Teaching sensitive issues in the classroom

[SeekerOfPeace]

Hello everyone,

I find that my students’ perspectives on certain topics are somewhat misguided and misinformed.

I would like to give a class about Falun Gong. I mean, I would like to give my students information about both “sides” of this.

I was wondering if it’s too hot to bring in the classroom. I would like them to think on their own rather than then just believed what they’re being told.

Considering it’s banned on the internet, does it mean it should be avoided at all costs?

Would the students react really strongly to this?

What about Tianmen square, do you think it would be acceptable to bring this up in the classroom?

I’ve yet to make up my mind and I would like to hear your opinions about this.

Thanks.

[daofeishi]

Students would definitely react strongly! The party members among the students will report the incident, and the person given the responsibility of being your supervisor might get in trouble. A lot of the students might also take this as a breach of trust, and will be suspicious towards you afterwards. Friends of mine have gotten in trouble for less, and I myself was once contacted by the security police after what I considered a fairly innocuous remark about Tibet in class. I suggest you keep talking about the three T's (Tibet, Taiwan, Tiananmen) and falun gong to the private sphere.

Don't get me wrong - privately, people might be very interested in discussing the issues, but in an open official forum such as an English class, things are a bit more rigid.

[roddy]

Assuming you're in mainland China, you'll quite possibly lose your job. At best you'll end up getting the mother of all education sessions from the school administration and probably Party representatives and the PSB. You'll also be condemning your students to the same, and any students who actually enjoy your class and get involved in it will be singled out. Assuming you keep your job, any subsequent classes will likely be monitored. Let us know how you get on.

Seriously, this would be a singularly stupid and pointless thing to do. If you feel some desperate need to do something like this, find an example of a religious freedom issue from outside of China and discuss that, then leave the students to make the connection if they're up to it. Leave the Falun Gong stuff to people who actually want to discuss it with you, rather than people who happen to have to be in your classroom.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Alright, thank you for letting me know.

It’s sometimes hard to say, I sometimes have the impression that the students are pretty receptive and China is pretty open minded.

I didn’t have the intention of trying to convince them of anything, but just giving them information. I thought it would’ve been a good idea to practice English while studying some “problems” happening in China.

But thanks for letting me know, I guess they’ll have to find the information on their own.

[roddy]

Ah rats, and here I was looking forward to the 'I'm being deported' post.

If you want to push the boundaries a little, get the students to list social issues - rural poverty, the cost of living, corruption - there are plenty of problems in China that can be discussed.

Bring up certain issues though and you'll suddenly find your classroom is equipped with klaxons, flashing red lights and bars that fall from the ceiling. It's unfair to risk subjecting your students to the subsequent hassle, and any new information you introduce is going to be discarded as foreign lies and propaganda anyway.

If you really want a discussion on these issues, seek out the senior Party members at your school and engage them in lively debate, by all means. But don't inflict it on your students.

[skylee]

Would this thread cause any trouble to the forums as the title appears on the homepage?

[roddy]

I'll edit it a little. Doubt it would be enough to cause any issues, but I like editing.

[imron]

I second that completely. Don't bring up FLG in class, and it's probably not a good idea to bring up Tian'anmen square either. If you really feel the need to discuss these things, it's best to do it privately.

I would like them to think on their own rather than then just believed what they’re being told.

Then structure your classes around activities that teach them to think on their own. Holding one class one FLG or Tian'anmen won't suddenly change them into enlightened learners and free thinkers. More than likely they just wouldn't believe what you said, and for all the problems it will generate it's really not worth it. Teaching them to think is more than just holding a class on controversial topics.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Ah rats, and here I was looking forward to the 'I'm being deported' post.

Sorry to disappoint, not this time though.

Then structure your classes around activities that teach them to think on their own. Holding one class one FLG or Tian'anmen won't suddenly change them into enlightened learners and free thinkers. More than likely they just wouldn't believe what you said, and for all the problems it will generate it's really not worth it. Teaching them to think is more than just holding a class on controversial topics.

Good point, imron.

Actually, we’ve already covered all kind of controversial topics so far, but nothing related to China per se. So it wouldn’t have been just this one class .

Anyway, seems like I just avoided a disaster right there, it certainly was a good idea to ask for some feedback first, before doing anything.

[imron]

One lesson activity you can do to encourage students to view a topic from different viewpoints is this:

1) Choose a debate/discussion topic that will generate a range of different views among the students.

2) Split the class into an even number of groups of 2-3 students each.

3) Assign each group as being 'for' or 'against' the topic. Students have no choice in what side they have to argue, as you need to have an equal number of for and against groups. Emphasize that what they individually believe about the topic is not important.

4) Give each group 5-10 mins to think of arguments to support their group's stance.

5) Pair off the groups so that each 'for' group has an 'against' group to argue against.

6) Let them debate each other in groups for 5-10 mins.

7) Stop the discussions, and move the groups around, so that each group is now talking to a different group.

Continue debates.

9) Repeat the above for as long as it is holding the students' interest.

10) Announce that every 'for' group is now an 'against' group, and every 'against' group is now a 'for' group, and that they now have to argue the opposite of what they have been arguing. Give them a few minutes to gather their thoughts.

11) Repeat the debates for as long as necessary.

If you still have time, change topics and continue again.

While all this is going on, you can walk around the groups listening to mistakes and providing feedback and useful phrases. In between debates, you can also correct common mistakes on the board and also provide useful phrases for the students to use in the next round.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Thank you Imron, that more or less what I'm doing at the moment in my classes. I guess great minds think alike .

I will take roddy on his suggestions, although harshly put, I like his ideas.

I'll find a way for my students to do some research on some problematics which aren't too sensitive.

Thanks for your desire to help.

[gerri]

I have been mentioning Tibet in my university classroom(s), but mainly because there are some students who are interested in how and why China is seen in certain ways in Europe... and thinking that quite a bit of Western ideas are misguided, it was not a problem (I went for the safer "it's so far away, most people have more of a Hollywood idea than any real knowledge" - which I'd stand with, too).

Actually, the most noticeable thing there was that in one class I was (rather privately) asked about this issue, in another I brought it up - and was asked by a student why I bothered.

Something that was recently (nearly) good for a discussion: An old piece of literature (fairy tale-like) where the woman is, as a matter of course, told to shut up and not mind men's business... that did draw a few reactions (not least since my classes are predominantly female).

On that note: Happy Single's Day ;-) !

Falun Gong, etc... nuff said, same from me. Actually, talking about Germany/Austria - German classes here - it can get strange enough having them come upon the "Life Ball" (AIDS charity ball in Vienna, very homosexual/queer/bi/whatever-oriented) and the like...

[Senzhi]

I teach adult business students and I get quite a lot of times confronted with students asking me to talk about these issues.

Needless to say, Imron's advise's the safest (though not the best in education).

I really need to know my students very well (or any other people for that fact) before I'll start discussing any sensitive subjects.

If you enjoy this country, it's not worth the risk. If it's worth the risk, good chances are you won't succeed. Maybe you'll convince one or two, but not sixty.

And remember ... Beijing is not Urumqi, neither is Shanghai Chaoyang. In fact, I don't even believe Paris is London ... except much closer.

[randall_flagg]

I agree with most of what has been said, but I keep wondering: When people say they want to tell people about "Tian'anmen" and "Tibet", just what do they mean? This is not in direct referral to the OP, but Western people always want to talk about these subjects -- which is great if they have done their homework, but nothing but pathetic and dangerous if they don't know what they are talking about.

Even in the private sphere, I tend not to discuss these subject. Rather, I invite my Chinese friends and colleagues to actively "enlighten" me. I will listen attentively, but Most of the time my only standpoint will be that there should be freedom of information. In most discussions, I will distance myself from either opinion but state that I would tend to believe the person who has access to both (or all three) sides of the argument.

For those of you who are in a teaching position and have the strong desire to get your students to think critically, role plays as suggested above surely are a great way of doing it. But for those of you who a willing to take the risks (in this case of embarrassment, not of deportation), from day one, make the students question everything you say. The better educators among you will be able to do so without undermining their authority, as most professors I have encountered have done.

Good luck.

Randall Flagg

[heifeng]

I find that my students’ perspectives on certain topics are somewhat misguided and misinformed.

misguided and misinformed says who? The foreigner at the front of the classroom? I'm sure that'll go over really really well.

[SeekerOfPeace]

misguided and misinformed says who? The foreigner at the front of the classroom? I'm sure that'll go over really really well

Says me. ;)

Misguided might be too strong a word, as what I consider misguided might not be what everyone considers misguided.

Misinformed is another story however. I’m not blaming anybody; everyone is misinformed about one thing or another.

As I said before, my objective wouldn’t have been to tell them what to think, that would just be doing exactly the same thing I criticize. ;)

I think it’s possible to get the students (here I’m talking students, not specifically Chinese) to make their own opinion about something just by giving them some information about something, both the good sides and the bad sides.

We had a debate about gambling in class, about the pros and cons, whether it should be banned or not. I never give them my opinion about the debate topics, I give them some information about it and let them make up their mind about it.

I think it’s quite possible to get the students to learn both something about the world and about the language and this is what I’m aiming for in my classes.

I will definitely avoid the topics you’ve mentioned before. Getting my students in trouble is the last thing I would do. They are the reason why I’ve been here in China for three years and keep coming back for more.

[wushijiao]

This reminds me of when I taught in Henan in 2001. FLG would often come up (not me bringing it up), and it would always lead to a weird mixture of laughter and the Orwellian “two minute hate”, with lots of pissed off, uncontrolled fury. To say the students were misinformed would be 100% accurate.

Nonetheless, it’s always best to stay away from the three T’s and FLG and other sensitive matters if you want to keep working. Setting up activities like Imron’s are very useful. There are also quite a few current events that one can discuss, and if you read the Chinese press on a frequent basis, and find out what debates seem to be raging, you can usually pick topics that will engage students, since they have previous knowledge and background, and that are politically safe.

However, on a very personal level, I always found this sort of self-censorship –always having to gage what is over the line- extremely frustrating.

[SeekerOfPeace]

Yes, I somewhat feel the same way.

Some of my students are homosexuals and are getting a really hard time for it. I guess I would like my students to be more understanding and accepting by actually getting cold hard facts about some issues.

During a class, a student asked another student,

Why do you think that homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to marry?

Many of them said:

If homosexuals are allowed to marry, people will stop having children and it will mean the end of civilization.

I think that’s misguided opinion based on misinformation.

Or

I don’t know. Because it’s illegal.

A foreign teacher last term tried to tell them about contraceptives.

The students, however, asked him to stop, as it made them to uncomfortable.

At first I was really surprised about it, considering how sexuality is something really taboo in China (from my personal experience at least). I was it was a rather bold move.

But then I thought about all those students who had more than one abortion and other similar stories and I thought that it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

I asked my students to prepare a presentation about the debate topics we had in class and one of the topics, which I decided to add at the last minute was:

Should there be compulsory sex ed. classes in college.

I expected most of them to avoid the subject and choose less controversial topics.

Well, it turned out to be one of the most popular topics (among 18 topics). Students had really interesting views about this.

Not a single one of them said they were against. They all thought it was appropriate and that they should’ve had this information way back in high school.

I was kind of puzzled as to why they asked the other foreign teacher to stop. I guess they didn’t a foreigner to tell them about it. Or that an Oral English class wasn’t the right context to talk about those kind of things.

Anyway, reading the newspaper for discussion topics is a really good idea. I’ll look into it.

[Senzhi]

Why do you think that homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to marry?

Many of them said:

If homosexuals are allowed to marry, people will stop having children and it will mean the end of civilization.

Not willing to generalize, of course, but my students react with any topic regarding homosexuality as: " homesexuals are bad". Full stop.

I guess it still needs time ...

[renzhe]

Perhaps some of the resistance coming from the students comes from the fact that they don't consider discussing such topics to be a part of a language class.

They most likely don't discuss homosexuality and FLG with their physics professor, so they might not expect it from a language teacher either.