Karen d. cathey is a 2023-2025 Minnesota State REFLECT participant from Winona State University. Minnesota State REFLECT is a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) faculty learning community supports the development and completion of class level, pedagogical focused research. Applications for the next REFLECT cohort will be available soon.
Read about cathey’s research project Navigating Emotions in the Classroom: The impact of Teaching Emotional Literacy in a Social Justice-Focused Counseling Course. You can also view a poster presentation of cathey’s work.
Navigating Emotions in the Classroom
The impact of Teaching Emotional Literacy in a Social Justice-Focused Counseling Course karen d. cathey
In February, as you ramp up your inclusion of multiculturally focused course material, especially material addressing concepts like racism and its impact, you may encounter student resistance and disengagement, behavior that may be due to students experiencing uncomfortable emotions (e.g., sadness, fear, nervousness, unsureness, anger, guilt, shame, unease, embarrassment, resentment) without the skills to regulate and manage them 1 2 3 10 (Bandy et al., 2021; cathey, 2024; Chick et al., 2009; Prebel, 2016; Roberts & Smith, 2002; Tatum, 1992; Tatum, 1994; Wahl et al., 2000). Chick et al. (2009) found that experiencing emotional discomfort can be an “obstacle” to learning (p. 11). And students’ relationships with their peers and instructors can also be negatively impacted by the various uncomfortable emotions that comprise emotional discomfort (Dirkx, 2001; Russo & Stix, 2023).
Students, especially those with dominant social identities, may try to regulate their emotional discomfort by avoiding, rationalizing, and/or disengaging from the course material and classroom interaction (Ford et al., 2022). Avoidance is a common way people try to manage their emotions instead of dealing with them effectively (Hendel, 2018). Similarly, cathey (2024) found disengagement to be the primary tool students used to avoid their emotional discomfort during class discussions about racism. Disengagement seemed to serve multiple functions (e.g., defense mechanism, identity self-protection, effortless way to restore consonance after cognitive dissonance) for the students thereby making it difficult to preempt. So, the goal is to try to prevent student disengagement by helping them move through that discomfort without derailing and by learning to accept their emotional discomfort with self-compassion and without self-judgment.
Avoidance, rationalization, and disengagement are unhelpful for both students and instructors. Thus, for instructors, ignoring the affective dimension of learning is not recommended because “pedagogies focused on the cognitive domain without engaging the affective may result in relatively incomplete, temporary, and unsophisticated learning” (Chick et al., 2009, p. 4). Additionally, students’ cognitive developmental aspects, “’are profoundly affected by and subsumed within the processes of emotion’ and the social systems structuring them” (Immordino-Yang and Damasio, 2007 as cited in Bandy et al., 2021, p. 119). And instructors’ emotions are an element that also should not be ignored (Bandy et al., 2021).
One way to counter the obstacle of students’ emotional discomfort may be assisting students’ development of their “emotional capacity” through a focus on increasing their emotional literacy (EL) (Bandy et al., 2021, p. 118). By fostering students’ EL, instructors can help them develop their ability “to handle emotions in a way that improves [their] personal power and…the quality of life for [themselves] and… the people around [them]” (Steiner, 2003, p. 23). EL encompasses having insight about your own feelings, experiencing sincere emotional empathy towards others, being able to govern your own emotions, “repairing emotional damage,” and integrating these skills to practice “emotional interactivity” (Steiner, 2003, pp. 33-34).
Following are ideas for how to foster and teach emotional literacy to help students navigate their emotional discomfort.
Read more...
To start, focus on building a sense of community. Because of the human inclination for synchrony, a fun way to build a sense of community is to do activities that activate “self-other blurring,” which can be accomplished by having your students engage in anything synchronously, that is, all together. You can collaborate with your students to come up with ideas for this like saying (“Hey”) or doing (tapping on the desk 2x) a specific thing when something happens in the class (e.g., you say a specific phrase). “Research shows that doing things synchronously can build even stronger social ties and create a greater sense of well-being….in sync [activity] increases generosity, trust and tolerance toward others….It can even increase people’s threshold for pain” (Zaraska, 2020, para. 2; see 5 ways to Apply Brain Research to Engage Students: Brain Synchrony – The Curious Educator for more ideas). A strong sense of community may assist in mediating students’ sense of self and acceptance of their emotional discomfort when encountering polarizing course material later in your course. Also help prepare your students by speaking of the upcoming learning process as a journey and telling them what they can expect when encountering the challenging multicultural topic, including what they may feel and, relatedly, the obstacles they may face. This can help to normalize unwanted emotions and provide acceptance and reassurance about the presence of emotional discomfort (Chick et al., 2009). Additional preparation may include you teaching students ways to cope with and accept their emotional discomfort. In her emotional literacy (EL) study, cathey (2024) taught students these skills to improve their EL: a) being aware of your emotions and the primary ways you defend (see List Of Common Defenses | The Change Triangle By Hilary Jacobs Hendel to help students identify their common defenses) against your undesirable emotions, b) positive reappraisal/cognitive reappraisal, c) finding personal benefit, and d) identifying and drawing on a self-identified character strength in self. To practice facets of EL (i.e., manage their uncomfortable emotions in class, empathize with class members’ emotion, understand the meaning of most of their emotions evoked in class, help them use their emotions to feel more connected to their peers and instructor), students found it most helpful to use the skill of being aware of your emotions and the primary ways you defend against your undesirable emotions (cathey, 2024).
Once you have prepared the class and provided students with tools to limit the negative impact of their emotional discomfort, with your students’ collaboration, set guidelines for respectful engagement and encourage students to offer empathy to themselves and others without easing the emotional discomfort of those for which pivotal multicultural topics is new and socially changing and without foregoing challenges to socialization that instills harm, when appropriate (Bandy et al., 2021; Chick et al., 2009). And start class with a less polarizing but related element that all or most of your class is most likely to agree upon. In the area of marginalized social identities, Eikenberry and Sellers (2021) recommended the topic of disability as an opener to potentially divisive topics because “the data indicate that college students may be particularly sympathetic when it comes to disabilities” (p. 128). Also, at the onset, model self-reflection and what humility and a sense of discomfort without derailment may look like by discussing your own positionality as it pertains to the challenging course topic, your advantage/privilege and marginalization, and your associated emotions. Then invite your students to add their experiences and any questions (Bandy, 2021).
“Failing to elicit and engage students with their emotional responses interferes with learning” (Berlak, 1999 as cited in Chick et al., 2009, p. 14). So, leading up to and throughout your teaching of the challenging multiculturally focused material, use student journaling (Chick et al., 2009; Pastore, 2020; Walker, 2006) or reflection logs (Prebel, 2016) by having students notice and then list the emotions they are experiencing at that moment without including any story they have attached to their emotions. Omitting the story helpfully decreases the activating impact of emotion (Korb, 2015; see journal prompts below).
Having students name what they are feeling, especially at times when students’ emotions may be particularly intense, uses affect labeling skills to create some much-needed distance away from their emotions thereby changing them to an observer of their emotions, which can help them navigate their emotional discomfort instead of avoiding or disengaging. This fosters self-acceptance of their uncomfortable emotions ideally without being critical of them (Russo, 2023). Students’ acceptance of their emotions can facilitate self-awareness and help them elude further emotional discomfort resulting from reacting negatively to having unwanted emotions (e.g., feeling self-defeated for feeling shame), which compounds the harmful impact. Moreover, acceptance of emotional discomfort may create space for more constructive emotions. One such emotion is gratitude (Ford et al., 2022). In her SoTL study on emotional literacy, cathey (2024) found thankfulness for the learning opportunity to be among the key student responses resulting from class discussions on racism.
Attending to students’ emotional landscape and the role it plays in student learning, especially in courses with challenging multiculturally focused material, can enhance learning and connection. With instructor’s flexibility, reassurance, and acceptance, and by teaching and having students use EL skills, class discussions about challenging multicultural issues, like racism, can bear more fruit that are beneficial for the student, instructor, and those around them.
Online Journal Prompts
Which emotion is strongest for you right now?
What feelings came up during the class portion on emotional learning today (write down as many as are applicable)?
What, if any, emotional shift occurred during class today and as a result of your class experience?
Write down what triggered your emotions in class today?
If your strongest emotion is one you consider “negative,” what emotional learning tool learned in this class can you use to alter that feeling, if anything?
Which emotion(s) are you trying to avoid right now?
Why are you trying to hide from this emotion?
What does this emotion need from you?
What is preventing you from addressing this feeling?
What would it take for you to be kinder to yourself in this emotional moment?
What have you learned (about myself, others, relationships, life) from experiencing the feelings you noted earlier?
What can the feelings you noted earlier teach you about yourself?
What personal need is revealed by the feelings you are currently experiencing today?
Where is the strongest current emotion you noted earlier currently being felt in your body? Describe it.
References
Bandy, J., Harbin, M. B., & Thurber, A. (2021). Teaching race and racial justice: Developing students’ cognitive and affective understanding. Teaching & Learning Inquiry, 9(1), 117–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.10
cathey, k. d. (2024). Navigating emotions in the classroom: The impact of teaching emotional literacy in a social justice-focused counseling course [Unpublished raw data]. Department of Counselor Education, Winona State University.
Chick, N. L., Karis, T., & Kernahan, C. (2009). Learning from their own learning: How metacognitive and meta-affective reflections enhance learning in race-related courses. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 3(1), Article 16. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2009.030116
Dirkx, J. (2006). Engaging emotions in adult learning: A Jungian perspective on emotion
and transformative learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 109, 15–26.
Eikenberry, S., Sellers, A. (2021). Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 21(4), 124–133.
Ford, B. Q., Green, D. J., & Gross, J. J. (2022). White fragility: An emotion regulation perspective. American Psychologist, 77(4), 510–524.
Hendel, H. J. (2018). It’s not always depression:Working the change triangle to listen to the body, discover core emotions, and connect to your authentic self. Random House Publishing Group.
Korb, A. (2015). The upward spiral. New Harbinger.
Prebel, J. (2016). Engaging a “pedagogy of discomfort”: Emotion as critical inquiry in community-based writing courses. Composition Forum, 34. https://compositionforum.com/issue/34/
Roberts, A., & Smith K. (2002). Managing emotions in the college classroom: The cultural diversity course as an Example. Teaching Sociology, 30(3), 291-301.
Tatum, B. D. (1992). Talking about race, learning about racism: The application of racial identity development theory in the classroom. Harvard Educational Review, 62, 1–24.
Tatum, B. D. (1994). Teaching White students about racism: The search for White allies and the restoration of hope. Teachers College Record, 95, 462–476.
Wahl, A., Perez E., Deegan M. J., Sanchez, T. & Applegate C. (2000). The Controversial Classroom: Institutional Resource and Pedagogical Strategies for a Race Relations Course. Teaching Sociology, 28(4), 316-32.
Walker, S. E. (2006). Journal writing as a teaching technique to promote reflection. Journal of Athletic Training, 41(2), 216–221.
This month’s Pedagogy in Practice article introduced a study in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Microsoft Copilot is one tool you can use to support educational research.
Examples
You can use AI in many ways, such as:
Brainstorming or refining a SoTL research question with Copilot
Using Copilot to help identify key words or common themes in your data
Read Hitch (2024) for a deeper look at the benefits and drawbacks on using AI for qualitative research and reflexive thematic analysis.
Privacy/Confidentiality
Before beginning any SoTL study, you must obtain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval to ensure privacy and confidentiality. Hitch (2024) recommends stating clearly in your IRB application if you plan to use AI‑assisted analysis.
Follow these good practices:
Use only the tools and methods approved by your IRB
De‑identify all data before uploading it to any AI tool (Hitch, 2024)
When you sign in to Microsoft Copilot with your StarID, our license ensures:
Your inputs are not used to train AI models
Your intellectual property is protected
FERPA and student data remain protected
Accuracy/Bias
AI does not replace human judgment. Always review AI output for accuracy and potential bias.
One way to do this is by:
Coding your data yourself
Asking AI to code the same data
Comparing the two sets of codes
Refining your themes based on both analyses (Hitch, 2024)
Review Hitch (2024) for a detailed framework and example of this process.
Sign in to Copilot
First, sign in to Copilot with your StarID credentials:
Quick Start from Outlook
Open a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.).
Navigate to your campusemail. If needed, sign on with your StarID credentials.
Select the App launcher.
Select Microsoft 365 Copilot from the menu.
Sign on from the Web
Navigate to copilot.microsoft.com
Select the Sign in person icon. Select the Sign in button.
Select Continue with Microsoft.
From the Sign in page, select the Sign in options link.
Select the Sign in to an organization option.
Enter minnstate.edu as the domain name. Select the Next button.
Enter a Prompt
Next enter one or more of these example prompts, ask Copilot to create prompts for you, or create your own. For a deeper dive, Hitch (2024) offers practical strategies and worked examples for navigating AI-augmented qualitative analysis.
Research Question Prompts
Example prompts for brainstorming research questions:
I am [role] in [describe institution] interested in scholarship of teaching and learning in my discipline, [enter your field of study]. I want to focus my study on [insert course information] with the following students [describe students]. The issue or problem I am trying to solve is [describe issue]. List ten ideas for a potential study that builds on existing research. Identify how these research studies would support equitable teaching practice. Cite all source materials.
Example follow-up prompt for refining research questions:
For the [first, last, fourth, etc.] idea, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed study. Consider ethics, feasibility, cost, timeline, [edit or insert other factors] as well as trustworthiness and validity.
Theme Identification Prompts
Example prompt for theme identification:
Upload file(s) with de-identified qualitative data. I am [role] conducting a [qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods] study on [topic] with [participants] in [context]. The research questions I hope to answer are as follows [insert questions]. Analyze these [interview transcripts, journal entries, instructor reflections, etc.] to identify common themes and topics related to these key words [insert key words, phrases]. Compile a count of the key word and phases identified and share a list of common themes, each with a brief description.
Example prompt for refining theme identification:
For each identified theme, evaluate the relative emphasis placed on that theme across all of the [entries, transcripts, files, etc.]. Which themes are most and least prevalent? Which of the identified themes offers the most insight into the research questions I am trying to answer? How?
Note: This article was written by humans and edited by Microsoft Copilot to apply accessible plain language guidelines.
References
Hitch D. (2024). Artificial Intelligence Augmented Qualitative Analysis: The Way of the Future? Qualitative Health Research, 34(7):595-606. doi: 10.1177/10497323231217392.
Accessibility+, a tool within D2L Brightspace that supports inclusive and accessible course design, is now available to all Minnesota State D2L Brightspace users at no extra cost.
Initial functions of Accessibility+ have begun rolling out in D2L Brightspace. Faculty will be able to review an Accessibility+ Instructor Accessibility Report for items included in the D2L Brightspace content area for the summer 2026 and fall 2026 semesters.
The report provides a high-level summary of accessibility scan performed on course digital materials within D2L Brightspace. It identifies compliance issues aligned with WCAG success criteria, ISO specification for PDFs, and offers targeted fixes with recommendations for remediation.
Throughout the spring semester, additional Accessibility+ features, such as file remediation support and alternate content formats, will be introduced.
Learn more about using Accessibility+
Faculty who would like to learn more about using Accessibility+ can register for one or more upcoming Accessibility Sprints offered during the spring 2026 term. These sessions will provide practical guidance on making basic changes to improve files that did not meet specific accessibility standards.
The Accessibility Sprints are available on the Network for Educational Development (NED) Events Calendar.
Visit the NED Events Calendar to view upcoming educational development opportunities. Visit the NED Resource Site for recordings of previous webinars and additional resources.
