I was teaching a class of 18 Italian-speaking teenagers earlier in the morning. Today's lesson was part of a week-long English immersion course at a local high school in outer Milan.
As the main topic was 'diversity, inclusion and equity', I had already foreseen some common issues that would possibly come up in this three-hour lesson. Little did I know there would be an outspoken seventeen-year-old making awkward comments on race and ethnicity. Without repeating his unsavoury words, 'genes' was mentioned multiple times, a question about whether one is '100%' of a nationality was directed at another student, and a view that represents virtually no difference to the one held by a controversial Italian politician, Matteo (surname withheld), was expressed.
While an adult's instant reaction might be one that rightly dismisses the student's ideas, I used a more empathetic approach in this instance. Rather than put the student in the spotlight and dictate how that student should think, I neither invalidated his experience nor approved of his ideas. I didn't say his ideas were completely wrong or mine were correct. What I did was simply introduce a different perspective that lies beyond his current frame of reference. I also asked guiding questions that made him question his own beliefs.