Although most young adults are enjoying the holidays on this bright Tuesday morning, PXL Hasselt students are holding a cross-curricular workshop week to support their teaching practice. Djapo cannot be missing here with an interactive session on controversial classroom discussions.
Tough taboo or hot topic? In-service training class discussions on controversial topics
In practice
6 July 2023
From J.K. Rowling's transphobic statements to fast fashion. As well as the themes the teacher training students from PXL Hasselt University of Applied Sciences wanted to discuss with their students after the Djapo session on controversial classroom discussions. During the session, they were given the necessary background information to determine their own position as teachers within a polarised environment. On top of that, they were treated to an arsenal of working forms to give concrete shape to discussions. No taboo is still too challenging for these future teachers.
Measuring temperature
We welcome the students with a handout and some coloured cards. From the start, the students' action and engagement is palpable. The session is made up of working forms you can use to facilitate class discussions. After a check-in with the feelings wheel
students express their opinions on the topic with the agreement chord.
Then it's time for the thermometer: how do you feel about this topic? Cold, hot or lukewarm? Students' hands go up in the air with the coloured card that best reflects their feelings. During Yay! Bloody hell! students then discuss the pros and cons of controversial topics in class.
I do try to raise controversial topics in class, but sometimes I get stuck. Now I can try something different. I have realised that with very little or even no material, you can still bring a different way of working. That seems easy to me, that you always have something in reserve.
Student PXL Hasselt
From controversy to polarisation
After hands-on techniques to excite students, it is time for students to reflect on their position within a class discussion on a controversial topic. As a teacher, should I be neutral? Am I allowed to express my opinion? Or am I best to take a conciliatory role? An insightful video clip introduces students to Brandsma's polarisation model.
Then things get serious. Faced with real examples of controversial statements, the students discuss their approach together. Can they think of more controversial themes? Definitely! The war in Ukraine, global warming, LGBTI+ and for the biology class... eye dissections!
Cause-effect bow on a bed of reflection memory
For dessert, students are presented with additional working forms that they can put in their backpacks and pull out as needed: the circle map, the cause-effect bow
and, our personal favourite, the ping-pong discussion. The students look back on the workshop with a reflection memory. After enthusiastic applause, it is already time for lunch break at PXL. What did the students and the lecturer think of the session? You can read that below!
I found it a very informative session. I like to bring up controversial topics in class because I find it really enriching for the students. I learnt a lot, especially when it comes to my role as a teacher during a controversial class discussion. I really enjoyed understanding class dynamics better and experiencing new ways of working. I would like my students to really remember a lot of my lessons, not just from the book. This session made me stronger at that.
Teacher-in-training English & Dutch
Above all, we want our students to take the elements from the session into their daily teaching practice. That they are open to controversial topics and, above all, dare to discuss them. I was pleasantly surprised by the session. Especially also about the students' enthusiasm. It is holidays and they have to attend workshops. Yet they participated very well. I also liked the approach. There is a lot of variety and interaction, which I think is important. It also gives some practical tools that students can apply in teaching practice. I have attended this session twice now and I am very satisfied. Next year, Djapo will definitely be welcome here again!
Lecturer Diversity & Classroom Management PXL Hasselt
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