Teaching Emotionally Charged Cultural Diversity Topics in Family Science: The Pivotal Role of Instructors’ Emotions

Abstract

Many family-science courses are devoted entirely to, or include segments on, cultural diversity. Though some experts believe that a certain amount of tension in the classroom can spur student introspection and learning, discussions that create intensely unpleasant experiences are likely to be counterproductive. Students’ learning may be impaired. Much of the available literature focuses on practical advice for instructors teaching challenging classes, and on students’ emotional reactions to the subject matter. Instructors’ emotions, which set the tone for students’ emotions, have received less attention. This paper focuses on instructors’ emotional skills and experiences in handling uncomfortable cultural diversity class discussions, including the “emotional work” involved and equitability in assignments to teach such classes. We first review published recommendations of best practices for dealing with difficult classroom situations, then present several outstanding questions. We present the latter, in part, to generate greater discussion and research on the relevant issues.