Teaching uncomfortable topics: An action-oriented strategy for addressing racism and related forms of difference

The purpose of this article is to provide one pedagogical model for address ing uncomfortable topics in the classroom. More concretely, the model recon ceptualizes the process of teaching and learning and generates an action-or iented strategy for dealing with a topic that typically creates classroom d iscomfort-race and racism. Traditional modes of learning are critically eva luated, highlighting how elements of these approaches can negatively impact one's understanding of race and racial differences. The paper then offers an alternative, action-oriented strategy grounded in the notions of collect ive responsibility, dialogue, and intersubjectivity, the Gramscian (1971) i ntellectual," the dialectic, and praxis. This strategy is concretized using examples of teaching and learning about racism and related forms of differ ence that occur both in and outside of the classroom.