The JEDI Institute provides workshops on how to deal with hot moments in and out of the classroom to help SCCC employees feel better prepared for those inevitable, unexpected shifts in the conversation. (photo by Cynthia Eaton)

Student to a classmate who's a veteran: "So, did you ever kill someone?"

A male student, late in the semester during a Gender and the Humanities course, disrupting the class conversation: "God, why do guys have to even bother learning about this stuff? Isn't this all for women to deal with?!"

A student, while responding to a classmate who uses male pronouns but whose gender expression is aligned with what we've been taught to read as feminine, refers to him using she/her/hers, realizes they've misgendered a classmate, freezes, then continues.

All of these examples of hot moments arose during our two JEDI Institute workshops in the past month. Our introductory hot moments workshop, held on the October 12 Professional Development Day, included 80 participants from across the college. The second, more targeted follow-up workshop held on October 22 included 29 participants. Clearly, colleagues are concerned and want to learn more about how to respond when tricky moments arise.

If you're not yet familiar with the JEDI Institute, the mission of this union-administration collaborative effort is to make SCCC more just, equitable, diverse and inclusive for minoritized students, which we understand to be inclusive of race, ethnicity, country of origin, and documentation status; socioeconomic standing; gender identity, expression, and orientation; religious beliefs; and physical, mental, and intellectual ability. Learn more on the FA website: fascc.org/jedi-institute.

What are hot moments?

The University of Michigan Center for Inclusive Teaching helps us to understand hot moments as those times during class or in nonclassroom settings when there's a sudden eruption of tension and conflict, or perhaps a more subtle awkward moment that derails the conversation or perhaps a moment when a well-intentioned student says something that is politically charged and personally offensive to faculty or students in the class or to others in the library, computer lab, counseling center or other campus setting.

Hot moments happen. They are unexpected. They are uncomfortable. They can throw us off what we had planned for each class or each workday. Given the nature of polarization in our nation, despite all the uncertainties we face, one thing is certain: Hot moments will happen.

The best thing to do, then, is to be as prepared as possible for different ways to respond. Below is some advice for how to expect the unexpected—how to best prepare for those unanticipated shifts in the dialogue.

Be aware of assumptions that may be at play

Carnegie Mellon's Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence shares some questions we can reflect on to try to surface unexamined assumptions that may be shaping our ideas about and attitudes toward our students.

Some questions to examine assumptions regarding experience and knowledge include

• Do I expect my students to share my cultural and political perspectives?
• Do I expect most students to share my historical, popular culture, religious or literary references?
• Do I expect most students to come from traditional families?
• Do I fail to recognize that members of the dominant group have benefited from the privileges that come from membership in that group?
• Do I expect Black or African Americans, Latinos, Asians or other racially minoritized students to be all alike within their group?

Some questions to examine assumptions regarding identity and viewpoint include

• Do I treat students as if they are all heterosexual? As if they are all Christian?
• Do I think I can tell the political affiliation of my students?
• Do I think all students look like the gender or race they identify as?

We share the above questions because one strategy to help you better prepare for unexpected hot moments would be to take some time to write through your responses to these. We have found written reflections quite useful because the nature of writing forces us to slow down, zoom in, work through and articulate our responses.

Learn some specific response strategies

As we continually return to the (necessarily ongoing) step of self-reflection, we'd also like to share some specific, concrete response strategies that we reviewed during our hot moments workshops.

One specific strategy offered by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan is learning to be comfortable with silence and simply pausing—taking a moment—immediately after a hot moment. This can be challenging if we feel surprised or upset at a comment. As the faculty member, we might feel pressure from students to respond immediately. But it can help by giving us a moment to collect our thoughts and better read the room before responding, which also provides a better model for students.

Alexandra Sedlovskaya, associate director at the Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard Business School, shares another strategy that's especially useful if your course content tends to address sensitive topics. Sedlovskaya notes that it can be helpful to state explicitly to students, "Difficult conversations do not need to go smoothly—what's important is that we are working through it together as a class."

Being able to refer to class discussion guidelines in your syllabus is extremely helpful, particularly if those guidelines make plain that civility is a core expectation of the course and that while open, honest contributions are encouraged, those must be conveyed in a way that respects the diversity of students in the class. For example, here's a statement that Cynthia uses in her course outlines:

Part of this course involves exploring our own assumptions and ideas about the readings and see how they are challenged, reflected or complicated by our lived experiences. This course invites you to ponder your own roles, identities and the extent to which you are shaped by your own cultural experiences.

Developing such critical thinking and analytical skills will serve you well throughout your college career and in life in general. Class conversations provide a powerful way to investigate the complex issues surrounding what it means to be human and to develop more informed opinions about yourself, your community, your culture, your world.

Another course goal is to provide you with a stimulating, open, supportive environment in which to interact with the course readings and with one another. This is where learning, growth and change happens. Thus, everyone should be able to speak openly and honestly but must also remain respectful of others' perspectives.

Our October 22 workshop invited participants to discuss in breakout rooms which of the following eight strategies (from University of Michigan CRLT) they might use for a hot moment they've experienced and to share some pros and cons of each tactic.

1. Respond immediately by naming the behavior as problematic or unwelcome
2. Acknowledge disruption with a smile or laugh and continue with class
3. Ignore the moment and address the behavior later
4. Deflect potential confrontation with a friendly response (answer it as a request for information, express sympathy or frustration and move on)
5. Where possible, create a learning moment for everyone by connecting disruptive comments to course content
6. Follow up with specific students after class
7. Follow up in the next class session with everyone
8. Ask the disruptive student(s) to take responsibility for their behavior.

It was immediately evident to participants, of course, that each of these strategies is enormously dependent on the setting, the faculty or staff member, the timing (is it early or late in the semester? how well do you know the students involved?) and an assessment of the situation (is this a repeated comment? how offensive is the comment? how disruptive to the learning environment? is it directed at a specific person? etc.).

One's response largely depends upon the faculty or staff member's personality. We heard several participants indicate that, given their personality, they'd lean toward "deflect with a friendly response" and "create a learning moment" before "naming the behavior as problematic" or "ask the disruptive student(s) to take responsibility for their behavior." While some preferred to address the issue immediately, participants who identified as more conflict adverse said they'd be more likely go with "address the situation after class" and "follow up in the next class session." Of course, if you're in a nonclassroom setting or in a fully online course, that shapes your response as well.

Most participants seemed to concur that assuming the best possible intentions in keeping with the facts is useful advice, as is saying "thank you for your contribution" before responding and making sure to depersonalize your response rather than target/call out the student(s) involved.

Jenn Browne, associate dean for curriculum development, teaches sociology courses which commonly raise issues that can lead to hot moments. When those arise, she will often ask, "What are some other perspectives on this issue? We know there are more than just two." This reinforces the need to avoid reductive, binary thinking and provides other students a moment to think and chime in from a diversity of perspectives.

Christina teaches a graduate course on diversity in higher ed administration at Stony Brook. She is in the habit of modeling the diversity of perspectives by following up student contributions by saying "Yes, and..." before summarizing student contributions and building on those as she moves the conversation toward the next topic or focus. This enables Chris to amplify and validate what the students are contributing, which is critical in helping them know they're in a safe space for learning and growing together.  

As an English/writing professor, Cynthia is in the habit of asking students, "How do you know this?" or "What makes you think so?" In her writing-intensive courses, she's constantly nudging students to ground their ideas, to seek out the research on issues, to avoid the common pitfall of supporting their opinions with yet more opinions. Learning to cite unbiased, authoritative, reliable sources helps students work toward this.

We offer more resources on responding to hot moments on our JEDI Institute website. We hope you'll check those out, attend future workshops with us and consider participating in our JEDI Institute for our official launch next summer.

Because when those hot moments inevitably flare up, we don't want you left feeling burned.