A hot moment is a sudden outburst of tension or conflict during a lesson. Here, ‘hot’ stands for ‘heated, offensive or tense’. When tensions rise and you are caught off guard, there are different techniques and interventions that can help get the discussion back on track. The University of Michigan has developed the Hot Moments in the Classroom guide for these occasions.

Tips

Give yourself and your students the opportunity to take a break and calm down: what happened? Acknowledge the emotion and different perspectives. Decide whether you want to discuss this straight away, deal with it separately with individual students, or discuss it during a later lecture.

Questions that explain and depersonalise things can also help with de-escalation. Create a basis to continue the discussion by reverting to the viewpoints or information about which there is agreement and deciding together what is important for a constructive discussion.   

• Count to ten and consider what is the most appropriate next step: address the situation straight away, talk to students separately or come back to it later?
• Take a break: give students a few moments to reflect and maybe to write down why this discussion is so challenging.
• Recognise: express appreciation for the inputs from different perspectives.
• Clarify: ask for an explanation and give the opportunity to reformulate: ‘Did you mean…?’
• Depersonalise: discuss the viewpoint without focusing on the speaker: ‘Are there viewpoints and insights that haven’t been shared yet?’
• Dialogue: ask what is happening and discuss the dynamics within the class.  
• Frameworks: refer to the frameworks you use for debate and discussion, or discuss and recap what is important for a constructive conversation.
• Common ground: revert to the viewpoints and information where there was agreement.

Judy Pace, who is a professor at the University of San Francisco, has developed the Framework for Teaching Controversial Issues. 

There are different ways in which you can prepare students  and create an environment in which controversial topics can be discussed. Invest in the development of a learning community, consciously build up your curriculum from ‘cold’ to ‘hot’ topics, and reflect on your role and standpoint as lecturer; make use of specific methodologies in order to create space for diverse voices and to facilitate an open conversation.

Tips

• Start by creating a safe space, for example by making agreements with one another that offer room for openness and dialogue.
• Be well prepared, make sure you are well informed about the theme and reflect on the viewpoint that you as a lecturer want to adopt.
• Make a conscious choice about didactic tools, discussion techniques and questions that allow a diverse range of voices to be heard equally.
• Address emotions by recognising them, and not ignoring them.

You can find the other parts of the framework on the website Framework for Teaching Controversial Issues.