Developing a toolkit for teaching sensitive topics at a distance learning university

David Morrison, The Open University

Email: david.t.morrison@open.ac.uk

Session recording

Presentation

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Abstract

Topics can become sensitive when they have the capacity to evoke an emotional response. This may be because we have difficult experiences relating to the topic or because there are strongly held and competing views on it.

In the School of Psychology and Counselling at The Open University, a UK-based distance learning university, a growing number of modules include sensitive topics such as self-harm and suicide. Understandably, these topics can be particularly challenging for students with personal experience of them. As a result, some students struggle to engage with the teaching, learning and assessment. This has been a twofold challenge for lecturers, some of whom had limited experience of teaching sensitive topics in a distance learning environment: 1) how to deliver effective tuition on these topics and 2) how to support students for whom these topics are sensitive.

In response to these challenges, the presenter developed a toolkit for teaching sensitive topics. This toolkit was based on the existing academic literature and a workshop with psychology and counselling lecturers at the university in 2019. The toolkit was launched in 2020 as an online, internal resource for lecturers. Since its launch, over 1,000 lecturers have accessed the resource.

This seminar will begin by outlining the development of this toolkit, its rationale, aims and objectives. In the second part, the seminar will provide an overview of the toolkit’s contents, including when and how students respond to sensitive topics, how to teach sensitive topics, and how to provide feedback on assignments based on sensitive topics. Third, the seminar will critically review the toolkit’s development and present feedback from users. Finally, the presenter will discuss plans for the expansion of the toolkit into a large-scale, publicly available resource for educators at other Further and Higher Education institutions.

David Morrison 

Associate Lecturer (FASS), The Open University

David Morrison is an associate lecturer at The Open University. He teaches on the MSc Psychology programme and supervises student research on mental health and counselling psychology. David’s research takes a systemic and strategic approach to mental health and wellbeing, drawing on his experience as both a practitioner psychologist and manager. His current research includes teaching sensitive topics, independent psychology and counselling practice, and the development of a contextual framework for ethics in healthcare decision making. Outside academia, David is an independent psychology consultant for private and corporate clients.

David is a Registered and Chartered Psychologist, Chartered Manager, Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, Certified Business Psychologist by the Association for Business Psychology, and member of the International Society for Coaching.