Just because you have confidence in your students doesn’t mean they can address controversial issues. They can be as nice and welcoming as they like. But when something is controversial, you often teach under completely different conditions and with a different level of risk. 

Research studies show, among other things, that educators doubt their students’ ability to have constructive conversations about controversial issues. Because educators doubt students’ abilities, they often avoid addressing controversial issues.

It takes time to learn to respond to different perspectives respectfully and tolerantly. Being able to listen to other people’s opinions, take them seriously, and respond to them respectfully and tolerantly is not something that comes naturally to everyone. Therefore, you should not assume too lightly that students can face controversial issues in a group with varying perspectives and desires. They must also be trained in how to respond to alternative perspectives and desires, including how to give and receive criticism.

If the students have not learned how to deal with controversial issues, there is reason to spend time training them in it. One challenge is that teachers don’t have time to do that during the course of a course. This should therefore be a common concern for the teaching staff. 

Minorities are often silenced

Students don’t always know how to make room for one another, especially those who represent minority positions. 

Teaching about controversial issues often leads to conversations. On the basis of a democratic ideal, such conversations should be conducted on an equal basis, where each of them is allowed to express themselves if they wish. However, the research literature shows that those who represent a minority or hold a minority position tend to have limited space in conversations about controversial issues. In relatively heterogeneous groups, the majority’s perspective risks dominating, while the minority does not stick its neck out.

Students and educators do not always perceive when this is happening. If you are in a majority position, you can fool yourself into believing that your own position is the only or at least the most reasonable. You are thus privileged and have benefited from more or less pronounced structures and systems of exclusion in society. Although there is rarely any expressed will on the part of either students or educators, certain students are given less space when controversial issues are discussed.

Thus, when you train students to address controversial issues, you should also draw their attention to the need to give space to those who represent a minority or hold minority views. 

References

Byford, Jeff, Sean Lennon, & William B. Russell III. ”Teaching controversial issues in the social studies: A research study of high school teachers”. The Clearing House 82, 4 (2009): 165–70.

Conover, Pamela J., & Donald D. Searing. ”A political socialization perspective”. In Rediscovering the democratic purposes of education, edited by Lorraine McDonnell, P. Michael Timpane, & Roger W. Benjamin, 91–124. Studies in government and public policy. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000.

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

Journell, Wayne. ”Teachers’ Controversial Issue Decisions Related to Race, Gender, and Religion during the 2008 Presidential Election”. Theory & Research in Social Education 39, 3 (July 2011): 348–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473459.

Lusk, Amy B., & Adam S. Weinberg. ”Discussing controversial topics in the classroom: creating a context for learning”. Teaching Sociology 22, 4 (October 1994): 301–8. https://doi.org/10.2307/1318922.

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

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