While I feel like this right-wing group is missing the point of safe spaces, I do feel the nationally-publicized cases of “safe spaces” have been easy to target.
I attended University of Missouri for my Master’s, which may be where “safe space” became a household term. During my time there, the university made national headlines because the president failed to acknowledge certain racist and bigoted happenings on campus. Needless to say, protests completely imploded, an enormous city of tents deemed a “safe space” was pitched on the main quad, and those involved in said space were absolutely unreasonable and highly exclusive themselves. Upon first-hand experience with them, they were nasty, self-righteous, and attention seeking – kind of like babies. This is certainly not the norm, but unfortunately these events in Columbia, Missouri are strong contributors of people’s feelings toward “safe spaces” today.
I want people who need help to have a place where they can find it without judgement or exploitation. But there is a line between respectfully requesting anonymity and/or inclusion during a time of hardship, and outright blasting anyone who does not understand your worldview. We demand tolerance, but in these demands we forget that changing and educating people takes time and compassion. It’s not exactly fair to instantly expect people who have lived their entire lives a certain way to instantly understand the lives of people they have never encountered.
Mizzou’s case was in my opinion, very poorly executed and only paved the way for right-wing groups to condemn anything bearing the term “safe space”. I hope that we can come together and proactively educate each other on safe spaces without acting, or dressing up like babies.

Thanks for the post and for the article link. Sounds like an awesome program. I wish we would do more of those kind of things. I think there’s a big community of young people who aren’t excited about a 4-year degree but would be excited to do something like that. And they end up with a good-paying job so that’s awesome too.

While poking around the internet in response to these questions, I found that 75% of German universities provide some type of refugee support. I wonder what the percentage is here in the USA? My guess would be no where near that high. I think that many places are doing good things to help refugees, but I think the biggest issue is that not enough universities are participating.

How strange. I do not understand why these students would think that safe places are only for babies! Everyone (no matter what age, race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, etc) deserves to have places to go that help him/her/they feel safe. In an ideal world, we would not need “safe places” because everywhere would be safe, but I think it is fair to say that this will not happen.

Just read another blog about this issue, so I will copy my to that blog response here ?

Wow – this is a challenging situation (in my opinion). It is hard when people with good intentions come across as having bad intentions. I believe it is a little racist to call on people of color first – I do not think that race should have any roll in how often people get called upon in class. Perhaps this TA is intending to get everyone to participate more (if at this school, white people tend to speak up the most). I can see where she is coming from, and I do not think she should lose her position, but I think tweeting about it was not a smart move on her part.

Thanks for the response. As much as one would like to believe that they could isolate themselves in the classroom from what is going on, it does seem like a foolhardy idea. I can see how distracted students would only show up out of sheer repetition of being in that space at that time. Having a meaningful discussion about something would be better than trying to engage students who would have little or no interest on the content at the time.

Tyler,

I will add to your comments related to student loan debt. Apprenticeships can provide students with training, without the burden of student loans. Such a program exists in Charlotte, North Carolina (Selingo, 2017). “Siemens in 2011 created an apprenticeship program for seniors at local high schools that combine four years of on-the-job training with an associate degree in mechatronics from nearby Central Piedmont Community College. When they finish, graduates have no student loans and earn more than $50,000 a year” (Selingo, 2017). Apprenticeships benefit companies by providing trained workers. I wonder if the availability of apprenticeships will grow in the future.

Selingo, J.J. (2017, January 30). Wanted: Factory Workers, Degree Required. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/education/edlife/factory-workers-college-degree-apprenticeships.html

Thanks for sharing.

One thing that worked really well when I was writing my dissertation was to use the pomodoro clock technique.

I used to plan my writing days using an app for it (there are several) and then schedule sessions as follow:

1. Writing session (20 minutes): I will not read email, or do anything else than writing with no distractions.
2. Short break (5 minutes): I had a list of small things I could do, like responding emails, checking my phone, etc.
3. Writing session (20 minutes)

After 4 writing sessions, I took a long break (15 minutes).

The app will tell you when to go and when to stop. Somehow I tried it against my will and realized it was extremely effective.

Cheers,

Homero

Thanks for sharing.

You post an interesting topic that has been in debate for quite some time. I teach courses in first-year engineering, and in engineering, there is a huge push to commit to class time and get the most out of the 75 minutes we have with our students twice a week.

One time I suggested to have more space in our class schedule to actually talk about current issues and how students felt about what was happening. One senior faculty member told me it was a stupid idea, in engineering there are is no place for feelings.

I disagree, I believe the way we experience the world as persons will shape any aspect of our professional career, and of our learning. Although I see your point and respect your approach, in my experience students that have something going on with the world and are somehow stressed out about anything won’t learn effectively. They will go to your classroom, but is because that is what they were told (“You need to go to your classes”) but I’m not sure if they are learning when something is happening on the outside.

For me, as a practice, they know the classroom is an open, safe, and brave space, and that I don’t mind taking minutes out of my schedule to have conversations about anything. I have received many positive evaluations in my 12 years of teaching engineering, and they always praise the fact that I took the time to have meaningful discussions. I haven’t had the first student complaining (yet) that because of wasting time talking about how we felt they couldn’t learn one equation or programming code.

For some students, specially in first year, they don’t know who to talk to, they don’t know what to do when something is wrong, for many of them the instructor in the first year course is the first person they have contact with, and they consider way more than just instructors, they consider us mentors, and in some cases role models. Sometimes they need to have the time to discuss and have a place where they know they can bring up anything.

Cheers,

Homero

I find it extremely helpful and interesting when classes discuss current events that are relevant to the course’s topic. This helps me see the real-world value of what I am learning. When people understand the relevance of different topics in relation to their lives, I find that they are more invested in learning more about it. That said, I can see how some may think that current events can distract — we certainly live in a world full of distractions.