McGill lecturer disagrees with report that Quebec university classrooms are not safe spaces

A course lecturer at McGill University disagrees with a report that university classrooms should not be considered safe spaces.

A committee mandated by the Quebec government to investigate academic freedom came to that conclusion in a report published Tuesday.

The report followed hearings that included testimony from university staff and students.

Dr. Sabrina Jafralie, course lecturer at McGill University, believes saying offensive words in the classroom – like the N-word – is not conducive to better learning

“I have a lot of issues with this concept of letting profs say what they say whether it’s in an academic way or not because in fact, you’re in violation of what I would consider is conditions of learning,” said Jafralie.

“I think we need to move from safe spaces to brave spaces with parameters with understanding that we want people to feel comfortable. At the same time, your comfortability doesn’t come at the expense of my discomfort.”

The committee was headed by former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister Alexandre Cloutier, who is now the vice chancellor at Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi.

Cloutier is recommending the government adopt a bill that would create a universal definition of academic freedom and would protect that freedom on university campuses across the province.

“People have to understand critical reflection on what they say and the intent and the impact that it has on others,” said Jafralie. “So when we change it from a safe space to a brave space, that’s when people have to pay attention to what comes out of their mouth.

“I didn’t say police themselves, pay attention, because what you say does have an impact on that person.”

The report makes several other recommendations, including against universities imposing so-called trigger warnings – statements that warn students about potentially offensive or traumatic classroom material.

The government created the committee following a controversy at University of Ottawa, where a professor was suspended in 2020 for using the N-word during a class lecture.

“I don’t understand why this group is promoting the removal of safe spaces when we have diligently worked on keeping our campuses physically safe, gender safe, sexually safe, so why should it not be race safe?” said Jafralie.

“I feel any student deserves to be in a class where there is a critical exchange of ideas but we also have to understand, like our constitution, our human rights, that whenever there’s a right, there’s a responsibility.”

Cloutier said university classrooms should not be safe spaces but should instead be forums where ideas can be debated without censorship.

Dr. Jafralie argues that language matters and using offensive words can harm students and even impede their learning.

“It seems that the pendulum is being swayed to be too pro-professor,” said Jafralie. “And I think as professors we need to understand to create the learning conditions, and if learning conditions are violated – a.k.a a student not feeling comfortable – how are we expecting them to absorb the material we’re presenting?

“The definition of a critical argument is finding different ways to say your point of view without saying language that is inflammatory, defamatory, or hurts others. So I would challenge professors to find other words to discuss these topics, and to still raise these poignant issues instead of using academic loopholes to use words that are harmful.”