De-polarising strategies to address controversial gender, religious, national or political identities issues

Abstract

Addressing highly controversial topics in a way that calls into question the student's identity can be counterproductive. Ind eed, if a person feels that his or her identity (gender, religious, left-right, etc.) may be threatened, it may lead the person to become entrenched in his or her convictions and not open to enriching or nuancing his or her point of view through dialogue. The article starts by exploring theoretical contributions that examine the mechanisms through which dialogue can be made counterproductive. It then describes examples of activities that can support conversations about gender or other identity aspects, in a non-polarizing manner. Based on these activities, lessons will be identified on how to address controversial issues that affect identity in a way that it does not generate further polarization