Presentation given at the HEA Social Sciences learning and teaching summit 'Teaching ethics: The ethics of teaching' A blog post outlining the issues discussed at the summit is available via http://bit.ly/1lndTnX

1. Ethical Issues in Teaching
Sensitive Issues
Dr Pam Lowe
p.k.lowe@aston.ac.uk

2. Ethical Issues in Teaching Sensitive Issues
Background
Sensitive Issues in the class room
Being Sociological
Emotion work and dealing with
distress
Towards an ethics of teaching
sensitive issues

3. Background
In at the deep end….
Teaching began as a PhD student
Final year course on sexualities
(rape, child sexual abuse, porn…)
No discussion, mentoring, or general support as a
new teacher
Contrasted sharply with my research work on
domestic violence with an emphasis on
safeguarding both informant and researcher….

4. Background
‘To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of
teaching that anyone can learn. That learning
process comes easiest to those of us who teach who
also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation
that is sacred; who believe that our work is not
merely to share information but to share in the
intellectual and spiritual growth of our students. To
teach in a manner that respects and cares for the
souls of our students is essential if we are to provide
the necessary conditions where learning can most
deeply and intimately begin’ (hooks 1994: 13)

5. Background
Funded in 2013 by the HEA to:
Undertake qualitative research across
disciplines and university sites
10 Staff interviews:
4 pre-1992 & 4 post-1992
22 students were involved in the
research (u/d and p/g)
Thematic analysis undertaken

6. Sensitive subjects in the classroom?
Both staff and students agreed that it
was an important part of degree
education
This could be related to the discipline
But was also part of a broader
educational agenda

7. Sensitive subjects in the classroom?
Sociology as a sensitive discpline:
I can’t understand why one would take sociology if they
weren't interested in thinking about societies problems and I
don't think you can even understand something as a
problem. I mean you might already construct all of these
things as political or problems or whatever but many of them
don’t and I think its part of our job within sociology to
sociologise you know, to make the connections between
personal problems and social problems….if they don't like
that, they really should be doing something else. And it is
uncomfortable and challenging but it's tough.

8. Sensitive subjects in the classroom?
Student views:
So, I think that (…) it's definitely made us more confident
like for me definitely it's definitely made me more confident
it's made me realise that there is no limit to what I can
question and not to take anything for granted.
We touched on things that, for me, I thought I had a set
opinion about it, and I could write about it, then you start
looking at it from a different perspective and your realise that
actually it is not how it is even you think you know about it.
A degree is for life…….

9. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
There was also broad agreement that
defining ‘sensitive’ was difficult:
Issues of identity (eg gender, ethnicity,
sexuality, religion)
Issues of experience (eg rape, abortion)
Political issues (eg terrorism, party
politics)
How sensitive a subject was would depend
on the individual.

10. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
Biography makes a difference to how
students come to understand sensitive
issues
Can be challenging
Can be silencing
Power relationships are often central
understanding issues

11. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
Staff were conscious about the potential
impact on students
Staff endeavoured to make safe spaces
for students to discuss the issues
But this was not always
easy to do in practice

12. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
Understanding the impact
I think, the teaching sensitive issues to be sensitive to how your
students are feeling about those issues. Because they're not
just paper stuff. They're not just academic, they're personal.(…)
It's about people's experiences. Everyone in that class will have
a view and a feeling about it. You know, and therefore, what a
missed opportunity if you don't get them involved. (…) how can I
get them to open out? It's something that I think the best advice
is to work it through with your group. (…) And to actually build
up, to actually build on the relationship with your students. And
with each other.

13. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
But control isn’t always easy to maintain:
We put them into pairs and they were discussing a role play,
where they had to play partners (…) Discussing the division of
domestic duties and what basis they would make the decision
about who would look after the child and who would go to work.
And erm, I hadn't realised that the two people who I had put
together had just started a relationship. And at one point, there
was obviously some heated debate (…) And the woman just
marched out of the room in flood of tears. And I was like, I
genuinely didn't know what to do, and it transpired that they'd
actually had any discussion about this, and erm, clearly she
hadn't expected her boyfriend to be so chauvinist in his views
about children and various things. So that was a bit difficult to
handle. So things like that can come up like that.

14. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
Students also reported being shocked
at some classroom discussions:
I genuinely thought that everyone in our group had a very
broad and open mind but then when she started coming out
with comments like 'It's ok like, you can't be raped in
marriage, it's not possible' and everything like that, you
know, 'your husband's wish is your command' kind of thing
and you know, you just, even from a human perspective just
like how can somebody think like that? Especially when
they're a student as well, and for me, that really threw me
off. It's like oh my god are we all educated? Are we all
educated illiterate? Like, which one are we?

15. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
The role of experience in the classroom was
often a tension
Many staff believed that it was important to
be open about their own positionality and
drew on their own experiences in illustrating
teaching
Some students preferred this, but others felt it
was inappropriate
Lacked confidence in challenging staff

16. Sensitive subjects in the classroom
Student views on positionality…
It came up in (module name) about abortion, and I
don’t agree with that, but I didn’t feel as if I could
share that at all…
To be honest, with a lot of lecturers they are more
interested in you critically analysing rather than
your agreeing with what they think
It is like Marxism, it is easier just to submit…..

17. Being Sociological
One of the difficult aspects of teaching some
sensitive issues is to keep the students within
the discipline
For example, abortion needs to be
addressed sociologically rather than a
moral question
So discussing social understandings and
issues of power and control, equality and
discrimination

18. Being Sociological
One of the ways that staff to this is through
focusing on the topic academically, stressing
the importance of literature:
I do think because of the nature of what we do as
sociologists, I do think that there is a strong link to the
individual and individual experiences. (…) I still have to be
supportive even if it is something I completely disagree with,
I’ve still got to support the student’s learning experience (…)
I tend to go back to the research because I think that is an
authoritative space to operate from
And it protects people, I think. If you bring it back to the
literature it protects, it helps keep people safe.

19. Emotion work and dealing with distress
Teaching and learning sociology involves emotional
labour
But sensitive issues need a specific recognition and
ethics of care
It’s so powerful (…) it should come with a health warning, a
political health warning. (…) I remember [as a student] the
rage, the outrage of making the connections about my mum
being poor being a girl (…) when I finally made those
connections, and I did though sociology I was so angry (…)
sociology itself, if it doesn’t touch you then you haven’t read
it properly. (…) we need to recognise the emotion, the
emotional component

20. Emotion work and dealing with distress
All of the respondents spoke about the role of
emotions in teaching and learning.
The emotions experienced were extremely
varied
Staff were conscious of both their own
emotions, but also how to manage the
emotions of others – not an easy process

21. Emotion work and the ethics of care
Teaching involves emotional labour
Well obviously I think I get quite emotional, I'm not crying but
I think I get quite enthusiastic and animated and adamant
about certain issues. And emotions can be raised amongst
the students as well. I mean often they have very heated
debates that can turn into quite uncomfortable arguments at
times. Because you are sometimes addressing people's sub
conscious views about things or prejudice that they've never
really expressed before. Suddenly it comes alive and there’s
a shock in the room or, or, I have to be careful to mediate
the emotion.

22. Emotion work and the ethics of care
Staff view on balancing emotions and
learning
Erm, so that's one thing I've learnt is that, try, if you're gonna
bring in, introduce difficult and sensitive topics, you probably
need to allow the students to kind of feel their feet first erm
before they do that. If they're already feeling vulnerable, then
probably something like this probably wouldn't yield good
results. (…) I'm constantly you know scanning the kind of
landscape and looking erm to see whether people you know
are engaged or are horrified.

23. Emotion work and the ethics of care
Staff recognised the ethics of care they had for their
students and tried to ensure that there were support
mechanisms in place
Often this involved:
Signposting difficult topics in advance
Mentioning that absence was acceptable
Monitoring emotional responses
Being available outside of class to discuss issues
Flexibility in assessment

24. Emotion work and the ethics of care
However, there were fewer
resources for staff to deal with
their own emotional responses
Those which did exist tended to
be informal
Institutional lack of care for
staff welfare.

25. Emotion work and the ethics of care
On trying to teach terrorism…..
And that is where the wheels fell of the bus so to speak. And
that really surprised me as I wasn’t prepared for that. And like
no-where in any of the teaching manuals or the advice that we
got just it say how to deal with these things. And what surprised
me was that the students got really passionate about this, but
passionate in a way I didn’t expect at. Emotional, right (…). And
the discussion was really weaving off the intended course and
then escalated (…) And then I thought I don’t know how to deal
with this (…) And the one piece of advice (…) was that maybe
you should get a post-it note and part the issue on the Board for
later (…) And I just thought, I’ not really equipped to deal with
this.

26. Towards Ethical teaching Practice
In practice, often require students to reflect
on difficult issues and challenge viewpoints
How can we educate as a practice of
freedom?
Is it possible to both care for ‘souls’ and
expect academic discipline?

27. Towards Ethical Teaching Practice
Dealing with sensitive issues is a routine
classroom practice that is important for educational
development
Staff are mindful of both challenge students to think
critically, but that this potentially leads to a loss of
classroom control
Learning is an inherently emotional exercise yet
teaching is not often recognised as emotional labour
An ethics of care is extended to students, but staff do
not necessarily receive support in doing this

28. Towards Ethical teaching Practice
What does good practice look like:
Students – signposting, support?
Staff – recognition, training?
Institutions – disciplinary based approach?