Why teachers address unplanned controversial issues in the classroom

Cassar, Charlot; Oosterheert, Ida; Meijer, Paulien C.

doi:10.1080/00933104.2022.2163948

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Kendra described how her difficult-topics instruction evolved to be about "being in the moment." The study thus both extends and complicates the theorizing of Cassar et al (2023), who argued for a temporal framework to understand teachers' decisions about unplanned controversial issues. The narrative of Megan, who shifted from wanting to "shut it down" to telling students "You have the information, so let's get to it!"…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Britzman (2003) argued that teachers’ tendency to shy away from difficult topics contributes to the uncritical reproduction of dominant ideologies, while McAvoy and Hess (2013) argued for such teaching on the grounds that it can develop students’ democratic dispositions, help them become more informed about significant political issues, and learn to disagree respectfully. Cassar et al (2023) identified still other justifications, including that teaching difficult topics can support students’ reasoning abilities and prepare them for engaged citizenship in a democratic society.…”

Section: Professional Learning For Difficult Topics In Curriculum And...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within this context, some teachers are required by their standards or curricula to teach difficult topics such as slavery, genocide, or human rights abuses (e.g., Florida Legislature, 2023; New York State Education Department, n.d.).Far from being limited to social studies, however, teachers irrespective of grade level or content area face a growing slate of difficult topics that can arise at any moment, entangling them in discussions of controversial issues such as abortion, policing, or gun violence. Regardless of whether such discussions occur within planned instruction or as "unplanned episodes" (Cassar et al, 2021), teachers continually make decisions about whether and how to address difficult topicswhile news media, social media, school boards, and legislation contribute to a climate of fear surrounding any engagement with these topics (Carter Andrews et al, 2018).Previous research has identified numerous reasons why teachers tend to avoid difficult topics (Cassar et al, 2023). Teachers may fear community backlash (Ranschaert, 2023), particularly when there is disagreement over which topics should be open to discussion or considered settled.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has identified numerous reasons why teachers tend to avoid difficult topics (Cassar et al, 2023). Teachers may fear community backlash (Ranschaert, 2023), particularly when there is disagreement over which topics should be open to discussion or considered settled.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leaning Into Difficult Topics: Inquiry Communities as Teacher Professional Learning for Turbulent Times

Rutten,

Butville,

Dvir

2024

Journal of Teacher Education

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Although teachers make frequent decisions about whether and how to address difficult topics, they typically do so with minimal support. This article reports a case study of an inquiry community of 20 educators who engaged in practitioner inquiry as professional learning for addressing the difficult topics that they teach within their curricula or otherwise encounter within their professional practices. Through an inductive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 community participants, the article’s authors identified four themes characterizing how the inquiry community supported teachers to lean into the difficult topics they believed they needed to address. The community helped teachers define difficult-topics inquiry while connecting them across divergent political and professional perspectives. The community assisted teachers in engaging difficult topics through purposefully structured inquiry talk, and it prompted them to (re)conceptualize difficult-topics teaching as inquiry. The article demonstrates the potential of difficult-topics inquiry communities as professional learning for turbulent times.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Professional Learning For Difficult Topics In Curriculum And...mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Leaning Into Difficult Topics: Inquiry Communities as Teacher Professional Learning for Turbulent Times

Rutten,

Butville,

Dvir

2024

Journal of Teacher Education

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“…As the range of difficult topics in schools evolves, so do the professional learning needs of teachers. Prior scholarship has emphasized that teachers frequently shy away from difficult topics for a wide range of reasons such as a lack of knowledge about particular topics, a belief that some topics are not age-appropriate for their students, or fear of community backlash, (Cassar et al. , 2023; Hess, 2004; Hess & McAvoy, 2009; Misco & Patterson, 2007), yet traditional approaches to professional development, which tend to be rooted in efforts to impart knowledge and skills (Garet et al.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Partnering to support K-12 instruction of difficult topics through inquiry-based professional learning

Dvir,

Rutten,

Butville

et al. 2023

SUP

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PurposeMany K-12 teachers teach difficult topics as part of their curricula, and discussions of difficult topics are common across grade levels and content areas. As teachers increasingly engage with difficult topics in their classrooms, the need for high-quality professional learning experiences has also grown. In response, the purpose of this article is to introduce an emerging partnership between the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Education Initiative at Penn State and the Red Lion Area School District (Red Lion, Pennsylvania), conceptualized from the outset with an explicit focus on intentionally engaging in collaborative, inquiry-based professional learning surrounding difficult topics in formalized curricula and within educational practice.Design/methodology/approachThe article briefly describes how the partners came together, then provides a high-level overview of how they approached their first year of collaboration. Next, the partners’ adaptation of inquiry-based professional learning is outlined. The article concludes by discussing lessons learned from the first year of partnering and implications for scholarship in the areas of school-university partnerships, inquiry-based professional learning, and difficult topics.FindingsThe article observes that it took educators participating in a difficult-topics inquiry community an entire year to begin shifting ownership of inquiry to K-12 students. It illustrates how school-university partnerships can be used to support difficult-topics inquiry and raises new questions about the role of difficult topics in partnership work.Originality/valueThe article contributes an original example to the literature that demonstrates how inquiry-based professional learning focused on difficult topics can provide a powerful basis for forming a school-university partnership.

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Shaping New Aims and Practices of Teaching Controversial Issues in Response to Conservative Critics

Stitzlein

2024

Stud Philos Educ

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While the teaching of controversial issues has generally been supported by schools and education scholars, new laws and public outcry have impacted whether and how controversial issues are taught. Calls to ban or limit teaching of controversial issues have largely been spurred by conservative parents, policymakers, and political groups. Some teachers and many education scholars are deeply concerned and want to preserve teaching about controversial issues. This situation suggests that inquiry is needed into changes in the educational aims held and practices endorsed by various stakeholders. This article reconsiders the aims used to justify teaching controversial issues and situates them within larger understandings of good citizenship, revealing important differences in the explanations and values endorsed by opposing groups. It categorizes the aims more generally held by teachers, philosophers of education, and citizenship education scholars as: reasoning, engaging, communicating, and sustaining democratic communities. Then, those aims are compared to aims circulating within the discourse of opposing parents, policymakers, and political organizations. Finally, this article argues that pragmatic adjustments to educational aims held by many teachers and education scholars are both warranted and wise. It provides potential ways to better justify the teaching of controversial issues, including through approaches that more strongly ground teaching in American principles, historical examples, and a commitment to living together well.

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Why teachers address unplanned controversial issues in the classroom

Cited by 9 publications

References 60 publications

Leaning Into Difficult Topics: Inquiry Communities as Teacher Professional Learning for Turbulent Times

Leaning Into Difficult Topics: Inquiry Communities as Teacher Professional Learning for Turbulent Times

Partnering to support K-12 instruction of difficult topics through inquiry-based professional learning

Shaping New Aims and Practices of Teaching Controversial Issues in Response to Conservative Critics

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