If one examines the research literature on teaching controversial issues, the educator’s personal comfort in teaching them emerges as a decisive reason why educators choose not to teach them. This box touches on three factors that make educators uncomfortable when teaching controversial issues.

The educator lacks knowledge

First, you may become uncomfortable teaching about a controversial issue if you feel that you lack knowledge about it. 

Many educators state that they avoid teaching controversial issues because they feel they do not always have the background knowledge to understand the various aspects of certain controversies. This means that they do not feel they have the expertise required to teach about the controversial in a credible and deliberate way.

Thus, to teach about a specific controversial issue, educators want to feel they have in-depth knowledge of it so they can address all perspectives and opinions that students may raise in their teaching. If they lack that knowledge, they might refrain from teaching about the controversial issue.

The educator has not developed an opinion

Second, some educators state that they are uncomfortable teaching about a controversial issue when they do not feel they have developed their own opinion on it. 

This is natural if you have not had time to develop an opinion on a specific issue. Often, the issue has recently become controversial in the public debate. Therefore, you may not have had time to familiarize yourself with the issue or reflect on how you should position yourself in relation to it.

The fact that you do not have an opinion on a particular issue does not necessarily have to be an obstacle to teaching about the controversial issue. As a general rule, it is wise not to unnecessarily express your own opinions and perspectives when teaching. Instead, you and other educators should let the opinions and perspectives expressed in the material or by the students be center stage.

If, on the other hand, you have not developed an opinion on the matter, it may invite some uncertainty in your teaching. For example, this may mean you do not necessarily know how you will relate to the opinions and perspectives students may express, making it more difficult for you to respond to them. 

The educator doubts that they are the right person to teach the controversial issue

Third, educators sometimes ask themselves if they are the right person to teach about a specific controversial issue. For example, a middle-aged man may find it problematic to teach about sexual violence against women. Likewise, if a white person is to teach about racism to a group of mostly non-white students.

The educator, therefore, becomes uncomfortable teaching a controversial issue because they believe they lack the legitimacy to teach it or credibility in the eyes of the students.

Alternatively, an educator may doubt whether they should teach about a controversial issue because they are too close to it. In contrast to the other reason described above, this may be a case of an educator who has a very clear opinion on an issue and is therefore unable to put the opinions and perspectives of the material or the students at the center stage. Here, the educator becomes uncomfortable because they do not feel that they can be impartial in their teaching.

We can also imagine an educator who is personally affected by the issue to be addressed. For example, an educator may feel uncomfortable teaching refugee policy if he or she is a refugee, or if someone in the family is. 

Regardless of the reason you don’t feel comfortable, you should work on what challenges your comfort before teaching about the controversial issue. Alternatively, you could ask someone else to teach about the issue. 

References

Busey, Christopher L., & Evan Mooney. ”Controversy and social studies teacher education”. Academic Exchange Quarterly 18, 4 (2014): 113–18.

Goldberg, Tsafrir. ”Between Trauma and Perpetration: Psychoanalytical and Social Psychological Perspectives on Difficult Histories in the Israeli Context”. Theory & Research in Social Education 45, 3 (3 July 2017): 349–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1270866.

Misco, Thomas, & Nancy C. Patterson. ”A Study of Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Academic Freedom and Controversial Issues”. Theory & Research in Social Education 35, 4 (September 2007): 520–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2007.10473349.

Papamichael, Elena, Mary Gannon, Bojka Djukanovic, Rosa Garvín Fernández, David Kerr, & Ted Huddleston. Living with Controversy: Teaching controversial issues through education for democratic citizenship and human rights: Training pack for teachers. Strasburg: Council of Europe, 2015.

Parker, Walter C, & Diana E. Hess. ”Teaching with and for Discussion”. Teaching and Teacher Education 17, 3 (april 2001): 273–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-051X(00)00057-3.

Stradling, Robert. ”The Teaching of Controversial Issues: An Evaluation”. Educational Review 36, 2 (June 1984): 121–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013191840360202.

Washington, Elizabeth Yeager, & Emma K. Humphries. ”A Social Studies Teacher’s Sense Making of Controversial Issues Discussions of Race in a Predominantly White, Rural High School Classroom”. Theory & Research in Social Education 39, 1 (January 2011): 92–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2011.10473448.

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