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Any teaching topic can have sensitive content, or at least be complicated because lecturers and students are likely to hold (based on their own experiences, interests, and values) strong opinions. This chapter explores the theoretical and practical issues of teaching cultural concepts. Colleagues are often left to negotiate the teaching of sensitive issues with little guidance on which to base their approach and educational practices. Therefore using the framework ‘Teaching Sensitive Topics Using Social Positioning’ developed by the authors of this chapter, and illustrative example, the chapter explores the practice of teaching cultural concepts in the curriculum to identify themes related to what can be learned and disseminated. An analysis of international social work (SW) is drawn on to think critically about education and the cultural appropriateness of the theories, practices and competencies utilised. The authors draw on their own knowledge and experiences as registered SW’s/educators/academics/researchers, and their own teaching in relation to sensitive topics at local, national and international levels.

Our experiences, whilst based on teaching in other countries, highlight a range of considerations for all educators in teaching sensitive topics. There is a need to learn from these lessons when adopting cultural concept practices to develop curricula. We recommend adopting reflexivity, flexibility, openness, empathy, and emotional intelligence, which should allow colleagues to teach culturally sensitive subjects by forging transcultural understandings and critically applying these understandings to their own culture.

Illicit substance use can have a detrimental effect on a young person's life, abilities, psychosocial well-being, educational participation, attainment and outcomes. It is associated with and can lead to increased vulnerability and be a serious safeguarding concern. This chapter explores the concept of illicit substance as a process of ‘normalisation’ among children and young people. It also explores the concept of ‘game playing’, poly and tertiary substance use and considers some of the implications of illicit substance use and of young people becoming involved in ‘County Lines’. Understanding the nature, scale, extent and consequences of illicit substance use, and how young people are portrayed and stigmatised by those around them are important in relation to responding appropriately to need, and in assessing safeguarding concerns. This chapter will also discuss these concerns and conclude by critically considering the implications of illicit substance use for teachers and schools, whilst considering appropriate responses which identify and reduce risk.

Any topic can be sensitive, and every subject area will have sensitive issues and topics that academics in higher education and further education settings will be expected to negotiate. Your ability to negotiate sensitive topics is important because the ways in which you engage and teach about sensitive topics will affect your ability to provide a positive learning experience and teaching alliance with students. In practice, you will face enormous pressure to ‘deliver’ on teaching, which will only be mirrored by similar freedoms in deciding on how and what needs to be done to get students to where they need to be. Negotiating, identifying, preparing for and delivering teaching on sensitive subjects and topics can be difficult in individual academics. This chapter, seeks to prepare you for developing a deeper understanding of some of the philosophical, theoretical, and practical-based concerns and issues related to teaching sensitive topics and subjects. This chapter begins with providing a rationale for what follows, and it explores some of the key themes, positionality, identity, transformational learning and lived experience, that are explored in greater depth in the collection. This chapter also contains a detailed breakdown of the structure and the content of this edited collection, and it concludes with some reflective comments about the implications of the collection for you as an individual and your career.

As a British Muslim woman who wears the hijab, the author’s identity/identities are often questioned and none more so than in boththe professional and educational settings they occupy. This critical reflection hopes to highlight some assumptions around how the identity of the author of this chapter can be understood and challenged and foregrounds theways in which assumptions both liberate and instigate forms of oppression and opportunity. Identity theory has helped this author to understand how their identities are understood and has provided them with a lens from which to engage with others in challenging perceptions and building relationships.

Individuals who are exploited and manipulated by criminal gangs are often wrongly labelled, stereotyped, and blamed (to varying levels) for the vulnerable positions that they find themselves in. Individuals who perpetrate violence towards others have often also been victims of violence and crime themselves. Teaching about these groups and trying to represent their position and experiences is a difficult and sensitive area. Building on current research, experiences of teaching professionals and students about the exploitation of marginalised groups, serious violence, and crime during COVID-19, are reflected upon. In doing so, what is important for students to understand about marganilised groups is set out, and recommendations for improvements to teaching practice are discussed. Firstly, it is argued that where educators seek to help students learn about marginalised groups, there needs to be preparation to put the work in at the front end and reflect on their own assumptions, beliefs and learning needs. Secondly, they also need to think about the ‘active’ and ‘passive’ (Seddon, 2005) aspects of individual agency and to be as authentic as they can to the lived experiences of marginalised communities as community members engage in types of behaviours and access services. Finally, it is then important for them to open up opportunities for students to reflect on the more detailed aspects and wider social, economic, and structural factors that marginalised communities face as they endeavour to articulate their own needs in society.

Involving People with Lived Experience (PwLE) in the development and delivery of teaching provides a more in-depth insight and authenticity to students learning about important social concerns like substance use. Involving PwLE is recognised as an approach to teaching and collaboration which is beneficial for those involved as learners and (if done correctly) for those who gift their time to sharing their opinions and experiences. More is known within the literature about the benefits for academics and students in relation to involving PwLE in the development, design, and delivery of teaching, less is known about how PwLE experience their involvement and how they prepare for their involvement in the process. In this reflective chapter, we utilise our own collective experiences of working with and/or supporting the involvement of PwLE in the development of teaching resources and teaching practices. The reflections contained here are based upon own highly subjective experiences of working with and supporting PwLE to get involved in the development of resources and delivery of teaching content. From these reflections, we hope that you the reader is able to understand more about how PwLE and this will encourage you to become engaged with this process. In doing so, we hope you also gain some insights into your own teaching practices and learning needs.

Colin Bloom’s recent report Does Government ‘do God’? (2023) examines, in great detail, the sensitivity and rigour of the place of religion in contemporary British society. More precisely, how the government and its institutions engage with religion. In the timely report, Bloom uncovers many instances where religion and faith are a force for good but also where society and the actors and agencies that contribute towards it struggle to understand people of faith and their expressions of it. While not specifically examining how universities engage with this, the message is clear, as a society we are largely ignorant of (at best) or hostile to (at worst) the place of religion in people’s lives. This chapter examines what this means for universities and how academics, support staff, and students can become more aware of the contributing factors to a religious worldview. An awareness of religion as a sensitive subject for many, which in turn may lead to misunderstanding, must be addressed and explored in order for shared understanding to emerge.

Mental health is a sensitive topic to teach, as it’s difficult to judge anyone’s personal experiences of mental distress. Northumbria University has developed a programme explicitly for people with experience of mental distress who have an interest in being involved in research. This chapter discusses how it is important to be sensitive to the different experiences that students have and to develop reciprocal trust. It goes on to discuss the importance of creating a safe space for students to learn about mental health and research and provide some tips for doing so. These tips include being clear about individual biases and limitations, using personal stories and examples to connect with students, emphasising the importance of resilience, connecting students to resources and being open and flexible to offering additional support in a sensitive way. The chapter also discusses the challenges that students experiencing mental distress may face in academia, such as low self-esteem, imposter syndrome, and difficulties in accessing resources. The chapter provides some suggestions as to how educators can address these challenges such as providing students with opportunities to share personal experiences and learning to turn those experiences into assets. In addition, this chapter highlights the potential for students to shift their identity from ‘patient’ to ‘student’ to ‘researcher’ as they engage in the learning process. This shift in identity can be empowering and can help students to feel more in control of both their mental health and their futures. Overall, the chapter provides valuable insights into how to teach about mental health in an inclusive and sensitive way. The tips and suggestions provided can help educators to create safe and trusting environments for students to learn and address challenges with mental health often faced in academia.