Wendy craig, Queen’s University, Ontario and Klodiana Kolomitro, Queen’s University, Ontario
Each year, instructors carefully plan what they will teach during the semester. Then something significant happens that makes us stop and we have to resist the temptation to teach what was planned for the next day.
The perfect storm was created over the past two weekends at Queen’s University, with large student gatherings during homecoming that violated public health regulations, saw the heavy drinking, risk taking, and misogynistic attitudes and behaviors displayed by some of our students.
Our attempts to teach what we had planned seemed irrelevant. What instructors who teach and peer research processes In aggression, transforming the curriculum and how to harness the curriculum to respond to local and global challenges, we felt the need to respond.
We had deep concerns about the behaviors and attitudes that were displayed, and we were saddened that this did not reflect our experiences with students as we know them in the classroom. That prompted us to have discussions that required critical thinking and reflection on what happened and the impact it had on students, the university, and the community.
What is teaching for but to facilitate deep learning, critical thinking and personal growth at a time when we are witnessing the values we stand for crumbling?
We need to have classroom conversations now and make bold and innovative changes to identify long-term solutions. What happened at Queen’s University these past two weekends cannot happen again.
People behave differently in groups.
These meetings are not new, but there is a greater sense of urgency to be more effective and intentional in the way we approach them. These conversations could begin by unpacking with the students. why people behave differently in groups than when they are alone.
When people act in groups (like the students who gathered in the streets), they are more likely to view themselves as anonymous and this reduces their sense of responsibility and accountability.
When people are in a group, they are more likely to engage in aggressive and risky behaviors that they normally do not do on their own. This is probably because they think they won’t be seen or they won’t be caught. They also behave in a way that suits the group that may or may not be consistent with their own morals and ethics.
In large groups, there is also a diffuse sense of responsibility: people are less likely to act or intervene when in the presence of a large group. All these processes intensify with increasing emotions, alcohol consumption, and crowd size.
The opportunity to teach here is to help students understand why some behaved the way they did and to help them reconnect with their individual sense of identity and values. By changing the attitudes and behaviors of the majority, we can begin to change the culture.
This requires working together to improve students’ understanding of their behavior, helping them take responsibility, make amends, and discuss how they can achieve their goals of connection and celebration in a safe and positive way.
A harm reduction approach
The way forward probably involves a harm reduction approach. The students are going to party. A harm reduction approach recognizes this need for youth to meet and socialize, but sets the environmental conditions to ensure it is done with minimal risk.
In this case, it would focus on bringing students together safely in a way that minimizes health and social harms rather than condemning or ignoring them. We need to continue creating safe environments for students on campus where we can control alcohol consumption and behavior while continuing to promote togetherness and celebration, whether it be homecoming or other important events.
We also need to train students to stand up. Spectators play a key role, by By being present, they reinforce the behavior and support it without realizing it.. There were students during the welcome events who had the courage to stand up, step in and take action. Those are the people we must empower, the stories we must tell, and the messages we must extend.
Engaging students
Conversations are a good start, but a systems approach that integrates understanding of these events and taking action across the curriculum is essential.
One of these strategies could be the creation of a multidisciplinary college credit-based course that aims to propose solutions on how students could safely gather and celebrate, including the safety of COVID-19, that reflects their own values and those of community.
Students would learn (among many things) how to approach diffusion of responsibility and gender violence. It would provide them an opportunity to learn about city statutes, policing costs, and the potential challenges for the health system of large student meetings.
The instructors could be an advisory team of mentors that includes members of the city, police, first responders, and university experts. This initiative would challenge students to investigate the problem and be an active part of the solution.
Co-create solutions with students by providing opportunities to lead with support and guidance. allow them to assume ownership and responsibility when it comes to implementing positive change. If they lead the new way forward, students will come and be together in a way that meets their needs.
The behaviors are worrisome, but somehow they reflect big social problems and our constant need as human beings to be respectful and fair. As events like this continue to happen, they take on new meaning and greater urgency. At times like these, we must take responsibility, engage in courageous conversations, embrace student leadership, and make bold changes to the curriculum.
Wendy craig, Professor of Psychology, Queen’s University, Ontario and Klodiana Kolomitro, Associate Deputy Director (Teaching and Learning), Queen’s University, Ontario
This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the Original article.
Reference-ygknews.ca