Last Wednesday’s siege of the U.S. Capitol left most of us reeling amidst an already tumultuous past year in this country. How do we make sense of the events that resulted in five deaths and extensive damage to one of the nation’s most important governmental buildings? What did this tell us about the already deep political divisions in the United States? Wasn’t 2021 supposed to be an improvement on 2020?

 

As teachers were doing their best to absorb the news and somehow come to terms with their own feelings and reactions, they quickly needed to think also about what students might need. Soon enough we were right back to facing one of the pressing educational challenges of the last year: how do we talk about history in the making? How might we turn ongoing contemporary events into some sort of teachable opportunity?

 

Last Thursday, nearly 200 of our students and faculty gathered virtually to have an open mike session about the national events and what they were feeling and thinking. For the most part, we empowered students to lead the discussion. Sarah Wright, our Director of Inclusivity, along with Tenth Grade Dean Emily Perez, who is the other faculty sponsor for our Faces of Diversity group, have been working with students diligently since last year. Among many other important goals for the group, training students to be effective facilitators of difficult conversations has been high on their list, and I commend their efforts, along with other teachers who have done something similar in their own classrooms. Whether the topic is race relations, free speech, police conduct, or the so-called cancel culture, some of our students have been learning the skills and strategies for guiding open discussions on complex and often emotionally charged topics.

 

I was very proud of how the conversation went that day. After setting out some important norms (see below), the three student facilitators opened the floor to comments. Students could unmute themselves and speak directly or put a comment into the chat feature of Zoom. The responses and reactions covered a wide spectrum, and clearly the session met a need that many students had. After anyone shared, the facilitators thanked the speaker and occasionally guided the conversation or perhaps asked a follow-up question. Mostly, they gave others the space to speak their truths, without feeling the need to inject their own opinions. By the time we concluded, we certainly had not solved anything—that’s not the point. But we came together as a community, listening to and supporting each other.

 

I should note that at the end of these open mike discussions, we always invite students to seek out a counselor or other trusted adult if they want to process anything particularly sensitive further. We also encourage them to continue these open conversations with their peers and at home at the dinner table. It’s so important to have dialogue, and I much prefer that students talk with people directly, rather than get lost in the rabbit hole of online chat rooms.

 

Since that community conversation, even more has happened. As of this writing, President Trump has been removed from virtually every social media platform. He has been impeached for the second time, and the nation’s capital is bracing for what may come next. An unprecedented amount of security will surround the inauguration of president-elect Biden. What the Senate will do with the impeachment is still undetermined. Tensions are incredibly high in this country, and calls for unity are being countered by such phrases as “there can be no unity without accountability.” Where will this lead us next?

 

Meanwhile, of course, the pandemic rages on, and nearly 400,000 Americans have died because of it. We continue to try to live our lives in the middle of a time period that will fill scores of history books in the future. With so much uncertainty, it is an ongoing challenge for teachers to support students’ needs, both academic and emotional. But we feel we are up to the challenge, and I see examples every day of teachers doing just that.

 

Our goal is to have another community dialogue during the week of January 19.