How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?

I think the first way to answer this question is to ask, what is the issue that is being discussed? Is it an issue regarding racism, sexism, ageism, etc? Is it an issue that causes discomfort to someone else? These are all reasonable and important questions to be asking yourself when you encounter these types of conversations. 

From my experience, a lot of  educators tend to avoid the hard to understand topics or topics that historically caused a rift between students because of the opinions they hold. Nonetheless, the classroom is the perfect environment to discuss these issues that matter. In my opinion, it is the educators responsibility to establish a positive, safe, and equal environment for these topics to be discussed between students as well as the teacher. 

I think the best way to talk about the issues that matter is to be understanding and in all honesty, being straight up. I know it sounds funny, but it's true. As an educator, it is your responsibility to teach and educate your students, not to give them biased opinions based on what you feel or think is right or wrong. It is important to give your students all the information at hand and to allow them to develop their opinion based off the information provided to them.

We, as future educators, play a huge role in the future of our society. And it's the lessons and conversations that we have in the classroom that prepare our students for the real world.