The research clearly shows how important it is to create a classroom environment that is supportive and trusting. There is a very high risk that teaching will be derailed if students do not treat each other with tolerance and respect.

If students do not accept that others have different opinions and also want to express them, what chance do you have as an educator to deal with issues that may raise conflicts? 

The fact that they do not believe that the student group is permissive and supportive is one of the reasons that educators give why they do not want to teach about controversial issues. These educators testify to how difficult it is to create what is usually described in the research literature as an ”open classroom climate”: a tolerant climate based on a mutual exchange of ideas and a respectful treatment of differences.

Being able to create environments that are permissive and supportive is, therefore, essential if you want to teach about controversial issues. Thus, if students trust you and believe that you wish them well, it will also be easier to create the conditions necessary to use controversial issues in teaching. 

If you feel it is not a supportive and trusting group you are meeting, you can go to the next box and ask yourself whether it is possible to develop it into such a group. This, on the other hand, should be a matter for the entire teaching team. It is unreasonable to think that a single educator should be able to form such a group of students. If you feel the student group needs development, you should make it a collegial matter so that everyone within the teaching team works to foster a supportive and trusting student group.

Find out who the students are

If you have a temporary teaching position or are new to your teaching role, it may be difficult to know whether the student group you meet is supportive and trusting. Then, the teaching team is therefore responsible for telling you about the student group.

In particular, they should tell you if, for example, there is an issue that is particularly controversial in the group. Is there any past controversy that you need to know about? Or are there one or more minority groups whose experiences need attention? 

The more information you have about the student group, the better you will be able to prepare. That way, you can hopefully avoid unnecessary conflicts. Therefore, if no one volunteers to describe the student group to you, you should ask those who have previously taught the group if there are any challenges that you should be aware of. 

References

Hess, Diana E., & Paula McAvoy. The political classroom: Evidence and ethics in democratic education. New York: Routledge, 2015.

McAvoy, Paula, & Diana E. Hess. ”Classroom deliberation in an era of political polarization”. Curriculum Inquiry 43, 1 (2013): 14–47.

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

Other

If you feel that this tool 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).