Thursday, July 23, 2009

Controversy in the Classroom

What would you do?

2008. The Presidential Election. My 5th period American Government class. The issue…….abortion. The problem: do I merely facilitate this discussion over abortion with my students or do I jump in and join the discussion while sharing my own opinions with the class as well?

Controversial issues and hot button topics of the day are, by nature, generally more common in social studies classes. These could range from public issues, policy issues, and also current & historical issues. From my experiences, there are generally three main opinions held by teachers who must deal with these controversial issues in their classrooms.

#1- Teacher can include the controversial issues in their class. Students may discuss, teacher can present both sides of the issue, but the teacher remains a facilitator not divulging any other their own opinions on the matter.
#2- Teacher doesn’t discuss or include any controversial issues in their class.
#3- Teacher includes controversial issues in their classes. Teacher can present both sides of the argument, students can discuss, and teacher joins the discussion as well presenting his/her own opinions.

So…..which of the three main choices is the best?

Covering controversial issues in a classroom (especially a social studies classroom) is not only inevitable, but essential for authentic learning to take place. There are safe and strategic ways for teachers to include these topics and even their own opinions in their classes, and their students are the better for it. One thing that I want for my students is to learn and develop processes for arriving at their own reasoned conclusions. Teaching and discussing controversial topics with your students is a perfect way for them to reach and master this skill. When students are presented with an issue or problem, and they hear all viewpoints and all interpretations of the problem, including the teacher’s, only then are they able to draw their own conclusions.

This is how I try to handle this in my classroom:

While covering a controversial issue/topic, the teacher must make sure to facilitate, NOT dictate the discussion. The teacher should guide the discussion, making sure that all viewpoints are heard, respected, and explained. During the discussion, the teacher should feel more than free to include their own opinions on the issue, as long as you follow your opinion up with an explanation of your reasoning. This doesn’t mean that you should force your opinions down the students’ throats, get on your “soapbox”, or criticize someone’s opinion that is different from your own. This means you can explain your opinion to your class, then explain to them why you believe that. During any discussion, the teacher and students should respectfully critique their own opinions, others’ opinions, praise competing viewpoints, and ask clarifying questions. The teacher should help make students well-informed on the issue while making sure that there is a mutual respect established for all opinions heard on the issue.

For example, last year my students repeatedly asked me who I was voting for in the Presidential election. By the way that I had set up our classroom environment, I felt that it was perfectly fine to answer the question, and my classes ended up having some brilliant discussions about the election. As with anything, it all depends on how you set up your classroom, and how you handle things on a day-to-day basis. Could this have turned out all wrong? Of course, again, depends upon how you handle it in your own classroom.

When teachers choose not to include controversial topics in their classes and provide their students the opportunity to reach their own conclusions by hearing ALL interpretations, the students are the ones given the short stick.

Disagree?

6 comments:

  1. I agree. I think that demonstrating that you are a thoughtful person is important. You are, in a sense, modeling the sort of person you think that they need to be: a thoughtful, critical person who thinks about the world in which he lives. How can you ask students to develop opinions on the issues of the day if you give the impression that you have not developed them yourself?

    It is tricky, though, like you say. It's very hard to create that open, respectful environment given the inherent power differences that exist in a classroom setting. Even while you feel you may simply be offering your opinion, students may feel bullied or compelled to agree with you. You'll struggle with that for the bulk of your career.

    Keep up the good work! Thanks for the heads-up on your blog!

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  2. Thanks Mr. Darden,

    I really appreciate you taking a look at it and commenting! What I am trying to do now is build up the lesson plan and activity library on the site so if you have anything good right now you'll have to e-mail to me first and then I can post it on the blog, of course I'm giving credit to everyone who sends their work to me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the site, a lot of the ideas that I write about I learned in your class. Thanks! Hope all is well.

    my e-mail is either:
    lee2686@uga.edu
    or
    lwhitaker@jones.k12.ga.us

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  3. Agreed.
    I think as long as the debate is structured, then it's a great learning experience. By doing this a student can say how he/she feels about the topic, but can also listen to both sides of the argument before forming an opinion.

    Another thing debates have helped me with, is outside of the classroom if the topic is brought up, and writing essays on that topic.

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  4. I agree that debates, when structured, do great things for students to help them see both sides of the topic. Some of the students may think a way because of their parents, but once they see both sides of the story they may change their thinking. The debates also shows that there are people in the world that will disagree with you and you shouldn't just bend but back up your opinion with facts and you may enlighten them a little.

    I also would like to thank you Mr. Whitaker, because i had a debate in my English class for Georgia Southern and i wouldn't have been as prepared or ready to take questions. If not for your class i doubt i would have been as prepared for it. I made an 96 on the debate, by the way.

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  5. That's some good stuff, Mr. Whitaker! Soon, there'll be a whole new type of 'teacher', kids will love school, and grades will go up...this may be the real NCLB!

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  6. I really enoyed debating controversial issues in your class. You did not try and force your opinions on us; you simply presented both sides and let us take over. It was a wonderful learning experience to listen to and appreciate the opinions of others. I learned so much in your class.

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