Over the past several weeks, schools have wrestled with how — and whether — to talk to their students about the Israel-Hamas war. The Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of Gaza have killed thousands of civilians.
As difficult as it can be to discuss the war, and the decades of conflict that have preceded it, schools can be a place to help students navigate the “toxic discourse,” write Amaney Jamal and Keren Yarhi-Milo, two university deans, in a guest essay for the Opinion section of The New York Times.
Educators, they write, can “state hard truths and clarify critical issues,” challenge students’ preconceptions and encourage them to “think through their positions using data, evidence and logic.” Teachers can also invite learners “to reflect on how their own emotions shape, and occasionally distort, their analysis of the world around them.”
If you have addressed this conflict in your classroom, we would love to hear from you — whether you devoted one class period or many. What resources have you found useful? What challenges are you encountering? What questions or issues are your students raising? What advice do you have for others?
Please tell us via the form below. We hope to publish a roundup of your replies, but we understand that some of what you may want to express might be sensitive. Though we need your full name and details when you submit a response, you can tell us how you would prefer to be identified if we publish your ideas.