You may still need to teach controversial issues

If you answered the questions in the decision map and it took you to the larger box on the right, then you should consider not teaching the controversial issue. 

However, this is not always possible, as there are several reasons why teachers sometimes have to teach controversial issues. In some subject areas, there are certain controversial issues that need to be addressed. For example, it may be necessary to deal with the Israel-Palestine conflict in subjects such as religion, social sciences, and history.

Then there are subject areas or a certain course content that in itself can be perceived as controversial. Those who teach feminist, queer, anti-racist and postcolonial perspectives, for example, have experienced that the teaching has been conflictual. 

Sometimes, therefore, controversial issues have to be taught, either because the subject area requires it, or because the subject area itself is controversial. Thus, just because you arrived at this box does not mean that you should avoid teaching the controversial issue. 

Remember: What the decision map offers is insight into the challenges that specifically you face when teaching controversial issues. It is not there to prevent you from doing the teaching that you are required to carry out.

References

Hess, Diana E. Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. The critical social thought series. New York: Routledge, 2009.

Pace, Judith L. Hard questions: Learning to teach controversial issues. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.

Portin, Fredrik. ”The Diplomatic Teacher: The Purpose of the Teacher in Gert Biesta’s Philosophy of Education in Dialogue with the Political Philosophy of Bruno Latour”. Studies in Philosophy and Education 39, nr 5 (september 2020): 533–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-020-09712-1.

Other

If you feel that this decision map was helpful, please share it with your colleagues and others who could potentially use it.

For questions and comments, please contact Fredrik Portin, Malmö University (fredrik.portin@mau.se).