Teaching Sensitive Topics Guide

Teaching Sensitive Topics in Social Studies

Educators are tasked with teaching sensitive topics to an incredibly diverse student body. The diversity spans race, ethnicity, economic status, family education background, mental and physical health, family structure, immigration history, neurodiversity, disabilities, gender and sexual identities, religious beliefs, languages and dialects, political views, and experiences of trauma.

Discussion Strategies

In recognition of this complexity, we offer a few recommended strategies to approach these sensitive subjects:

Before Discussion Strategies:

• Scaffold content: Begin with general overviews or historical context before delving into more emotionally charged details. For instance, start with the political and social climate surrounding a topic, then gradually introduce personal narratives and testimonies to bring depth and human perspective to the historical facts.
• Set clear expectations: Clearly communicate topics and plans to set expectations and enable students to approach a difficult topic with more knowledge and awareness. This also creates opportunities to signpost particularly difficult materials within a topic, such as a graphic image or a description of violence.
• Plan ahead: Prepare for these conversations in meaningful and conscientious ways and provide students with the instructional goals at the beginning of the lesson or discussion. This sets the context for why you want students to participate and provides guardrails for the types of comments and ideas that you will and will not accept as part of the conversation.
• Build classroom norms: Establish expectations around classroom discussion and practice these guidelines for participation, such as respecting the opinions of others and using appropriate language.
• Cultivate intellectual empathy: Engage in classroom practices that help students learn to reconstruct and understand other people’s perspectives, including active listening, perspective-taking activities, and use of materials that showcase diverse materials.

During Discussion Strategies:

• Model thoughtful engagement: Demonstrate how to engage with sensitive topics. Model behaviors such as reflecting on others’ opinions, taking time to process, and asking clarifying questions.
• Take the role of lead learner: Show students that learning is an ongoing process and sometimes involves discussing questions to which there are no right answers.
• Reinforce classroom norms: Refer frequently to the classroom expectations you’ve previously established.
• Provide structure: Use structured formats like Socratic seminars, small group discussions, or panels, which ensure conversations remain productive and focused.
• Shared knowledge and shared responsibilities: No student should feel that they are excluded from or required to participate in any topic simply because of who they are or how they identify. We all have a responsibility to understand and empathize with difficult historical topics. Ensure each student feels like their voice can be heard—or that they have the right not to speak, if desired.
• Expect emotion: Know that sensitive topics can ignite strong emotions in students. Watch for signs of distress and periodically check in with students when covering difficult subjects.
• Wrap it up: Connect discussions back to learning goals and end with enough time for students to transition. Remember that not all discussions have a clear conclusion. Remember to make space for ambiguity.

After Discussion Strategies:

• Reflect: Use specific prompts or open-ended journaling to provide students enough time to reflect and process after discussions.
• Provide resources: Offer opportunities for continued discussion and make sure students know how to access school resources such as counseling services.