Multicultural Dialogue: Discussion in class helps students in 'real world'

Jack Meacham, professor of psychology, says the key to maintaining a meaningful discussion is for faculty members to "anticipate when students might become defensive, angry or hurt, or when conflict might erupt." This, he notes, will help instructors "know when to lower the temperature (in the classroom), as well as when to raise the temperature."

Meacham, who conducts workshops on multicultural education for colleges and universities, has published articles on the topic in journals such as Liberal Education and was guest editor of the November/December American Behavioral Scientist, which was a special issue on "Multiculturalism and Diversity in Higher Education." At UB, he teaches a general-education course entitled "American Pluralism" and covers such topics as religion in a developmental psychology course.

Meacham says the issues that arise in a multiculturalism course "can touch students very personally, for gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and race are among the core dimensions of the identities that traditional college-aged students and young adults are constructing."

Moreover, for many students-whose ideas about themselves and society in general are grounded in their limited experience of growing up in homogeneous neighborhoods-a multiculturalism course provides the first opportunity to talk about these issues with persons who are unlike themselves.

The experience can be difficult, he admits, noting that viewpoints can be seriously challenged and emotional conflicts can arise, since students do not leave their feelings or personal experiences at the door when they enter a classroom for a multicultural course.

Meacham offers several tips for maintaining meaningful debate on multicultural topics in the classroom without unnecessary conflict:

· Stay in close touch with what students are thinking-but not saying-aloud. End the discussion a few minutes early and ask students to write a few anonymous paragraphs that summarize the issue's pros and cons, or that suggest how the discussion could be improved.

· Raise only issues that can be resolved, in some sense, during a class period or over the course of a term. The introduction of more difficult and challenging issues may require more planning on the part of the faculty member from day to day throughout the course than is the case in other courses.

· Frame difficult issues in terms of empowerment, rather than victimization. "Rather than framing the course so that students conclude that misunderstandings and animosities are part of the human condition and always will be, it is far better to challenge them to consider what actions they might take in their own lives to reduce prejudice and discrimination on campus, in their communities and nationally."

· At the beginning of the term, discuss with the entire class the potential for classroom conflict and establish some informal procedures for avoiding conflict. For example, let two or three other students speak before a very talkative student speaks again. "It is, of course, not any particular procedures that are important, but rather engaging in such discussions so that students become aware of their shared responsibility for developing a classroom atmosphere in which they can freely express their own viewpoints without fear of being attacked."

· Have ready a set of procedures for shifting the class away from awkward or conflict-laden situations. These may include the careful use of humor, redirecting the emotional energy of the discussion from talking to writing or early dismissal of the class.

"Often the greatest challenge in teaching a multiculturalism course is raising the temperature and thus having all students become genuinely engaged with the issues," he says.

He suggests framing an issue in terms of sharply contrasting positions, such as pointing to simplistic media portrayals, as a means of gaining students' interest. Also, permitting emotions to enter into the discussion can be a means of raising issues or topics that students wouldn't otherwise talk about.

The multiculturalism classroom, Meacham says, provides students "with opportunities to engage in the skills and practices of dialogue and debate that they must have as citizens if our democratic and multicultural society is to endure."