Christer Mattsson is a senior lecturer in education at the University of Gothenburg and Director of the Segerstedt Institute, a national resource centre that aims to contribute to the development of knowledge on how to prevent violent ideologies, violent structures and racist organizations. Sensitive topics are his speciality, and in his teaching, he works actively to create an open and thoughtful discussion environment.
When he teaches his course on antisemitism, he starts by explaining how the topic can provoke strong emotions and gives students the right tools and strategies to deal with them.
“I explain that we all have different experiences and talk about how we should think when we talk to each other about things that arouse strong emotions. That we have a responsibility to take care of each other and respect each other on the course. If we argue with each other in the lesson, it doesn’t change anything out in the world.”
“You don’t prepare students to participate in controversial issues by just throwing them into a controversial issue,” Mattsson continues. “You need to give them the tools, to let them think about what can set them off and what can set off others.”
Christer Mattsson
Senior lecturer in education and Director of the Segerstedt Institute, University of Gothenburg.
Once strong emotions start to dominate the discussion, it becomes more difficult to manage, and the prospects for a constructive dialogue become increasingly difficult. Emotions could be triggered by the topic of discussion being associated with personal experiences or someone feeling victimised or attacked.
One way to understand these mechanisms is through what the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu calls fields. A field is a social arena where certain norms and rules determine how people are expected to express themselves, which can make dialogue between two parties with different views difficult, Mattsson explains.
“I would say that we see a lot of this, even in academia, when we talk about the war in Gaza, where the words you have to use have been ritualised. You need to express yourself in a way that shows that you are genuine in relation to your social field, not necessarily genuine in relation to the people in Gaza. For example, if you don’t say that what is happening is genocide, then you are a genocide apologist. It becomes a question of either or. This type of conflict is almost completely unresolvable when we are not allowed to examine each other’s conceptualisations and underlying criteria for conceptualisation. And I think this can be seen in many issues and in discussions that have established what words you can and cannot use.”
As well as preparing students for dealing with sensitive topics, he believes it is also important for teachers themselves to be prepared. It is a good idea to think in advance about what aspects of the topic might be controversial, to whom and why, and what to do if one or more students react strongly and the classroom becomes polarised. It is also important to know what can trigger emotional reactions in yourself and how to handle that.
“I need to know what triggers me and why, so that I am aware of it when it happens. You have to be able to arrest your own impulses. There may well be situations when I can’t, for example if someone launches a personal attack on me. Then it might be wise for me to make it clear that I find that really unacceptable.”
Andreas Olsson is a professor of psychology at Karolinska Institutet, with one foot in emotional neuroscience and one in social psychology. It is when he teaches in the field of social psychology that things can sometimes become heated, because it touches on research on potentially sensitive identity markers, such as gender, ethnicity and ideology.
“What can make things sensitive is that we humans are not really able to separate facts from values. So presenting research on gender differences, for example, might be controversial, because it can easily be misinterpreted as me expressing a personal point of view rather than presenting facts,” he says.
Andreas Olsson
Professor of psychology, Karolinska Institutet.
He also usually gives his students an introduction about the difficulties of discussing certain topics objectively without being affected emotionally – and about distinguishing between facts and values. There are then usually no major problems during his lectures. But if discussions do get out of hand, he explains that there are a few things you can do to manage the situation successfully. For example, you can try to respond in a low-key manner and steer the discussion back to the facts.
It can also help to validate the person’s feelings and try to honestly and openly adopt their perspective, summarising their side rather than imposing your own.
“This is not always easy, as people can get very upset or angry. If it’s not possible, one option is simply to end the discussion and move on. When there is an us versus them situation and people are very emotional, it might not be helpful to continue the discussion.”
At the same time, it should be emphasised that, despite everything, lectures rarely get out of hand because the topic is sensitive. You should therefore not be afraid to address sensitive topics in your teaching. The fact that a subject is sensitive makes it even more important to approach it objectively and to be able to discuss it, says Olsson.
“In my view, if it’s a loaded topic, it’s very important to approach it in a factual way. It means that this is something that really matters to people. That makes it all the more important to establish what the facts are in order to be able to do something about it.”
The fact that we are able to have potentially heated discussions at all should not be taken for granted, says Christer Mattsson.
“We have to remember that debates and conflicts are actually signs that we live in a democratic society. That’s how we resolve conflicts, by allowing disagreement to surface. Only dictatorships have consensus, because there people are not allowed to express dissent. We should not be afraid of controversial topics or polarisation, because they will always exist in a democratic society.”
Ways to deal with sensitive topics
If you are going to lecture on a sensitive issue, give your students helpful tools and strategies.
Think about what in the lecture could provoke strong reactions and why. Make it clear that it is not your intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
Prepare for dealing with with your own emotions. Do not allow yourself to be kidnapped by your own impulses.
In case of conflict: remain low-key; validate the other person/people; summarise their perspective; end the discussion if necessary and pick up the thread at a later time.
Sources: Christer Mattsson and Andreas Olsson
