Don't
take remarks personally—even if they are about issues
that you feel strongly or involve groups you are part of. Remember,
both you and the group will be better served if you can keep some distance
from the comments and find ways to use them to enhance people's understanding.
Don't
get caught up in a personal reaction to the individual who
has made some unpleasant remark. It's easy to want to tear into a student
who is personally offensive to you. To do so is to fail to see what
that student and that student's ideas represent in the classroom and
in the larger world. If you take the remarks personally, chances are
you will not be able to find what there is to learn from them.
Know yourself.
Know your biases, know what will push your buttons, and what will cause
your mind to stop. Every one of us has areas where we are vulnerable
to strong feelings. Knowing what these areas are, in advance, can diminish
the element of surprise. This self-knowledge can enable you to devise
strategies, ahead of time, for managing yourself and the class when
such moments arise. You will have thought about what you need to do
in order to enable your mind to work again.
Border, L.L.B., Chism, N.V.N (Eds)
(1992). Teaching for Diversity. New Directions for Teaching and
Learning, No. 49; San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Heifetz, R. (1994). Leadership
Without Easy Answers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (especially
pp.250-276).
Fisher,R., Ury, W., & Patton,
P. (1981, 1991). Getting to Yes. New York: Penguin Books.
Frederick, P. (1995). "Walking
onEggs: Mastering the Dreaded Diversity Discussion." College Teaching,
43, 83-92.
Frederick, P.(2000). "Approaches
to Teaching Diversity." NEA Advocate, 17, (4), pp. 5-8.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating
the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning
in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Schön, D.A. (1983). The Reflective
Practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic
Books.
Videos
The Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University has made
two videos that can help people process difficult moments and develop
strategies for confronting them. Each video comes with a Facilitator's
Guide. The two videos are Race in the Classroom: The Multiplicity
of Experience and Women in the Classroom.
For more information on these videos,
E-mail author Lee Warren at lawarren@fas.harvard.edu.
