Teaching issues of diversity: The politics of classroom interaction

The purpose of this paper is to determine which topics are the most difficult for students and teachers to explore in a Social Work diversity course. Using observations and interviews, this work applies a multicultural feminist framework to identification of modes of resistance among students to specific topics of diversity. In addition to student resistance, the social identities are examined of both the instructors and students in order to assess how these impact both delivery and reception of information in the classroom. Findings reveal that instructors engage in a variety of strategies to negotiate resistance among students and that the topics of race and gender remain difficult for both students and instructors.