Regardless of how well you have prepared for your teaching, there is nothing that can make teaching controversial issues completely risk-free. Well-meaning and well-prepared educators can testify to how their teaching suddenly became too controversial, in the sense that a polemical, perhaps even antagonistic, atmosphere arose in the teaching. 

Here, we can consider several scenarios. For example, it may be a case of students who express themselves in a very offensive way, resulting in other students refusing to cooperate with that student in the future. We can also imagine a situation where students position themselves against each other and form two or more ”camps”, which in turn destroys the cohesion of the student group. Or it may also be that one or more students turn against you as an educator and lose confidence in you. 

Whatever the situation (and more examples can be mentioned), these are situations that the individual educator cannot, or should not even, handle alone.

Management and colleagues are needed

If your teaching suddenly becomes too controversial, you should not have to stand alone with the conflict. You are entitled to collegial and managerial support. This box is therefore not only for you as an individual educator. It is a greeting to all teaching staff, reminding them to be prepared to stand up for each other. 

This responsibility particularly affects those in management positions. They have an obligation to ensure the well-being of their employees. If an untenable situation arises, you should therefore notify your manager as soon as possible and seek help. 

This should be expressed clearly: If your college cannot stand up for you in such situations, it is dysfunctional. And if so, you should ask yourself whether you are working in a place where controversial issues can be addressed at all, especially since you can never completely avoid the risks of teaching them.

The tool asks a follow-up question about whether you are prepared to handle any conflicts yourself. However, it is not recommended, even if you are prepared to do so. 

References

Huddleston, Ted & Kerr, David (2017). Managing controversy: Developing a strategy for handling controversy and teaching controversial issues in schools. Strasburg: Council of Europe.

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, 5 (September 2020): 533–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-020-09712-1.

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).