Tag: Anti-racism

bookmark_borderIntroducing conversations about difficult subject areas

Posted on by Gibran Hemani
  • Course: iBSc Genomic Medicine
  • Unit: Genomic Data science
  • Authors: Luisa Zuccolo, Kaitlin Wade

The issue that we identified

There is interest and desire from students and lecturers to include decolonisation processes as part of the curriculum, however it can feel like there are barriers to broaching potentially sensitive subjects relating to protected characteristics.

Students and lecturers may be anxious about misspeaking, revealing unconscious biases, causing offense or hurt, or being ‘cancelled’. Students from marginalised groups may feel vulnerable or victimised by these conversations.

How do we create a positive environment for these conversations? How do we encourage engagement from students when anxiety might be heightened?

Actions

We delivered a group presentation / seminar session that analysed the role of inclusion and exclusion of ancestral groups in genetic studies. A number of ground rules were set at the beginning of the session to attempt to set the tone of the conversation and to reduce anxiety about the topic. For example:

  1. Kindness in terms of avoiding intentional hurt or offence
  2. Kindness in terms of accepting each others mistakes
  3. Kindness in terms of pointing out mistakes when necessary
  4. We have a duty to engage
  5. We should treat this as a safe space meaning we do not tolerate violence, harassment or hate speech.

It was acknowledged that this was a new part of the course, the lecturers as well as the students were prone to making mistakes and were keen to learn how to conduct these important discussions in a sensitive and productive way. An excerpt from the session introduction is included below:

Dr Luisa Zuccolo introducing a session discussing ancestry in genetic studies

Impacts

The session did unfold in a very positive and harmonious manner. Students engaged well. Feedback was positive.

What we have learned

There may be value in standardising this way of introducing difficult sessions, e.g. by having a written code that has been crafted by a range of voices, and that can be collectively agreed upon in advance. Other courses and units deal with this same problem routinely and may have established guides on how to create positive environments for difficult conversations.