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Involve Your Students

Module 4: Facilitating Socratic Circles on Race and Racism Involving Your Students & Community Agreements Involve Your Students

As you assess the needs of your class, Learning For Justice has suggestions on how to be responsive to your students.

Introduce the topic of discussion early with your students.

Check in with them as a class or individually (if this won’t make them feel singled out) to get a sense of their feelings about the discussion topic.

Address your concerns directly with the class before the discussion

(acknowledge the topic can be difficult to discuss and articulate why it’s important and what your expectations are for behavior).

Remind your students that no one person speaks for an entire group.

To avoid putting students on the spot, this can be suggested as a norm for discussion (e.g., Do not expect one classmate to provide a perspective for an entire group of people).

Model behavior for your students.

“If you think a critical topic affects you in a way that’s different from the way it affects your students, then address that head-on. By acknowledging differences in identity and experience, you’re modeling for students the kind of self-awareness and respect for others that you expect them to bring to the conversation” (Learning for Justice, 2019, p. 18).

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