You may still need to teach controversial issues

If you answered the questions in the tool and it took you to the larger box on the right, consider how to address any issues that arise from your challenges.

If you answer no to several of the questions, it may be tempting to avoid the controversial issue altogether when teaching – a strategy that many educators turn to.

However, this is not always possible, as there are several reasons why educators sometimes have to teach controversial issues. In some subject areas, there are 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 certain course content that can be perceived as controversial. Those who teach feminist, queer, anti-racist, and postcolonial perspectives, for example, have experienced that the teaching has given rise to conflicts. 

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

The tool offers insight into the challenges you specifically face when teaching controversial issues. It does not aim to prevent you from carrying out the teaching that you are obliged to carry out. Instead, the hope is that you will use it to prepare a lesson that will benefit both you and your students.

Good luck!

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, 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).