Between maintaining teacher impartiality and protecting student dignity: Teachers’ responses to unacceptable student speech about politically sensitive issues in France and Quebec

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Abstract

This study focused on the issue of how teachers navigate the tension between maintaining teacher impartiality and protecting student dignity when dealing with politically sensitive issues in class. Specifically, it investigated how teachers react when students make comments that pose a threat to other students’ dignity or compromise the inclusive environment of the classroom. By documenting the pedagogical and class management strategies teachers use when faced with unacceptable student speech, as well as the professional decision-making underlying them, the study aimed to uncover potentially valuable insights into both the ethical issues at stake and the range of options available to teachers when grappling with the problem of balancing the professional duty of impartiality with the professional duty to protect students’ dignity.

Authors

• Baptiste Roucau, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières

• Bruce Maxwell, Université de Montréal