Abstract

As HE professional educators in Social Sciences, we teach a curriculum which foregrounds inequalities. This includes inequalities related to diverse social groups and differences of race, class, gender, disability and sexuality, underpinned by global approaches. Learners are asked to reconsider the social world through a critical lens with perhaps very different explanations of inequalities and the (re)production of power. This paper illuminates early considerations arising from primary research of those teaching moments described as ‘difficult’ by our participants. The difficulty created for the teacher/student partnership is often experienced by us through the resistance by students who often cannot imagine a world view beyond their own. They can believe their way of knowing themselves in the world is how the world is for everyone. The critical educator recognises that in any given moment they are required to consciously manage the pedagogical illuminations of structural inequalities and individual agency. These difficult moments produce struggle for the student who is learning and pedagogical challenges for the lecturer. This paper captures a snapshot of some of the experiences of educators teaching diversity across a range of subject areas. We also reflect on the potential for professional development and possibilities for embedding best practice in preparing academic staff to deal with difficult moments.

Keywords : Diversity, troubling knowledge, pedagogy, in/equalities, justice, curriculum, difference.