The following information was previously included in both a September 2024 Teaching Resource and an April 2025 Teaching Resource created by the Teaching and Learning Center.
Current events–whether local, national, or global in scope–that evoke feelings of instability or uncertainty or any sense of harm among those in our community can have significant and adverse impacts on teaching and learning.
The resource offers concrete strategies to help instructors foster productive critical discourse, as well as how to respond with care if boundaries are crossed or if students are misinformed about events or behave in ways that are harmful to others or that violate UCLA’s Principles of Community or Student Conduct Code.
Design Your Course to Support Yours and Students’ Wellbeing
Consider strategies to support your wellbeing throughout the quarter, as well as the wellbeing of your students. The TLC’s resource on Instructor Wellbeing includes recommendations to approach lectures and discussions with care, compassion, and respect for the diverse lived experiences of students while remaining mindful of your own capacity and boundaries. Those who teach course content that explicitly addresses conflict, difference, trauma, or related topics may find it helpful to incorporate teaching strategies drawn from trauma-informed/healing-centered pedagogy, which, in addition to fostering a flexible and accessible learning environment for all students, entails providing a sense of safety in the classroom and mitigating exposure to experiences that might retraumatize students. Examples include providing content warnings in the syllabus and/or via course announcements and offering students a choice in how they demonstrate their learning in relation to triggering topics.
Prepare to Manage “Hot Moments”
Prepare to manage “hot moments” and potential conflict in the classroom, including the possibility that you or your students may experience bias.
“Hot moments” are instances of emerging conflict in the classroom when the emotions of students and/or instructors escalate to a level that might derail the intended learning objectives. Such moments might be triggered by a question about a sensitive issue or negative, deficit-minded comments that evoke feelings of exclusion. At such times, there can be a strong desire to shut the discussion down and keep the lesson on track for fear of losing control of the class, but these instances can be reframed as “teachable moments,” or opportunities for you and your students to learn together. In the moment, don’t be afraid to pause the discussion and take some time for everyone, including yourself, to quietly reflect while you determine a course of action that empowers, heals, and facilitates learning.
It is possible to facilitate “hot moments,” or conversations that surface, interrogate, and interrupt bias. Those conversations, when appropriate and when approached with attention to all students in the room, and particularly those most impacted by the conversation, may serve as learning opportunities for students. However, it is important to distinguish those conversations from instances of harassment and discrimination, which are unacceptable in any learning environment. Report incidents of harassment and discrimination to UCLA’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Here we provide four possible intervention strategies for navigating “hot moments” in your class that you might consider. This is not an exhaustive list and some approaches may be combined. The most important takeaway is to construct a plan to navigate charged conversations and conflict that potentially arise in your classroom that aligns with your teaching goals and your students’ needs.
Dig In and Discuss
Dig in and discuss an incident when the idea raised by the comment or question is or can be related to course content, you can carve out enough time to hear multiple perspectives, and you have a strong learning community agreement in place to help you facilitate a critical dialogue that is respectful and furthers your course learning objectives. Direct attention away from the particular individual to the idea or topic. Try using statements such as: “I’m not sure I understand your comment or question. Where in the course materials can you show your reasoning?” or “While some people hold these views, that is not necessarily true for everyone. I’d like us all to pause and do a quick write about this topic before we discuss the complexity of the issue as a class.” Follow up by asking open-ended questions to invite divergent thinking. For instance, “What do others think? Why do you think that? What can we learn from these perspectives?”
Address and Redirect
Address and redirect an incident if the intent behind a comment or question is unclear or there may be a misunderstanding of course content that requires clarification but not discussion. Assume good will, and remember the ultimate goal is to correct and support student learning. Try using statements such as: “That seems like a potential oversimplification of a much more complex reality. Where in our course materials do you see evidence of that?” or “I’m going to redirect us here. We are discussing [TOPIC], so does anyone else have ideas about [TOPIC].”
Pause and Regroup
Pause and regroup at a later date if you and/or your students need time to prepare to engage or if you were unable to intervene in the moment. Try using statements such as “That doesn’t sound accurate to me. Let me gather some resources on this topic to share in our next class” or “I noticed that [INCIDENT] happened in our last class and I would like to revisit it and discuss it in the context of our learning community agreement and/or UCLA’s Principles of Community,” and then offer resources or pivot to dig in and discuss if appropriate.
Shut Down
Shut down a comment if it is wholly unrelated to course content, constitutes harassment or discrimination, or if the comment attacks the social identities and/or beliefs of others (e.g., is a racist, sexist, or religiously intolerant comment). Remember that it is nearly impossible to intuit a speaker’s intent, but by focusing on the impact of the statement on your learning community, you are able to determine the comment’s alignment with your classroom norms and decide whether it is appropriate to shut down the comment. Try using statements such as: “I’m going to stop you here. That type of language violates our learning community agreement and UCLA’s Principles of Community” or “I’m sorry, but I need to interrupt. That isn’t accurate.” You should then address the class briefly to help them understand what has just occurred and what kinds of comments are shut down, and to check in with them in this charged and potentially hurtful moment. Consider saying, “I want to step back here. I ended that conversation because the tenor and content of it are out of step with our community norms and university policies.” You might then pause and regroup, and invite students to free-write or revisit community norms to determine a way forward.
Additional Considerations
Remember, that if you or your students feel physically unsafe or threatened in your classroom, immediately contact UCPD or dial 911. Report the incident to the EDI Office once you are safely out of the immediate danger of the classroom confrontation. Instructors who are themselves the targets of hostile behavior may also want to consult with the Equity Advisor for their division and/or confidential counseling services for support in identifying next steps. With these important caveats in mind, we also encourage instructors to remember that one can feel uncomfortable about interrupting biased behavior without being unsafe. A paramount responsibility we have as educators is to intervene thoughtfully when disruptive behavior or hurtful comments undermine our classroom learning community. Even small interventions of the sort described above communicate to your entire class that discrimination and harassment are unacceptable in our classrooms and on our campus.
In addition to the four intervention strategies outlined above, the resources below may help instructors navigate and de-escalate incidents of bias in the classroom. Whether it’s in the moment or at a later date, it is important to actively listen and validate the experiences of individuals who have been harmed and express care about the impact of the biased behavior or comments:
- Brown University Microaggressions & Micro-affirmations Guide
- Harvard Calling In and Calling Out Guide and Facilitating Hot Moments Guide
- University of Michigan Intergroup Relations Resource Guides
Campus Support
You and your students are not alone in navigating challenging situations that arise from local, national, and world events that are outside of our immediate control. Please take advantage of supportive services and encourage students and others in our community to do so when needed. UCLA’s Red Folder provides a flowchart to assist the campus community in determining when and how to refer others for different forms of support, including the resources below.
- Be Well Bruin: UCLA’s resource hub from Student Affairs with an index of supportive services for both undergraduate and graduate students.
- Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS): Counselors available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: (310) 825-0768
- Case Management Services and Crisis Response Team (CRT): Faculty and students can refer students who may be in distress
- Staff & Faculty Counseling Center
- Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Report an incident through EDI’s online portal and review EDI’s UC Principles Against Intolerance Toolkit with helpful information about free speech on campus, academic freedom, and other topics
- Dean of Students: Review Tips for Classroom Management for practical suggestions on addressing disruptive classroom behavior
- Resilience in Your Student Experience (RISE)
- Healthy Campus Initiative
- UCLA Mindful