A Lone Dissenter

We were about to begin discussing whether the British or the colonists were most responsible for the Boston Massacre. I began the discussion by conducting a quick poll to increase engagement and the excitement in the room. I asked students if they would describe the event as a “Bloody Massacre” or an “An Unhappy Disturbance.” Given the nature of the documents I provided, I thought the class would be split, with half taking the position that it was a massacre and the other half that it was a disturbance. I was wrong. Only one student took the position that it was a massacre. Sabrina, a normally shy student, raised her hand and said that she believed it was  “A massacre because people were killed.”  

This was not what I had planned for. I always try to make sure the discussion question will support my students in taking up different viewpoints and disagreeing with one another. Clearly, this was not the case. In fact, it was even worse than all students taking one side, since I could see that Sabrina felt alone and uncomfortable. I still wanted students to consider diverse viewpoints and genuinely engage with how others might see things differently from themselves, but I wasn’t sure how to achieve that at this moment. I thought about joining Sabrina’s side, however, I worried that it would turn the discussion into 29 students versus the teacher plus Sabrina, which doesn’t feel productive to me and would further alienate Sabrina. I also thought about seeing if everyone on the “Unhappy Disturbance” side actually believed that or they had just taken the side their friends were on, however, I worried that this might feel like I was undermining their agency. I was at a loss and I could see Fiona starting to look more distraught.