Amidst Australia's colonial history and the national call for truth-telling about colonial violence against First Nations peoples, educators play a crucial role in cultivating student understanding, even when facing uncomfortable content. While discomfort-based pedagogies have been well theorized (see for example Boler and Zembylas, 2003), this research uniquely addresses the development of 'capacity for discomfort' within teacher identity to assist Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students in navigating such content – both in their teaching degrees and their future teaching profession.

Discomforts often emerge in educative encounters that engage with difficult forms of knowledge, materialised through discussion topics including racism, stereotypes and biases, and truth-telling (Britzman, 1998; Zembylas, 2015). Literature defines ‘pedagogy of discomfort’ relates the intentional ways that educators and students examine their experiences of uncomfortable emotions when encountering knowledge that challenges dominant beliefs, attitudes, and social norms (Zembylas, 2015; Zembylas & McGlynn, 2012). This research is guided by Indigenous ethics rooted in the place and histories of Australia, specifically emphasizing 'relationality and reciprocity' (Bishop, Vass & Thompson, 2019), ‘mutuality and collectivity’ (Grande, This research seeks to identify the capacities that need to be developed for discomfort to be truly transformative.

Exploring the building of capacity for discomfort and the explicit teaching of this skill emerges as a crucial frontier in contemporary educational research. Acknowledging discomfort, particularly in educational settings that confront challenging topics such as racism, biases, and historical truths, is essential for cultivating critical thinking, relationality and empathy. The explicit teaching of discomfort as a capacity holds promise in reshaping educational practices and fostering resilience in the face of discomfort. This research seeks to understand how intentionally building capacity for discomfort can not only enhance learning outcomes but also contribute to the broader societal goals of truth-telling and reconciliation. Examining this intersection provides an opportunity to reevaluate pedagogical approaches, redefine educational objectives, and contribute valuable insights to the ongoing discourse on transformative and inclusive education.

This presentation shares preliminary data from a pilot project integrating ‘discomfort education’ at the start of an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) subject focused on traumatic colonial histories in education. 

This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on truth-telling and reconciliation by exploring innovative approaches to prepare educators who can navigate discomfort and contribute to a more inclusive and empathetic educational landscape.

Employing a mixed-methodology approach, this work is grounded in an extensive literature review and data analysis and the trialling of a ‘discomfort education’ module which seeks to build student literacy around the discomforts they may experience while learning about coloniality in the education system. This module encompasses various elements, such as identifying discomfort triggers, distinguishing between a trigger and general discomfort, and exploring personal motivations and strengths-based narratives. The qualitative data will be collected through participant engagement with the Discomfort Module. On the quantitative front, the study includes the design and implementation of a 'Discomfort Dispositions' metric utilizing Qualtrics. This metric aims to quantitatively assess participants' attitudes and responses to discomfort within the academic context. By combining both qualitative and quantitative methods, the research seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of students' experiences with and strategies for coping with discomfort in their academic journey, ensuring a more holistic and nuanced perspective.

The project aims to improve student comprehension of discomfort in learning, fostering skills to manage and embrace it throughout their educational experience. The subsequent study will explore the impact of explicitly teaching discomfort on learning and engagement within the subject.

Bishop, M., Vass, G. & Thompson, K. (2021), Decolonising schooling practices through relationality and reciprocity: embedding local Aboriginal perspectives in the classroom, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 29:2, 193-211, DOI: 10.1080/14681366.2019.1704844 Boler, M & Zembylas, M. (2003). Discomforting truths: The emotional terrain of understanding differences. Pedagogies of Difference: Rethinking Education for Social Justice. 1. 110-136. Britzman, D. P. (1998). Lost subjects, contested objects: Toward a psychoanalytic inquiry of learning. State University of New York Press. Grande, Sandy. (2018). Refusing the University. In Toward What Justice? : Describing Diverse Dreams of Justice in Education, edited by Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang, Routledge, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/tamucs/detail.action?docID=5257621. Zembylas, M., & McGlynn, C. 2012. “Discomforting Pedagogies: Emotional Tensions, Ethical Dilemmas and Transformative Possibilities.” British Educational Research Journal 38 (1): 41-59. Zembylas, M. 2015. “‘Pedagogy of Discomfort’ and its Ethical Implications: The Tensions of Ethical Violence in Social Justice Education.” Ethics and Education 10 (2): 163-174.